It appears you like a couple different colors...the browner shades would correspond to Minwax Dark Walnut; English Chestnut or Special Walnut are a bit lighter.

I don't suppose you could make time for a test sample could you?

I love my new floors. I used a combination of Ebony and Red Mahogany. It was 1:1. Here is a picture. I was afraid it was too dark, but I love the combination. My floors are white oak. Good luck!

Hi boxerpups, I really like kelleg's. That might look really good in your kitchen. Are you doing yours tomorrow?

I can't help much because we are doing natural finish (have a golden retriever). But the floors will be wide plank, so that's a little more exotic than what we had going on before.

I have red oak with "provincial" minwax stain and I love it. I will try to post pics, but it looks alot like the first pic you posted that said Garden Web image

Hi there. I'm new and haven't quite figured out how to attach photos. But here is a picture in the link of our samples on red oak. We wanted a natural to honey color (to match what was original in the 1932 cabin-turned-home). From the pictures you posted, it looks like your tastes go more toward cherry.
Nathalie

Here is a link that might be useful: stain samples on red oak

Boxerpups, when I had my floors done (in a golden color, not what you want), the floor guys put down several large stain patches for me before the final sanding. I laid samples of my doors, granite, and backsplash next to the samples to help me decide. It was so helpful, and did not delay the job at all.

As a dog lover, you may appreciate this aside. The floor guys left the sanded floors overnight, and the next morning my large dog decided to leave me a "gift" in the DR. One of the kids must have left a door open, and I guess the dog was expressing his displeasure at being banished from the ground floor. Imagine my horror at thinking I would have a poop stain permanently on my DR floor. But no, the flooring guys were able to sand that off, too.

Fortunately we had no accidental door openings once the floors were coated!

You are right, Palimpsest. I'm confused.
I love dark warm brown flooring I can not tell which are
oak above. I love dark but I don't like grain-ey wood in
a medium light color. One of my inspiration pics is a pine
floor stained dark and my floor guys said I would have to
put in all new flooring to have that consistent color of
dark brown/blk.

Kelleg,
Your floors are not to dark. They are beautiful.
Thank you for your recipe. I am going to ask the floor
guys to try this. My floors are red and white oak do you
think it will make much of a difference? The floor guys
did paint a sample of chestnut, provincial, early
american, and nutmeg. They wouldn't even show me Mahogany
telling me "You won't like this. " I mentioned that some
people mix ebony with their stain. They looked at me with
wide eyes.
And one said. "You don't want dark floors. That makes the
room look smaller. "
I am going to need my DH to help direct them to the ebony
mixed in to the stain. Truly thanks for your tip.

Mountaineer girl,
They did a sample on my floor of Provincial mini wax.
It is pretty but I wonder if it is dark enough for me.
I can not wait to see your pics. Thanks for your help.

Ebse, You have great taste. I feel better already with you
saying it will look good. and I love Goldens. They are
happy all the time. And of course being blonde yours needs
a blonde floor.

Anyone else with red oak floors?
Please show me and pics

Boxerpups, definitely have them do samples. Also, we "popped" the grain. This means you wet the floors before staining. The wood absorbs more stain and the grain isn't as prominent.

Let us know!

Here's an in-progress pic of what our floors looked like stained with Minwax red mahogany:
{{!gwi}}From New Floor Colors

The "underneath" color is the red mahogany. Note there is no sealer/top coat on the floor so it's a bit dull looking. The other colors are samples using a dye/tint rather than a stain.

You CAN get a nice, dark color. The trick with the darker colors is that in order for them to work properly, you generally have to "water pop" the floor. Either that or ebonize them.

Honestly, your "floor guys" sound like they are either lazy or don't really know what they're talking about.

If you can, hunt out igloochic's kitchen floor. She did Jacobean Walnut, I believe and it turned out fantastic (close to the top single color you see in the shots above).

Here's another pic:
{{!gwi}}From New Floor Colors

One thing to note: Red mahogany is very pigment-heavy so it will produce a more "muddy"/"Opaque" (at least to my eyes) finish than other colors.

I can't find the exact thread that I was thinking about, but I did find this thread with some pics of beautiful dark floors:

http://ths.gardenweb.com/forums/load/kitchbath/msg031948178770.html

Here is a link that might be useful: Clicky here...

We used the English Chestnut on our white oak floors. We didn't want anything too dark that would hide the grain ... or show the dog hair too much! I think the finish is a satin finish, didn't want anything too shiny that would show scratches. We're very happy with how they turned out.

I have English Chestnut on red oak floors. They're a little darker in person

{{!gwi}}

We also played around with Jacobean and walnut. Those are also colors my builder uses a lot. He uses a combo of ebony and red mahogany a lot. I have heard of many people using the dark walnut with good success. Make them mix some samples for you!

Morton, I love it! I love how your dog responded. I kinda
feel the same way. There is plastic everywhere and I can
not even sit on a sofa.... ; )

Erikanh,
my DH loves your floors. It is amazing how
and mom2reece used the same stain but the colors look so
much lighter.

