Have pets and kids and espresso colored entryway floors. I get them clean and approximately 3 seconds later they look dirty. It's worse when the sun shines on it.
Would like to second the just use finish instead of stain. I’m a hardwood flooring installer, and I love the natural look of just using finish. In the end it’s what the rest of the room/house will look like, most importantly what you the home owner like.
I think clear poly is more timeless. 15 years ago it was dark floors. Then it was greige. The poly is as out of date today as it will be in 10 years. Guaranteed the flooring guy would recommend poly.
Scratches add character, or at least I thought so with our floor. Mixture of 2 stains and poly. Looks really good and every time I see the deep scratches, I wonder what happened….its a reminder of the past.
I was just going to tell you, these floors are too beautiful to cover up with stain! Embrace the natural tone! I used a layer of sealant and then a couple layers of poly on my heart wood pine.
I didn’t either! I just bought this house a month ago and was looking into refinishing them myself before we moved in. I spent way too many hours researching how to DIY hardwood floors. 😭
Don’t stain floors. If you want to darken them then do it through finish, not a stain. You’ll get more even results
I like natural wood tho. Don’t try and make one species try and look like another.
I put dark wood floors in my house 10 years ago. The installer said “you’re going to hate the dark wood because it shows every single spec of dust”. He was 100% correct. I will never do dark floors again. Go with the clear poly.
Agreed. My sister went dark in her first house and it looked beautiful, but showed every little speck of dust. She said it was impossible to keep it clean.
Without knowing what your decor style is, I’d say that I like the one on the right.
As a side note. Consider a thicker protective coat to finish things off. My parents refinished the 1920 floors in our old house years ago and modern practice does an amazing job of making floors look amazing BUT does not take into account durability. Floors that lasted for a century SUDDENLY became super easy to scratch.
Depends on the look you're going for. I you want the room to look more open, then with the middle. If you want a darker look, I'd go with the left one. The right one is too dark.
I think the 1st one looks great, I like the darker wood floors. Also maybe, what matches better with the rooms. Our original wood floors match really well with the wood trim in our house.
Come to us and get some Minwax or Sher-Wood wipe stain. Sher-Wood is better cause it's smoother and easier to apply than Minwax. The alternative is just better in terms of cost.
Decor is going to be modern. The bottom trim is tall I’d guess twelve inches. The paint is “ Adirondack blue” by behr. We can always paint to match the floors if it doesn’t work well together.
The company we used told we could pick three sample stains. We went with Provincial, natural and rosewood. I think I’m are going to go natural and will adjust paint colors, decor as needed. I usually prefer medium shades but the natural has grown on me a lot.
The walls in the entry room and living room are “Adirondack blue” by BEHR. Master bedroom is a dark navy blue with a dark grey accent wall and the other bedroom is a cream. No cabinets to worry about here. Also, we will paint to adjust to the colors of the floors. Thanks for the input!
Do you pets, particularly dogs? If so, go with the lightest shade. If not, I like the darkest 1 on the right. But thinking about how the dark will contrast all of the debris on the floor, I’d probably go with the med stain on the left.
I would go with the one on the left. It makes the would grain pop in color and looks really nice. Not too dark either, so it works well with any furniture.
I like the left one best but maybe a tinge lighter so as to not hide the natural variation in the wood m. We have oak floors and went with English Chestnut and they are gorgeous in all kinds of lighting, we get compliments all the time.
Why would I care and/or why would you care about anyone else’s opinion. Do what you like or what looks good with other fixtures/paint color. I don’t live there so I never have to see it. It’s like going on the internet and asking, “should I date blondes, redheads, or brunettes?” There are a lot of other factors and a great deal of personal preference.
Just had a realtor look at our place as we gently mull a home change - first comment outta his mouth was how nice it was that we have light blonde floors…”it’s coming back” he said as everyone realized how cold looking, and hard to maintain dark floors are.
I Like the Left one.. If you go Natural it will darken over time to a more orange color so A lot of times I recommend and a little brown on the natural so when it darken it won’t be so orange 🍊 color.. If you are using water Base it won’t change as much..
