It's a matter of personal opinion but I like the look of your floors a lot. I looked at the pictures before I read the text and I thought you were going to complain that they were too dark!. Personally, I like the contrast in the grain.

I also love your granite - what kind is it?

Good grief, no- your floors are beautiful. All you're seeing right now is floor. When you pull that kitchen together and get that gorgeous granite (what IS it???) installed, you will forget you ever stressed about the color.

Personally, I don't see that huge difference in your sample and your floors. You do see the grain, but you've got red oak...

Wait till 5 and have a glass of wine. All is good.

I love the color that your floors came out. I think your inspiration photo is perhaps cherry. The new stain looks so much better than the golden oak color. Unless you really hate it, I would keep it. You are probably obsessing over the color now and won't be when you get used to it.

I like your lighter floors too. The color family is the same so it will still go with all your choices and the grain pattern is really pretty.

Also, on the upside...I refinished our oak floors in our prior house and stained them as dark as your inspiration picture. The scratches show up so much that you may actually be better off with the lighter shade.

If your kitchen will look like your inspiration picture, I can't wait to see it! Good luck!

Another photo - it looks different in certain lighting.

{{!gwi}}

I agree with you that the sample is darker than your floors but I think the floors are beautiful and that the dark grain will look fabulous with both the white and dark brown cabinets. Can't wait to see it finished.

Really??? You guys are giving me some hope here. Hubby and I were up til late worrying (me worrying and he getting affected by it) and he's grumpy now that I'm typing and keeping him from sleeping. Please tell me I didn't make a horrible mistake!!

You're not just being nice, are you?

Wine would be good...I'll wait til 5, good advice.

The granite is Bianco Antico.

The floors in the inspiration photo are from the kitchen of the month in Beautiful Homes, and they are definitely oak. I know photos come up differently on computer though.

I love your floors! Wait until everything is in place, they will look stunning. If you go too dark on wood floors they tend to show more wear and tear. I think yours are perfect.

The 2nd picture you posted looks a little darker than the others and that's the one I like the best, but I don't know which one is closest in real life. As far as the grain, that's what I want when (if) I get hardwoods. I'm not the best housekeeper in the world and I figure that will help hide things :) I tried to find a picture of Texashottie's floor, but I guess it's been awhile since she posted it. It has alot of grain and is just gorgeous.

Laurie

Does oak darken with age like cherry? If so you may get that darker color eventually.

I love the grain -- it will give your kitchen a nice old school feel! As long as your cabs will be a big contrast with the floor (sounds like it), you should have no problem. I think the color and, more importantly, the grain, are very, very close to your inspiration pic.

I love the color your floor came out! I definitely would not re-do it. The darker you go the more dust and scratches will show.

I think all new elements in a house are somewhat of a shock when you first see them, especially bare.This is true of new wall colors, floors, etc.You go to bed desperate one night and wake up to move stuff back in and suddenly it's all okay. When you want dark floors, you really have to be careful about going so dark that you have to sweep everyday.and grain in wood was invented to hide grime.
Pour that glass of wine and please copy this back to me in a few months when I am desperate.

I think they are gorgeous! I wouldn't change a thing! No, I am not being nice. I love them. They are beautiful and I think they will go well with your choices. I love the grain in them. You won't see it as much if they were darker and they would show every speck of dust on the planet. I know you don't have time to sweep them morning, noon and night. I can't wait to see the finished kitchen.

red i had exactly the same issue as you with my floors (same oak etc.) i decided to sand them down and stain again, but i was also shooting for a much darker brown than you are. if it helps, this is a photo of our first attempt with the natural cherry cabs...

{{!gwi}}

in order to go darker we had to use non water based products (just to get this far) the house had to be empty for a week because of the fumes. i actually liked this color but the idiot gc used a water based finish product which ruined the floor. (it all peeled up)

this might be just a tad darker than yours, but when you get the light cabs next to it, it gets richer. i personally think yours is going to look much like your picture when its done and wouldn't redo it, but if you don't like it....you need to go with your gut!

