They are beautiful. Will you redo the stair case, as well?

Whether you stay light/natural or go dark I would HIGHLY recommend an area rug for your dining table. Currently there is a clash between the red/pink of the dining set with the strong gold of the flooring.

You can work with light stains that have a very mild colouring to them (DuraSeal's Fruitwood comes to mind) that will offer some pink to reduce the clash. Or you can work with a clear coat of water based polyurethane (technically all that orange is the oil/solvent based finish....the wood underneath is a linen colour).

If you go dark, you can ensure there is a bit of red established in the colour (a blend with mahogany could work)....but you will then lose the impact of your dining set. Again the use of an area rug will give you a degree of separation so that both the floors and the dining set are seen in the best light.

If you wish to go modern (or more modern? or more "up to date"?) then you will need to look at the stairs as well.

Get a beautiful rug for the diningroom...one large enough for the chairs to set on, add some draperies or fabric panels to the windows, lower the chandeliere, get something on the walls and a center piece on the table and perhaps some candle sticks, and you will find it all works together in a sort of traditional way.

Thank you for the comments...and the unexpected compliments! lol. Beleive it or not the staircase is the same color as the floor. The color hue of the photo was slightly modified I beleive. In any case we really want to get away from the golden traditional look. And yes the staircase is going to play a central part in updating the overall look. Here is what we are aiming for (see photo below).

Goodness, I would not alter those gorgeous floors. As was said, classic and easy to maintain. Dark floors are a trend, and they are a nightmare to keep looking clean.

Your home and your style can handle the deeper coloured floors in your inspiration photo. The red tones in the inspiration photo are the right direction. Again, the dining set will get lost because the woods will be very similar in colour/intensity. A stunning oriental rug with a white background would look amazing with dark floors and cherry furniture.

Leave those floors alone!!!! You will regret going darker o SO may levels. And the above is right - if they're darker, your DR furniture will just blend together with it. It's lovely as it is.

I prefer the lighter floors, but your inspiration pic is beautiful. So, as long as you put a rug under your table, it will look lovely! That staircase is gorgeous and will really look nice replacing what you have now.

I Believe your floor is ok. If you change your floor colour to match your furniture, It will be to much dark in your house. You may be tired very soon.

Keep in mind that while the dark floors have been a trend, it is vey difficult to go back once you stain them dark. I wish mine were lighter, PO stained dark.

You can't find new floors as nice as what you have. Just put down more rugs and you'll be all set. Have one at the front door leading to the stairs.

Thank you very much for your opinions! It seems that the majority are in favour of keeping the light golden floors! To each his own I guess. Despite the arguments for keeping the floors, we are going to go against the grain (pardon the pun). We want to go a tad darker. The question that we would like help with is what would work with the color of our furniture. I will post some color samples shortly.

In terms of decor, yes the room needs to be dressed up more. I like the idea of an area rug, window dressing, and center pieces. The light color of the walls I think would welcome darker floors.

Thanks for your help!

Here are some examples of dark floors with cherry colored furnture. Do I need to go really dark to offset the cherry furniture? Or should the color be slightly lighter shade on the red side in order to match the furniture?

More pics of dining rooms attempting to match dark floors to cherry furniture.

You don't have to go super dark. But I would certainly try to get some reddish tones in there. First things first: what SPECIES of oak are you working with? If this is red oak (many are because it is cheaper than white oak) then the situation could solve itself. Red Oak has a tendency to "pull" red colouring out all by itself.

Hi SJ, my current floors are solid red oak, installed rough and varnished by previous owner when they built the house. So no bevelled edges.

I haven't read the other responses, but I have to say where I am (East Coast where a lot of trends start), dark floors are already out and natural, i.e. lighter floors are in. Of course, they are wider planks...

1.8 mio, built in 2017

2.1 mio