Hello Gary,

I have just finished the sanding and I am ready to stain the floors but I cannot decide on what color of stain to use. The house is a beautiful old, large 2-story brick home built in the 1930's with very large rooms. The floors are red oak and sanded out really nice. All of the trim (baseboard, door opening trimwork, fireplace mantel woodwork, doors, window benches, and any other woodwork in the home) are oak but have been finished years ago and are a very dark walnut color, almost black looking, and it is in really good condition. I am undecided on whether to go with a dark walnut stain or go for some contrast?? I did a sample area in a closet with the dark walnut stain from Minwax and it did look nice. I've always had a hard time chosing wall colors and and struggle with interior design decisions. I have had a friend tell me to stain the floors a golden oak to give it some contrast and I've also been old to go with the dark walnut stain so, I am really confused. Any suggestions or pictures of other homes with these features would be greatly appreciated.

Thank you very much,

Charles M. Oden

Most of the homes built in the 30's that I have worked in had either very dark floors or really light stain color, like the Minwax Golden Oak. If you have good, natural lighting ( lots of windows ) and the walls are light colored as well, you could go real dark like the rest of the trim and still not have the house look like a dungeon. That being said, I have also seen where the floors were light and the trim in the house was dark and that looked good as well. What color were the floors BEFORE they were sanded? As for pictures, browse through this section of our forum.

hardwood-flooring-and-stairs-photo-gallery-f7-100.html

I saw these:

more-refinishing-photos-t179.html
hidden-underneath-the-carpet-and-plywood-t297.html

They had carpetover them and I pulled it. I would say the floors were stained a little darker than natural...maybe a Provincial or Early American (both Minwax colors) looking stain. There were a lot of stains and scuff marks on them. For contrast, what would you go with. I can also take some pictures of them right now so you could get an idea of what I'm dealing with. I'll be at the house this afternoon and could get some pics to you tonight. Thanks, Charles