My husband and I just came back from a day of running errands and a sinking feeling in our stomachs. We're setting up an appointment with our KD early next week and are bracing ourselves for whatever we decide. We have a couple of regrets - not getting a sample first from the stainer rather than just choosing on the spot when he laid the stains on the floor, husband not being there the day of the staining (which our friend and GC recommended), and me not being forceful enough when we saw the floors with stain and no top coats yet and felt it wasn't dark enough. Hubby actually said that the floors would get darker once the top coats were on but I should have challenged it.

The floors are more of a caramel colour now or a toffee, rather than a true brown. It is really a very nice colour and we both like the grains and think it is versatile.

From what I read, the brown oak floors won't darken with time, only golden ones which will amber.

Sigh...not sure what my gut's telling me yet. It doesn't come down to whether the floor is nice or not, it's whether it will still fit with our overall vision of our house style. This was supposed to be the biggest defining factor of the style on our main floor and I hope we didn't miss the mark.

Biggest regret we had was 3 years ago, when we followed the advice of our stain guy (different person) who said not to bother staining our floors and just tint the polyeurethane. We ended up with the golden floors that we just lived with for three years and tried to work around and they never felt like "us". I hated feeling that way so we'll have to decide whether this will fit with the colours and feel in our home, or not...

I'll keep you all posted. Thank you for the words of encouragement!!!

i think they look great. the fact that the wood's got a ton of graining serves to give you a very dark overall look. the actual wood part is more of a golden color, true, but you're only noticing that because you're in the micro-analysis stage. once you live with it for a while, it'll just read medium-to-dark brown.

the floors are beautiful and will go with anything you install.

I hope you end up liking your new floors. I know now how stressful it is to dwell on every detail. But, for what it is worth, I think they look great! Of course, I am biased because they look a lot like the stain we ended up with - 1/2 english chestnut and 1/2 paint thinner. We started wanting english chestnut, but the sample looked sooo dark, so we diluted it until we felt more comfortable with the look. We are very glad we lightened it up. We had natural red oak before and it was light. Now, even with our medium range stain, the dust, dog hair and scratches show so much more. So, we can only imagine how much upkeep our floors would have been had we gone the darker route. We have received many complements on our "custom" color. And, as someone here said already, I have never gone into a house and said "Oh, I wish it was darker in here."

Your home looks like it is going to be beautiful!

I love the floors in your inspiration photo, but I also like your news floors much better than the old stain. I can see that your new floors are not what you were going for, but I think they will look great with white and dark maple cabinets. I think with all white cabinets you'd be better off with a darker floor, but I think the prominent grain with be gorgeously complimented by the combo of white and stained cabinets.

I agree with everyone else. I think they look great! The stain really brings out the character of the wood. I also think it would coordinate with anything.

redroze, I too think they look great. I like seeing the grain and having the character of the wood show through the stain.

I especially appreciate your sharing what happened to you, and your candor about listening to what someone told you even though your instincts told you something different. This has happened to me many times and it just takes some reinforcement like reading stories like yours to realize how often it happens and how we have to be vigilant and stick to our guns.

So, I really do think they look great -- and you should do what will make you happy!

In defense of your hardwood guy (only a little), we stained our oak floors with Red Mahogany stain. The only way we got them the color we wanted was by not wiping up the stain, and just waiting over a week for the stain to finally completely dry. They would have been stained to the same darkness (just red instead of brown) as yours had we done as directed on the can. I learned after this fiasco that you have to use dye, not stain, to get them really dark because the first coat of stain seals the wood so a second does nothing. It's turning out ok. We're waiting on the first coat of poly to dry now, but it was a very stressful mess (and it involved a lot of mineral spirits in one room, until I saw that it was making it worse!). A pro really should know better though.

I do like the floors as is- they definitely look like oak, but not Grandma's oak floors.

Edlakin (I always love your advice by the way) - really good point about the graining giving it an overall darker feel.

Hubby wants to make sure that we can choose the colour scheme that I (and by extension, he) likes - namely the "greige" or grey/beiges, whites and neutrals, dark brown, silver and oil-rubbed bronze metals, with accents of one of the following: teals, reds, or violets. I think they will work but want to check with our designer (who we're hiring to help out with the rest of our home as she's awesome) whether the colours will work.

