Close up of current floor with a few sample colors

This is the breakfast area on other side of kitchen. The table is two tone. I’m worried about too many wood colors. I’d like to do some window dressings here but not sure what to do since window buts up against wall. I probably could add rug to break up some of the wood but worries it would be a mess with the kids eating there

Close up of counter and backsplash. I don’t love either but was this way when we bought house. I would really love white cabinets

i love the coffee color! i don't think it would look bad till you get the new cabinet color. a rug would definitely help break up the wood . a natural fiber rug works great with messy kid eaters.

My brother refinished his red oak floors 10+ years ago with no stain (?) just a clear coat. I love it and with a large dog and two small kids it looks great even when it's not dusted/clean. We had a dark stained oak floor (gunstock stain maybe) and it showed every bit of dust. Never again.

You should get what you want as to stain color, but I am seeing more natural floors in new design pics than dark. The dark shows the scratches and dust more - requires you keep your Swiffer handy:)

I have natural on my main level and gunstock upstairs, which is a little darker and the upstairs definitely shows the dust more. I think this is why there is a move back to more natural toned floors - or lightly stained.

If the floors are in relatively good shape, I would put off the refinishing till you can do all you want to do. You may have a change of plans by then. I would hesitate to make an expensive change that is dependent on making another change a few years down the road. White cabinets would still look lovely with natural or lightly stained floors.

I am having a hard time figuring out the wood of your cabinets. I don't think they are oak or maple - but it is hard to tell from the picture at a distance. Hickory maybe?

I refreshed my wood kitchen with new counters and backsplash, but did not paint.

You might do roman shades at the windows. If you want to keep the blinds, you can do faux roman shades to hide the blinds during the day.

We are not sure if the cabinets are maple or hickory. We think maybe maple but not sure. The floors are not in good condition. There is a 20ft section that is going to be replaced due to water damage and several large cracks they are going to try to repair. The office has pink carpet we are replacing and having the hardwood extended into that room. The quote was $7,000 so kinda expensive. They are natural stain now but I’m just not a fan of the orange tone.

Your floors are beautiful and classic! As was stated, darker floors can look beautiful if you live alone and never breathe. The light color is so much easier to care for, and it keeps a room from looking dark. Be aware that once you paint your cabinets white it can start a chain reaction making everything else look " off".

Hi!
The coffee color does look nice. I would agree with the earlier poster who said to get what you want for the long term. Medium to light (browner tones, less yellow) do seem to be the next trend for hardwood because of the difficulties of keeping the dark stains looking clean.
What about an inexpensive indoor/outdoor rug under the dining table? They are easy to clean and can add some color/pattern to break up all of the wood.
Also agree that Roman Shades could work well in your space. Or cornices with a cool fabric, since you already have blinds.
Eventually, as it all comes together with the new cabinet paint, it will be great!
Best of luck!

I don’t want to go too dark. Maybe medium brown. I found this photo that said it was called coffee over red oak.

Grapefruit.... what would look off if I do cabinets and counters at same time?

Imhofan thank you. That’s the color I’m leaning towards. Kids are 11 and 14 now but still can be quiet messy!

For those that asked the cabinets are hickory. We were not sure but I just looked at the old realtor listing and that’s how the owners must have described them

Leave the floors until at least after you’ve done everything else. The color of the floor will look less orange after you paint the cabinets and other updates. That’s what happened with mine. I love my red oak floors now that they are surrounded by cool tones but I hated them at first

Can you put the colors up against your dining table, walls, and anything else you don't want to change? There are undertone differences in those samples, and you want to make sure they go with whatever else is staying long-term (or even short-term, like your cabinets and countertops).

Since you are going to paint (at a much later date) the cabinets white, you will be choosing the floor stain that will work in the FUTURE! This idea is VERY important! Very, very important.

I would start putting together a colour board/story board for your kitchen TODAY! That includes flooring colours, lighting, wall, counter tops and back splash (and appliances if needed....probably not necessary but always include them in the story board).

Now....you put together a 7 YEAR plan. Yes. Seven. Years. This is the average time frame needed to complete a "one at a time" kitchen "flip". You are PIECEMEALING your kitchen. Be aware that this is HARD to do if you do NOT have a picture of where you are headed. So. Do the easy thing and give yourself a FINAL destination. Do it with the story board.

