The prefinished floors can be refinished to the color you want by sanding off the finish. The finish on these floors is very strong, so refinishing may cost a little more than for a site finished floor. It will need to be sanded down to remove the finish and the bevels on the side. Then any unfinished oak flooring of the same style can be matched and the whole floor finished in the same stain.

The positives of working with the floor you have are that 2 1/4 solid oak is a floor that has been around for many decades and is timeless rather than trendy. You will always be able to find it if needed - the unfinished oak doesn't get discontinued like other flooring. You will also not be filling a landfill with a perfectly good floor.

The down side is the refinishing may be a little more $ due to the hardness of the finish. Also, when you refinish, be careful that the new color blends with the home. It looks fine in the pics. I see many elegant homes with similar toned floors - don't let HGTV (which is a marketing tool) direct your likes and dislikes.

The current tan walls are fighting against the golden floors and bringing out the orange tinge you don't like. It's possible with different paint that works well with those floors, you'll wind up liking the color. Here's an article on paint colors that work well with wood:

[https://www.houzz.com/magazine/11-terrific-paint-color-matches-for-wood-details-stsetivw-vs~9025200[(https://www.houzz.com/magazine/11-terrific-paint-color-matches-for-wood-details-stsetivw-vs~9025200)

Here are some rooms with the reddish golden floor color you have:

Remember, you're looking at a blank space without rugs, furnishings, and different paint so the conflicting wall and floor colors currently bring out the worst.

Thanks for you comments jhmarie, and since budget is a consideration, I will be pricing it out both ways, 1. to totally refinish the existing floors and adding new wood to finish all together and then 2. the option of just adding more prefinished flooring in the rooms that need it. There is extra material that is available from the original construction of the home and maybe it could be mixed at the doorway to try to achieve some continuity. Do you think that is an option? I would very much like to reduce the landfill pile.

Housegal200, I appreciate your comments and now you have me giving great consideration to painting all the walls before touching the floors. In my mind, the floors were to be done before painting, but if you have experience that contradicts that option, please let me know. I appreciate the link with the paint choices giving consideration to the warm wood floor tones. I especially like the white paint in the first picture, but oh my, how do you think that will work with the cream tile color in the kitchen and the travertine backsplash? The tile in the master bathroom is also warm colors, tans, etc.

Bruce does not always discontinue its hardwood flooring in classic tones, so it is possible you can find the matching floor. That would be the least expensive, but if you don't like the color, might not be the way to go. I agree that changing paint and adding your own furniture and rugs could change how you view the floor. Another big factor is light bulbs - the older fluorescents send out a yellow tone that can affect how walls and floors look. Play around with some LEDs from warm to cool to see how they affect the color tones.

Lighter, warmer tones are returning in many of the newer design pics. This 2016 This Old House has Maritime White on the walls - I have not seen it in person.

Cream, white, creamy beige, greens and blues look pretty with warm wood. Cool grays - not so much, thought the above colors can have a gray undertone - like the Maritime White does above. The prison gray walls seem to be trending out - not surprising - and being replaced by lighter, more silver grays.

I wonder if the floors can refinished if they were engineered flooring? Is it 3/4 inch solid oak or an engineered oak veneer with a different subfloor laminated to the veneer......I do not know but the question came to mind.......there are always surprises. Good luck.

Get a large rug to anchor the seating (front legs 6”-8” onto the rug). Paint out the doors.

Susan Davis, thanks for the comment. The owner showed us the original 3/4 red oak pieces stacked in the attic that were left over from the original installation, so, no, it is definitely not engineered hardwood. But I do agree, surprises abound....just not this wood flooring!

Hopingtogetfit, Thanks so much for sharing your pictures and yes, your floors are gorgeous and I like the wall color much better too. Are those floors prefinished red oak, per chance? I can't wait to lighten these walls!

Yes, these are prefinished red oak. Not Bruce floors but Baroque brand. The lighter color on the walls made all the difference! A neighnor stopped by (who was friends with the former homeowner) and said, “Oh my gosh! I never noticed how beautiful these floors are!”

We are having these floors extended into our master bathroom this week.

I meant bedroom (not bathroom)!

ohhh, I like the wider boards! I wish these were that width. How will they match them up in the doorways?

When we did out floors upstairs, we thought we would carpet two of the bedrooms, but later changed our minds about one of the bedrooms. A wood piece of flooring was placed like a threshold across the doorway and the flooring restarted on the other side. The threshold piece was placed at the same height as the flooring - not raised, so the floor is flat cross the doorway.

I have the same flooring and wanted to refinish but am afraid what if does not turn out the way we like it . We were planning to add the same color in bedrooms and hallways but I prefer to change the color. It is in good conditions and wanted opinion are the wood colors that bad? I got used to it but wanted something a bit modern but due to budget as well
Your thoughts

There is nothing wrong with the color of your floors - why do you think there is? Refinishing pre-finished solid hardwood can be done - it may be a little more expensive then refinishing a site finished floor because it takes a lot of specialized sanding to get that tough pre-finished finish off. You should talk to a flooring specialist about the cost and what would be the expectations if you change the stain color.

You can easily go darker, but once dark it is hard to go lighter - the stain gets into the grain and it is difficult to sand it all out. Dark floors do show dust and scratches more.

The only thing I do not like about my pre-finished flooring is the slight beveled edges. Refinishing will remove that.

I think for preference that I wanted to go lighter of a Greyish tone. But I wanted tots get opinion if the color is okay with what I have with me furniture etc.. the tone of the wood is a red tone but we been here 10 yrs already and I kind of got use to it

Gray flooring is trending out. Light, natural is what I am seeing in the newer design pics. Trying to turn red oak grayish requires an expert flooring person - and even then the look may not be what you wanted. It will be very expensive for a look which is more trendy then timeless.

The tone is red because it is red oak. A good flooring person can make it browner and less red. However, it is a fine floor and one cannot keep up with the constant change in flooring trends:)