Kind of a side rant - It's interesting that I have a pretty defined sense of style and know decisively what I like/don't like (I know I'm contradicting myself with the spazzing over these floors) but our designer helps to be a second check, is great with space planning, and helps us to achieve an overall feel. She and her design assistant are also good with helping me to understand why certain elements work together, achieving symmetry. Gosh - never thought i'd hire a designer but hubby convinced me and it's been terrific.

Good points everyone actually, and great reassurance as I feel the cloud lifting more and more. Cocontom, good to know that putting a second stain wouldn't have worked as that is exactly what I would have suggested when I saw it without the top coats. The hardwood guy did a really really good job on sanding and finishing overall, was super patient and just straightforward, but the colour just didn't match the sample he had first put down. But I know there are intricacies with staining - how long you put the stain, etc - that makes it really hard to achieve the exact right look. Do you know by any chance whether adding some tint to the final water-based top coat will make it a shade darker?

Funny thing we realized is that one of my dream kitchens has the same flooring (although hers seems a shade or two lighter than ours). Visit this link and go to "Her Dream Kitchen - Part 1" by Karen Kayne. Yet another sign that I am probably just worrying over nothing!

Nightowlrn - What colour are your cabinets and countertop? Good to know from everyone about the lower maintenance (compared to darker hardwood). I was aghast when I posted on the flooring forum about living with medium brown hardwood, and everyone said they were just fine to live with based on the "typical daily sweep"!! I wish I could say I sweep everyday but that would be an utter lie!!! ;-) I'm a neat freak but we've had our share of dust bunnies.

Sayde - It's something that I learned about myself both through my relationship with my husband and work. I realized that I didn't assert myself as much as I should, and end up feeling resentful as I didn't feel like people were listening or taking me seriously.

I'm glad you appreciated me sharing this as it's something I want to work on and am sensitive about.

I think one of the toughest things about designing your own space is holding on to the vision during those intermediate stages.

Right now, you are essentially seeing the floor out of context: the white walls are drenching them in light that will be toned down when the other elements are in place.

If you were to tell us that this is to be the darkest tone in the space, I'd be a little concerned. But is sounds like this is your mid-tone, with both lighter and darker tones added. If the floor were a lot darker, there wouldn't be enough contrast with the darker cabs.

Your sample is indeed lighter than the overall tone, but it looks like a good match for the darker boards in the floor.

Hi --
I hate to be in the position of disagreeing but: I think the floor as stained is very nice, but I think the floor in your inspiration photo is nicer. I lived with floors like the inspiration photo ones for many years and they remained very beautiful, contributing a lot to the overall appearance of the rooms. I am talking, however, about two rooms which get less traffic and mess than a kitchen. Both rooms are reasonably spacious and have white walls. If it were me, I guess I would bring the floors to the inspiration photo's color providing doing so would not be too costly. As an aside: I don't think it's important for the floors throughout the house to be the same color.

I appreciate everyone's comments.

Observer - We want to use the same hardwood stain throughout the main floor so there is a flow.

My husband is carrying a lot of regret over this as he was told that he should have been there for the first day of stain since it's such a significant job. It didn't end up that way as the contractor installing the new floors was behind, so he had to help him out. Thus, he wasn't able to take another day off work (although in hindsight, he could have still done so.)

As an update, our designer is coming by tomorrow to help us assess whether this new stain will work with what we want to do on the main floor. Hubby said he'd rather we redo it now rather than regret it later, and it's best to do it now that all our furniture is out of the way and we're only just starting to decorate some of the rooms.

We trust our designer's opinion so much that if she comes by and says "this is stunning - it will work" then we'll keep them as is. It's a big thing as it defines the style of our house, and we didn't go this far and do all this research on finding just the right stain, only to have it not materialize.

You sound very reasonable, redroze. I do agree that flooring is a huge element in having your home look and feel really beautiful. In 2004, we laid Mannington hardwood in a fairly dark color through most of our house. In 2006, we finally got the kitchen tile down in a beautiful golden brown ceramic 13" tile. Just last month, my DH got the bath tile done in the same nice tile that we had put on the shower walls and vanity. At this point in time, this is the first time that I am truly happy with a house. And I really think it is more about the flooring for me than any other element. I've had different paint shades on my walls and loved most of them. I've bought and sold more (used/antique) buffets/sideboards than anyone I know. And I've been very happy with each one of them before I finally changed it out. I make new curtains and window treatments every few years because I fall in love with another fabric and just have to have it. But more than any other component, these floors set the tone for my house. One day, we will either do hardwood or new carpet for the two remaining bedrooms that still have cream carpeting.

