After almost five years in this fixer-upper, we are finally planning our kitchen remodel (woohooo!!!!!!)
When we first moved to this house, we decided to wait on refinishing our flooring until we did the kitchen over. We have hardwoods in our living room and dining room to the left of our foyer, and in the family room on the right side, with those spaces separated by LOVELY 80s tile in our foyer.
The living room a few years ago, with the sweet 80s tile and then the family room in the background.
We also have hardwood-looking linoleum in the kitchen at the back of the house, which we initially held in deep disdain until we discovered that no teenager that walks through the house forgetting that he has muddy cleats on, or sweet but slobbery Saint Bernard who enjoyed napping in the mulched gardens can destroy it!
The real hardwood floors have been in a desperate need of resanding and finishing since we walked through the door, but since we ultimately want continue the hardwood flooring throughout the whole first floor it didn’t make sense to do them before the kitchen renovation since the layout will change and new flooring will be installed.
In the meantime, this is what some areas of our floors have looked like: our dining room on the left, and the kitchen linoleum on the right, with a really bad cheap wooden threshold separating the floor transitions (and very attractive screws exposed).
We’ve covered up the worn out hardwoods with area rugs as best we can, but the entries into those rooms are really hideous.
So – all that being said, you can imagine our excitement over finally getting around to tackling the flooring project!! I think the newly installed and refinished floors will make our house feel brand new and I can’t wait!!!!!!!
I’m almost more thrilled about the floors than getting rid of our bologna countertops!!!! Almost.
NOW – it’s decision making time and I’d love to hear your thoughts on this subject:
Before we make major decisions on the kitchen we need to think through our floor color options. The majority of – if not all – the cabinets will be white. Our table is a dark walnut with black base and black chairs, and I do like the way these two tones contrast a light floor.
However, in every house we’ve lived in, we’ve had unstained polyurethaned red oak floors that take on a bit of an orange cast over the years.
After living with our dark stained stairs for 5 years, I LOVE the look of them, but they are high maintenance. Every speck of dust shows on them, so I don’t think I want to go super dark.
Here are a few colors I love, some of which might be edging into the “high maintenance” category.
medium stained wood floors and natural oak floors?
and what will stand up to my busy and messy family
and my lack of desire to incessantly shine my floors?
René says
Thanks for this! We are going through the same decision making process here and I do believe our floors are the same as yours. Would love to go darker, but not sure how dark. Will stay tuned to your final decision.
Julie Workman says
While I adore the look of deep, dark wood floors, they just aren't practical with 3 boys and one to three dogs running around my house. Ditto for super light floors. We have a mid-tone (leaning towards reddish, but whatever) acacia-wood composite flooring downstairs, and I love it! It doesn't showcase the dust-monsters and dog hair (unless we happen to have two extra black or choco labs in the house – then all bets are off!) and the boys can track in dirt all day without giving me a heart attack.
That said, I LOVE Bona products for our floor. The cleaner is awesome and doesn't leave a residue, and the polish is gorgeous and long-lasting. Can't wait to see what you chose!
Brenna Morgan says
I have dark walnut on red oak in my house and love it! It's just dark enough to be rich and just light enough that it hides tiny scratches. I have a yellow lab and 2 kiddos and it's holding up nicely.
sarilyn says
@Brenna Morgan, May I see a photo or two??
Cassie @ Primitive & Proper says
i LOVE the antique walnut! how exciting!
Traci Hutton says
So exciting!! We have the 80's tile too, so annoying. I'm partial to walnut finishes, despite loving darker colors. It's just more practical…
Ange says
We are contemplating the same thing at our house, we have the light oak floors which look orange and need them refinished. the floor refinishing guy said lots of people choose the nutmeg color, but it looked to reddish for my taste. I will be anxious to see what you choose and can't wait to see the finished flooring and kitchen!
Dana Frieling says
I'm pumped that you're starting your kitchen, Lisa! I know you've been waiting for this day for a long time. I always guide clients to the mid-tone range for the sake of longevity. That being said, if there's something that absolutely makes their heart sing, then I tell them to ditch longevity and go with their heart. I've found the items that last the longest in my house (without my tiring of them) are the heart choices. Good luck!
Kris @ Driven by Décor says
Soooo excited for you to be doing your kitchen! Flooring decisions are so tough. Just like you, I love dark floors but I'm just not enough of a Mrs. Clean to keep them up (they show every speck of junk!). All of your choices are pretty awesome. I will tell you that no matter what finish you choose I would go with water based poly over oil-based. It's more expensive but has faster dry time, none of that horrible odor, and it doesn't yellow over time like the oil-based poly. Can't wait to see what you do!
Andrea says
How exciting Lisa. I know you have been patiently awaiting this project. I love the dark walnut. It's got some depth, but it's not too dark. My floors read a little to orange for me and I'd love to change the color down the road sometime. I can't wait to follow along with you on this project.
Angie Ives says
I was searching online about stain colors for the red oak hardwoods we are about to own in two weeks. They are in the foyer and kitchen only but we are looking to integrate wood flooring into the entire main level and have the existing flooring sanded and stained. It is a lighter, natural finish now but seem to have developed that “orange” tint over time, as others noted here in your post. The house also has casement windows (which are beautiful and I don’t want to paint them) and kitchen cabinets in the same color (not oppose to painting). I’m hoping to darken the wood a bit, similar to the antique walnut you showcased here. I’ve searched your blog hoping for a follow-up post but can’t find one. Have you completed your flooring project yet? Would absolutely love some insight!
Lisa says
Hi Angie, we still have not done our floors over yet, but I did post about how I regretted going with an ebony stain on my stairs here: https://www.shineyourlightblog.com/2016/09/regrets-dark-wood-floors.html
We were considering doing a dark stain when we do the rest of the floors but living with and maintaining the stairs has deterred me from going very dark. I’d love to hear what color you end up with, good luck with the hunt for the perfect one!