I've got about 450' of 4" raw white oak I've installed in my home. I've done some mild distressing (chain, worm holes, cross scraping but joints, random scratches) on the oak. Then I took a mixture of vinegar and steel wool and wiped over the oak which turned it black. Then I scraped the majority of that off and left the low spots/dents and some streaks on the floor. I like the look to his point, looks like an old worn floor.

I've been playing around with some different colored stain (minwax, old masters, and wood classics) and am losing the look I was going for. I'd like to get a brown stain over it (alder cabinets have armoire hickory on them) but too dark of a stain covers the black streaks and doesn't leave them real visible. A lighter stain kind of makes it look like there are bad spots or an uneven finish within the stain. Don't want to go with just a clear coat as it goes golden.

I was planning to put a satin matte finish over the stain. Thought about an oil finish but wasn't sure about that - don't know much about those.

Anybody got any thoughts suggestions for maintaining the worn look through stain/finishing?