I think awaiting your designer's input is a great idea. Sometimes we just can't see the total picture ourselves. But hindsight is 20/20 as they say, and your husband is right that if this is a big deal to you, then, you may just have to swallow hard and get it done. If we could all go back to a half dozen places in time where we should have just done what we needed to do and not let something else get in the way, a lot of things would turn out differently.

Red

If this is not the stain you want then by all means redo it. I don't know if you've seen my posts on our floor saga but I've been struggling with this issue as well. Hubby is ramping up for our 5th attempt to get the floor right. It's been a huge PITA but, much like you this floor will eventually be throughout our entire home and we want it to look right.

Some things to note: red oak stains differently than white oak. I've heard it doesn't take stain as well. Also, if you do decide to re-stain, talk to your floor guy about "water popping". There are ways to make this work.

Redbazel and Pbrisjar - I guess you missed my other post as we ended up restaining our floors a dark brown!

Our designer ultimately said: The floors look good, but they have a spice tone that you weren't going for. The colours you want for the rest of your home will work with these lighter floors. But ultimately, if these are not the floors that you wanted and you won't feel happy with them, redo them now before the cabinets are in and it is too late.

So we bought the bullet, paid for another refinishing from another person, and did it smartly this time - we approved a sample of it first and kept it as "proof", then we were there the day of the staining. I am SO glad we were there the day of staining as the larger bucket of stain STILL didn't match the smaller sample we approved! My big lesson learned is that creating a custom stain is very tricky and you have to cover all bases to ensure the stain turns out how you want it. It delayed our cabinets going in by 3 weeks as we had to book another stainer.

It turned out well though. We have our dream floors!

Click here to view the conclusion of my saga

Redbazel - I loved your story about your floors and can identify with you fully and wholeheartedly. I know exactly what you mean as living with the golden floors has kept me from feeling like this is our home. It gave our home a more casual feel, and no amount of area rugs or furniture could change the fact that the overall tone of the rooms wasn't right due to the floors. We lived with the regret of not staining the floors the first time (hardwood guy convinced us that adding a tint to the poly would darken it - such a lie!), so this second time really stung us. It felt like we again would not be able to choose the things and colours that we wanted and that it wasn't our home. It felt selfish to talk about it as it's nice that we have a home. But when you've paid for something and don't get it, it feels pretty darn crummy. Your home sounds beautiful and perfect for you.

Pbrisjar - I just read your post regarding your flooring troubles - poor you!!! You are right - red oak is a PITA to get a nice, warm dark brown that is more dark chocolate brown rather than reddish brown. Our guy finally popped the floors with water, then added cans and cans of dark ebony stain to red mahogany (not sure why he used red mahogany instead of dark walnut) to get it to the colour we wanted. He huffed and puffed, but i was going to be damned before I get another floor of the wrong stain! Our floors still have a slight red tone in some lights but overall, a beautiful, dark consistent chocolate brown.

Finally, some pics of our new floors. They look lighter in the photos than they do in real life.
{{!gwi}}
{{!gwi}}

Oh, that's a beautiful color. Glad to hear it all turned out OK. I'm sure our will too, eventually.

"It felt like we again would not be able to choose the things and colours that we wanted and that it wasn't our home."

That is indeed precisely the issue. I want a home, not just another house/shelter. I think that's what we all want, really.

(I do try to check posting dates before I reply but I wasn't quite awake this morning...)

Definitely looks better! The first attempt yielded a pretty floor, but that second staining is awesome! A much more consistent tone overall.

I have to say though that I liked the first attempt so much that I found myself looking at my floor (looks like your "before" picture). It's a prefinished, engineered wood that has yellowed. We thought about refinishing during the kitchen project, but blew it off. Now I'm wondering how much trouble it would be?