And yes...you are going to change everything (other than the appliances most likely). Sigh. I know. You hadn't "planned" on it, but with WHITE CABINETS and off-white/beige counters you are going to HATE that combination. And you don't like the back splash. That's fine. Back splashes get RUINED when you pull the counters out....see where I'm going with this?

Right. So. Best take 2 weeks (yep...that's all you need) to figure out your 7 year renovation plan for a piecemeal kitchen renovation. Two weeks of your time = free. There is no harm in giving yourself time to make up your story board. It is free and it will save you THOUSANDS of dollars in "redos". And there will be do-overs if you do NOT get the story board on board.

OK. That being said, I like to keep floor colours "happy" with counter top colours. Oh. Don't have counter tops figured out. That will be a bit awkward.

So....what is your IDEAL counter top???? Dark or WHITE/light???? Remember, you will have WHITE cabinets. If you have natural wood floors, you can have WHATEVER COLOUR YOU WANT for a counter top. We won't care. So the colour those floors are today are an excellent option for tomorrow's kitchen. They look good with everything you already have.

And to be clear, oak doesn't turn orange like that. It is the OIL BASED finish that turns orange (if you paint a white piece of paper with the finish, it turns orangy-yellow as it dries). Water based finishes do NOT do this.

And are you SURE this is Red Oak????? Red Oak is normally a stronger colour with very HEAVY grain and more of a cinnamon tone to it. Did you send away a sample to a lab to find out the species ($100 test = no heart ache later when the two species do NOT match)? We've seen this "oopsa" many, many many times before.

If those cabinets are hickory, then I would bet those floors are white oak not red. Red oak clashes with natural hickory (and maple). White Oak pairs VERY NICELY with Hickory...and this floor you have is NICELY paired with the cabinetry....Please have your floors tested for species before purchasing/ordering red oak. Just for giggles. Let's spend $100 today so you don't waste THOUSANDS tomorrow.

Sj McCarthy will they be able to tell the floor species when they sand. The floor refinishers told me it was red oak. I’d like a quartz counter top mostly white with maybe some grey in it. I’d like either a white subway backsplash or a grey. Probably white.

They will will they? How many times we've seen a "species match" not match? It is almost 50:50 at this point. Those are not good odds. Sanding will reveal some of the characteristics of the wood, but not all. We've seen over and over again the "wrong match" - even after sanding.

And normally you have to purchase the "additional" flooring and have it installed FIRST and THEN you sand down everything all at once. If they are waiting for that point (you purchase red oak, you install red oak only to find the original was white oak....oh dear) then it is normally too late.

It doesn't make sense that they would sand down ALL OF YOUR FLOORS....then order the matching wood, wait several weeks for it to come in, let it acclimate for 2-3 weeks and THEN install. You would be without a usable floor for 45-60 days if they did it that way. It doesn't make sense.

I would HIGHLY recommend that a small piece be taken from a closet and then mailed off to a test facility. You will have the results in 1 week. Imagine if that $7000 quote doubles to $14,000 because no one tested the wood.

Thanks. They did tell me the water based finish would help with the orange. They said it looks like oil finish on them now. Now I’m worried. We have a second quote coming today. I’m so worried about picking the wrong floor color. I won’t have to wait years to paint the cabinets but probably 8-12 months. I just don’t want to go into debt over it. The floors are driving me crazy though with the damage that was done to them.

If you are absolutely in love with the idea of white cabinets, I won't push you to change your mind - but I have older oak cabinets, and just a new countertop, backsplash and sink was enough to make me feel happy with my kitchen. Hickory is nicer than oak too. While our door style is not returning any time soon, warm mid tone wood tones are - even in kitchen cabinetry:

my simple kitchen - but I like it:

https://www.houzz.com/photos/my-pics-work-in-progress-phvw-vp~110720042

Update! Floors are done. We went with Jacobean and water based too coat. Species matched up fine and I can’t tell the difference at all. Still working on trim and then later we will have cabinets painted. They turned out so nice

Very handsome!