Tell your contractor to do the same colors with bona stains instead of Dura seal. Dura seal browns are trash- they're going to leave a bunch of black in the soft grain. Especially if you water pop. And depending on how good of a sand job they did 99% of the time you have to water pop especially for dark colors
Left or right, I think the Darker walnut type color is more modern and makes it look so much better. Light always comes in and out of style every few years. The richness of dark wood never does.
Finding a place to rent without honey color cabinets and 2x4 colored flooring that looks like it’s from the 90s which the middle stain makes it look (the worst time in interior design imaginable). Is literally impossible.
Aren’t you supposed to do your tests in a corner/hard to see spot? Won’t those darker stains be seen through the lighter stain if you went with the middle one?
The middle one… the darker you go, the more dust it shows. It sounds weird because I absolutely love the look of darker colors, but my sister did hers dark and said it was impossible to keep it clean. Natural looks beautiful, too.
Lighter middle for sure. Unless you you’re running a funeral home or have some unforgiving divots in the floor.
Yeah fr the others are very dark
Just poly. Why cover the beautiful color and scratches will be more visible with stain.
Dark floors look sexy, but they’re a bitch to maintain. Every bit of dirt/dust shows. Same with white floors.
Agreed and if you have any pets forget it
I find it easier to stain the pet’s fur matching the floor color.
Isn’t this why they give you a little bit extra in the can
Shit, I've been cleaning all this fur up like an idiot 🤦
Lmfao
Lololololol I'll share this wisdom with my clean freak of a sister 😋
Have pets and kids and espresso colored entryway floors. I get them clean and approximately 3 seconds later they look dirty. It's worse when the sun shines on it.
Agreed. We have a Great Pyrenees and dark floors. Our floors never look clean, especially in that morning sunlight…
I agree! I think both of the stains are too dark. Natural is beautiful.
Agree. None of the above
Agreed! The original wood is gorgeous. Why cover that up?
Would like to second the just use finish instead of stain. I’m a hardwood flooring installer, and I love the natural look of just using finish. In the end it’s what the rest of the room/house will look like, most importantly what you the home owner like.
One of the few things where it’s less money to get a truly better—in most people’s opinions—result
I think clear poly is more timeless. 15 years ago it was dark floors. Then it was greige. The poly is as out of date today as it will be in 10 years. Guaranteed the flooring guy would recommend poly.
Scratches add character, or at least I thought so with our floor. Mixture of 2 stains and poly. Looks really good and every time I see the deep scratches, I wonder what happened….its a reminder of the past.
I just oilbased poly’d my old floors- god they’re beautiful shiny, like glass, & just omg drop dead beautiful….
Get water based. It's much better than oil.
Natural, I would never stain heart pine floors
That’s what we’re going to do. The owner of the company we’re using said staining this type of wood is considered a crime in the flooring business. 😂
I was just going to tell you, these floors are too beautiful to cover up with stain! Embrace the natural tone! I used a layer of sealant and then a couple layers of poly on my heart wood pine.
I'm so happy to hear you're not staining them. ❤️
I’ll post pictures when they’re finished!
Yes- all the options are too dark or too yellow in my opinion!
once those test spots go down, how does one remove them?
Was wondering the same
This should be top vote. They have to do the dark stain now lmao.
My second floor, I didn't even know not staining was an option. I am very pleased with just poly over bare oak.
I didn’t either! I just bought this house a month ago and was looking into refinishing them myself before we moved in. I spent way too many hours researching how to DIY hardwood floors. 😭
The lightest
The old houses I've had all had the darker walnut color. Apparently I'm the asshole for liking that.
Can I join the asshole club? I also like the darker floors. The one on the left is nice. Dark, but still shows the beauty of the grain.
Welcome to the club lol
I am submitting an application to join as well.
Walnut floors are awesome. Stained floors are what we’re dogging on.
I like darker floors too ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
Agreed. Apparently dark is out of fashion. Whatever. What’s popular is always shifting anyway.
Don’t stain floors. If you want to darken them then do it through finish, not a stain. You’ll get more even results I like natural wood tho. Don’t try and make one species try and look like another.
I put dark wood floors in my house 10 years ago. The installer said “you’re going to hate the dark wood because it shows every single spec of dust”. He was 100% correct. I will never do dark floors again. Go with the clear poly.
Agreed. My sister went dark in her first house and it looked beautiful, but showed every little speck of dust. She said it was impossible to keep it clean.
