Because he is the most worthless contractor I have ever seen. No sense fighting with him about it, if he doesn't feel confident he can get a consistent color if he mixes, I don't want a screwed up floor. I just want him to finish up and get the hell out of there at this point!

Get someone else. That doesn't use Minwax. You have to live with the floor long term, not the contractor. Him, you can fire. The floor, if he screws it up, will need mre money thrown at it to make right. Why can you afford to do that but not make sure it's done right in the first place? Stand up for yourself!

if you go to an independent local paint store that offers good customer service they will custom mix for you.I did that with a place locally-take in the wood or sample of your material-they applied numerous "tests"-I brought the wood home to see at my setting-then took it back and reapplied till it was closest possible to what I wanted.

What brand is he using? My floor contractor uses Bona stains and Provincial and Special Walnut are both options. I have Provincial and I do not think it is too dark at all. Some cat hair shows up but I had lighter maple floors in my old house and it would still show up.

Provincial is a nice medium brown without the reddish tones. I think it's not too dark and not too light. And to be honest, I don't see a huge difference in provincial and special walnut.

Here is a link that might be useful: Bona stain colors

Here's the thing, if you mix them and in the future you need to redo the floors or just retouch where an accident has occurred you will not be able to exactly match it. Scenario: It seemed like the finish you mixed up would never go bad but fast forward a few years and it's all dried up in the can and you have to remember what you mixed together and thought you would never forget!! But you did and you can't find where you put that formula you wrote down. On top of that they have changed dropped one of the colors from the line. How do I know this? Because it happened to us!!! We have mixed stain on our floors and don't have a clue what we used way back when we built the house.

I like Provencial, it's an old color that base come back into favor. They are so similar I think you would like either one in the long run : ) It does show more dog hair if you have light color of pets.

Are you using an oil or water based finish on top? When checking colors, be aware that the water based poly stays true but the oils tend to amber (go yellow-orange). In another post (wish I could find it), someone specifically said that special walnut (in Minwax) turned orange after a few years.
It's unfortunate about your relationship with your contractor. Good luck!

Form the Bono stains linked, I guess I have 'special walnut' throughout the house -- maybe a bit darker. We like it -- but we have cream painted trim and doors throughout. If you have stained trim, you might prefer more or less 'contrast'.

Is this just the kitchen, or everywhere? What color rugs will you use?

Our DS and DIL have an early 20th century home in Chicago where the trim is dark stain and the floors are 'honey-color' -- maple, I think.

The lighter floor should look larger, if that's a consideration. I think darker will show more pet hair and 'fluff' in general. A scratch or gouge will show less on a light stain.

I had almost black, it was Jacobean and Ebony mixed, with several coats on wood that was treated to open the pores.

It was great but it showed dust and such very easily. We basically dusted it or damp mopped it daily.

I don't think it had a negative effect on how light the rooms felt or that it made the rooms seem smaller. Actually I think it made the rooms seem fairly large because it was pretty "monolithic"... you couldn't even really see the grain except up close.