Cherry is a wood that darkens naturally with age/exposure to sun.

I suppose there might be a way to ruin the cherry----which is essentially what you would have to do to get a totally unnatural color like that.

Not being judgemental, just realistic.

Cherry is one wood which is without fail _never_ going to resemble, in any respect, "antique French oak", whatever that is...
Casey

Rip it out and donate it to Habitat for Humanity and then put in cheap oak and have at "processing" it however you might want. And take the hit for devaluing your home by picking something so inappropriate to it's style---unless it's a 1800's French farmhouse, that is.

Real cherry, or "Brazilian cherry"?

It could be done, but have you considered the cost and mess of sanding, bleaching and re-staining, then refinishing to get the currently fashionable "limed oak" or "ceruse" look?

Thanks for all of your thoughts...it is a French/European farmstyle home originally built in 1910 and has received several "unfortunate" additions...so bleached french/white oak would have been a better options. Just wish I had gotten to it before an expensive, but out of place, floor had been installed.

And it is real cherry, not Brazilian...

kled2008, would love to hear an update as well! We have cherry floors and we are debating what to do with them.

Gretchen, are you in the same conundrum? What did you end up doing?