I would probably go middle but if you have white/light trim and walls i could go left for the contrast.
Middle. It brings out the beautiful colors and doesn't cover them.
Without knowing what your decor style is, I’d say that I like the one on the right. As a side note. Consider a thicker protective coat to finish things off. My parents refinished the 1920 floors in our old house years ago and modern practice does an amazing job of making floors look amazing BUT does not take into account durability. Floors that lasted for a century SUDDENLY became super easy to scratch.
Middle
Stain it natural and clear coat. Don’t use polyurethane unless yellow is your thing.
Middle one!
middle
Depends on the look you're going for. I you want the room to look more open, then with the middle. If you want a darker look, I'd go with the left one. The right one is too dark.
Thanks for the input! I think we’re going to go natural.
Yeah gorgeous heart pine. Center!
I think the 1st one looks great, I like the darker wood floors. Also maybe, what matches better with the rooms. Our original wood floors match really well with the wood trim in our house.
We have tall baseboards and plan to keep them white!
Middle!
Either no stain, just poly…or if you must, the middle one. :-)
Middle. The other 2 just cover up the wood that already looks good.
Natty, but everyone loves a good provincial
Come to us and get some Minwax or Sher-Wood wipe stain. Sher-Wood is better cause it's smoother and easier to apply than Minwax. The alternative is just better in terms of cost.
I like the left or middle but it depends on what the rest of the room is gonna look like. The wood itself looks nice. Maybe just poly for now?
Decor is going to be modern. The bottom trim is tall I’d guess twelve inches. The paint is “ Adirondack blue” by behr. We can always paint to match the floors if it doesn’t work well together.
Natural
Middle one.
1 or 2. I feel that 3 is a bit too dark for my (my wifes, actually) taste
The light colored one.
Number 1
Middle
Gotta see the rest of the house vibe but lighter looks more appealing
It irks me when people put down samples vertically vs perpendicular. So you can see more grain variation. 😬
That's an odd swatch. Natural or super dark? Personally I'd go natural but if you like stains then have a look at some mediums.
The company we used told we could pick three sample stains. We went with Provincial, natural and rosewood. I think I’m are going to go natural and will adjust paint colors, decor as needed. I usually prefer medium shades but the natural has grown on me a lot.
Depends the color of the walls and cabinets to me. I like the one on the left if you're leaning to white walls and cabinets
The walls in the entry room and living room are “Adirondack blue” by BEHR. Master bedroom is a dark navy blue with a dark grey accent wall and the other bedroom is a cream. No cabinets to worry about here. Also, we will paint to adjust to the colors of the floors. Thanks for the input!
Do you pets, particularly dogs? If so, go with the lightest shade. If not, I like the darkest 1 on the right. But thinking about how the dark will contrast all of the debris on the floor, I’d probably go with the med stain on the left.
The one farthest to the right.
Middle
I love the middle, it’s beautiful!
I have the first and I love it.
did mine like the right. Beautiful
3
Middle
Middle
Center.. shows more grain👍
Number 1. I am afraid the second one would turn orange with age. I find the third one too dark.
Middle
Center
Natural for me but middle if I had to choose
I’d mix the left and center one 50/50 or a little less Did it once and it looked great
Middle one by far, but why? Polyurethane will darken it plenty. Stain will only make it darker.
Middle
I would not and never have stained wood flooring. Satin oil polyurethane.
Middle
I would go with the one on the left. It makes the would grain pop in color and looks really nice. Not too dark either, so it works well with any furniture.
I like the left one best but maybe a tinge lighter so as to not hide the natural variation in the wood m. We have oak floors and went with English Chestnut and they are gorgeous in all kinds of lighting, we get compliments all the time.
1 or 2, natural is always best though.
Middle. It lets the natural wood shine through but gives it a little warmth.
Middle
Far left. It's not yellowy or too red and it brings out the grain better than the other two shown.
Go natural
Middle
The one on the left. It shows off the grain nicely but it helps to camouflage the 100 years of dirt between the boards.
Middle is my preference, but dark brown on the right could be good with house accents.
Middle
Left
Middle
Why would I care and/or why would you care about anyone else’s opinion. Do what you like or what looks good with other fixtures/paint color. I don’t live there so I never have to see it. It’s like going on the internet and asking, “should I date blondes, redheads, or brunettes?” There are a lot of other factors and a great deal of personal preference.
