I should also add that I'd rather not paint the current wood in the hallway -- I think it's all sorts of lovely.

Hi Carolina -- thanks for responding. People have told me that they are either cherry or oak. I think they are oak with a cherry stain right now.

Do you think I'd ever get the wood colors to match?

It's possible but it will take attention to detail. Can you take a close up of the wood or tell me if it has a texture or has a flush feel? Oak has more texture to the grain than cherry.

Is refinishing the trim an option? If it was stripped down to the raw wood it would be a simple task to match the new door stain and trim.

If refinishing the trim isn't an option, you could choose a slightly darker colour for the doors to make it obvious that it wasn't your intention to match.

Thanks Carolina -- I've attached a picture.

I'd be staining the moldings (because you can see they need some treatment) and then trying to match the doors then to the molding?

Hi Lindsey-- thanks for your response. I am planning on refinishing the trim. What are your thoughts then if I refinish the trim? Try to match like Carolina says?

If you can get doors in the same species as the trim or a species that takes stain in a similar way I think you could achieve a good result with matching. But I'm not an expert.

An option could be to choose the doors and stain them, then try to match on a small piece of trim. (Maybe a piece that isn't salvageable) If you can match, fantastic! If you can't, you could go lighter or darker with the trim and it will look intentional.

Hey Lindsey -- so your feeling is that it is better to not have white doors. Even if the stain is slightly off between the trim and the door, that's better than white doors. Right?

Yes. Better than white!

But I wouldn't settle for "slightly off" though. I would match perfectly (which may be quite possible when working from unfinished wood) or if a perfect match isn't possible I would make the difference obvious so it looks like I intended there to be a contrast.

Ah! Thanks Lindsey. I see your point.

It doesn't look like oak to me, more like walnut or mahogany. Get someone in there who knows wood species and find out. How many doors do you have to replace, anyway?

Hi Carolina. In the hallway I have 5 doors that need to be replaced. How does the wood species influence stain? Is it that I am trying to pick a door that matches the trim.

If you can start with the same wood, it will help in matching the stain. Woods take stain differently and the underlying colors will make the color stain you use look different. A gunstock stain looks different on maple as it does on cherry or walnut or oak. If that's the raw wood in your picture, it looks like walnut, which has a chocolate color. You probably won't want to spend the big bucks it would take to custom make five walnut doors but you may be able to use a maple or stain-grade poplar and the right stain to get a close look.

You've got gorgeous trim, you want to go the extra mile to make sure the doors come as close as possible.

Also, use a sanding sealer before you stain or take it to someone who does this professionally.