Momtoreece, I like your floors too but they are lighter.
Hoping they would be like Erikanh. or even like Kellegs.

Pbrisjr,
That is a great way for me to understand the flooring.
I don't think they are lazy. I do think they are very
worried I won't be happy. The owner told me he is
afraid I will blame him if I don't like it.
Thanks for the link.

On to another day. I am hoping to find the right stain.

It's interesting that the two floors that used the ENglish Chestnut had such a different depth of color. I wonder if erika's installers just used additional coats? I think the English chestnut has the tone you may be looking for but you just want it deeper. Have them try a mix with maybe 3 parts Chestnut and one part Walnut. I think the reddish tones have a yellow undertone which is what I feel you want to get away from. I think all your wood floors are gorgeous. Wish we could use it too but it's just not sensible for us.

I also agree with ericanh about the satin finish. We did semigloss through the house, which is very pretty, but it will need to be redone. In an area like kitchen with lots of foot traffic, satin is a great choice.

We used special walnut, I'm very happy with the color. Doesn't show dust since it's not super dark. We also went with a satin finish.

Hmm, my floors are definitely much darker than mom2reeses's, but I'm not sure how many coats my floor guy used. We were trying to achieve a rich dark brown, tried to stay away from red and black. I bought a bunch of those little cans of Minwax from Home Depot and my contractor stained some scrap pieces of wood for me. I think it was provincial that was too red for us and jacobean and the walnut colors had too much black in them.

ok took pics this morning but its cloudy here and when I use flash it distorts the color. I tried a few without flash.

I also used satin finish - wanted a glossier finish but was told every crumb and water spot would stick out like a sore thumb. Its 11 years old, raised 3 boys and 10 yo dog. Had it lightly sanded and another coat of finish on it 2 years ago. Boys are out of the house now, but we still have our dog. I love my wood floor, it is in the foyer, hall, kitchen and breakfast area. Ok, here's my attempt at posting the pics...

Here is a link that might be useful: my floors

Hi Boxerpups,
If you click on my album you can see more pictures of the floors. They really are a medium brown stain. I personally like them a little darker, but I'm happy with my choice for cleaning sake. We have a golden cocker spaniel and don't have a problem seeing the dog hair.

The paint color is Benjamin Moore Crown Point Sand, a really nice neutral that has some green in it.And the medallion is actually a clock! I still feel like that wall is a little plain, but love the clock.

Good luck with your decision. Anytime you post anything I love your pictures. How do you keep them all organized? You've given us all lots of inspiration photos.

ok lets try this again...

{{!gwi}}

evidently if you click on the pic then you can see the rest that I uploaded.

I think the mix of dark walnut and english chestnut will do the trick for the darker floor. You might want to look at Jacobean - I used that for my library, but it's not oak.

Red Oak and White Oak will take stain differently, but I'm surprised how much lighter my floor is than erikanhs'. We used reclaimed oak - I wonder if that makes any difference? I personally prefer the darker floors, too, and had planned on using Jacobean or Ebony. I fell in love with the dark cabinets, so I needed to go lighter for my floor.

I found it! Thank you all for helping me have the
courage to find the best color. I also have white oak
not red and white. Silly me.

They put some color mixes out for me to study. Right onto
my floor. They can sand off what I don't like. And I love
Mahogany and English chestnut mixed together. It goes with
the lighting I have and seems to be dark but not so dark
that I have issues with dog hair. It looks closer to your color
Erikanh.

Kelleg,
I was disappointed with Ebony mixed into the English
chestnut. Not at all the warm beautiful glow of yours.
Your floor guy must have perfomed magic! Don't lose your
floor guy.

Pbrisjar,
The image you posted was the closest example of what
the colors looked like. I can not thank you enough.
I noticed the Ebony not being what I really wanted but not
realizing it until they stained my floor a small section.
I should have studied your images better. thank you for them.

I will post pics when I get a chance. They are not
staining until next week. They are still sanding
everything. I am truly happy with the choice, I just hope
it looks as good as all of your floors. Even half as good
and I will be pleased.

Thanks again everyone.
~boxerpups

oh they will turn out fine! was your floor guy surprised that you DID want the mahogany and English chestnut mix?

can't wait to see them done! wish i could have hardwood again - had it yrs ago on most floors thru out the house and loved them - even with 2 kids still at home plus 2 dogs and a cat!

I can't wait to see your floors with the stain on them.

Just had my red oak floors stained and 1st coat of poly. They turned out much too yellow. The flooring guy used one part spice brown and four parts clear. They turned out really yellow and orange. I wanted medium brown tones. Did not look like our test sample. My previous floors were much darker and were stained over 20 years ago. He's coming after this weekend to sand, stain and poly the adjoining new floors in dining room, entry and hallway as well as put on final coat on the family room/kitchen floor. Don' t know what to do as my contractor is coming the same day to finish putting in appliances, lighting, etc. in my newly remodeled kitchen and I'm not happy with the color on the floor. Help!!!