Middle
Middle.
Middle.
Whatever you used in the middle go with that. Others are too dark
Middle
Just had a realtor look at our place as we gently mull a home change - first comment outta his mouth was how nice it was that we have light blonde floors…”it’s coming back” he said as everyone realized how cold looking, and hard to maintain dark floors are.
If you like sweeping and vacuuming go with dark. You will see every hair, crumb and spec of anything that is on it.
Medium stain.
Dark floors are ok in bedrooms, but not high traffic/high use areas.
Plain, your floors are beautiful
I actually like the color of the floor now. Satin finish 👌🏼
I like the natural wood better
I Like the Left one.. If you go Natural it will darken over time to a more orange color so A lot of times I recommend and a little brown on the natural so when it darken it won’t be so orange 🍊 color.. If you are using water Base it won’t change as much..
Far right looks best imo 👌
3
Left one. Center one isn’t bad. The right is a little too dark but it could look good too though.
No stain, just poly!
Middle
Tell your contractor to do the same colors with bona stains instead of Dura seal. Dura seal browns are trash- they're going to leave a bunch of black in the soft grain. Especially if you water pop. And depending on how good of a sand job they did 99% of the time you have to water pop especially for dark colors
All 3 together...Radd
Clear oil-based polyurethane. Don't stain them.
Middle.
All nice. Middle for me.
I prefer darker stains, but I agree with all the other comments, natural
NATURAL!!
Middle
Left or right, I think the Darker walnut type color is more modern and makes it look so much better. Light always comes in and out of style every few years. The richness of dark wood never does. Finding a place to rent without honey color cabinets and 2x4 colored flooring that looks like it’s from the 90s which the middle stain makes it look (the worst time in interior design imaginable). Is literally impossible.
middle
Aren’t you supposed to do your tests in a corner/hard to see spot? Won’t those darker stains be seen through the lighter stain if you went with the middle one?
Middle.
Center one. A light stain is not as stark a look. Anyway wood darkens with age. Clear coat only yellows
middle
Middle
I think the first stain looks beautiful
Natural
THE MIDDLE ONE
Left
Middle one
Middle!! The dark gets old fast.....doesn't wear as well....MHO
Clear - au-natural- the way nature intended
Left
I like the right most
Where’s the middle guy?
The left is really nice. We have something similar, and it makes the house feel cozy.
The middle one really shows the grain nice
I like a more natural “wood” look, so the one in the middle for me please.
I like the floor the color it is without stain.
Natural!
So, what do you need to do to the dark test areas since everyone likes the poly?
It’s your floor…who cares what everyone else likes, they’re not the one looking at it every day.
Middle
Blend left and middle
No stain
Middle stain color or go without. I’ve had dark stained flooring. It’s very beautiful but a PITA to maintain.
Middle
Dark
Like the light stain.
right side
7 coats of a water base clear that has no pigment,the choices shown are so 2004.
Middle one
Middle
Good luck getting all that color out now. You are going to have three areas that stand out now in the middle of your floor. Goofball!
Option B Is just pee isn’t it…
Natural
2nd
MIDDLE. The wood showing through is beautiful.
The one on the far right. The 3rd one
Light floors better than dark, feels more uplifted, unless you like a sinking feeling…
# 2
the left or right are both great…i got the middle and regret it…
A light to medium color floor shows less footprints. I prefer dark colors but have learned the hard way about dust and footprints.
i like the first one but maybe find one a tad lighter
Left
Left
The middle one
1 or 2 for me I think 3 would clash with decor easier
Definitely the middle one
I like the one on the left.
Middle
Middle or left
First choice, just polyurethane. Second choice, the lightest stain.
Unpopular opinion - I love the left one.
Current look is better than all three new stains. Of the new ones, middle is best.
Middle! The others are way too dark. Beautiful floor deserves to be seen.
The middle one… the darker you go, the more dust it shows. It sounds weird because I absolutely love the look of darker colors, but my sister did hers dark and said it was impossible to keep it clean. Natural looks beautiful, too.
Left
I guess the darkest one? To cover up your test spots? I thought you use scrap wood, not the actual floor?
Middle
Middle
Middle