Have you considered a Natural finish over White Oak? Use a Select or high grade since its a modern decor.

I would opt for 1 but that's because I am not a fan of the gray wood trend. I think natural stained like 1 are more timeless.

I am doing a gut remodel of my condo in a high rise and I am replacing the oak floors with oak floors in a natural finish. Pretty much what I had before. I have a lot of light as well but I liked the light finish as an innocuous background for everything else - I am opting for color in the furniture and also have a lot of medium stained white oak cabinetry in the kitchen, office/den and dining area - all open concept space.

I also like white oak - might have gone with that but it read brown and I liked the contrast of the light oak with the rest of the wood I am using.

I would not do anything hand scraped in a contemporary unit. The medium color you have chosen is fine.

Black Walnut, White Oak, and Maple are the 3 species I see in Modern homes most of the time.

I'd go with natural white oak, i.e. Scandinavian look.

Black walnut

I think what you have looks very nice. Repose Gray is a very "cool" color and a warmer floor looks good with it.

I'd actually use a creamy white or depending on your light, BM Simply White.

Info on Repose Gray: https://www.kylieminteriors.ca/all-about-sherwin-williams-repose-gray/

thanks for all of these great comments! I'm leaning towards #1 in the first pic; not too dark and not too light, and matches pretty well with my cabinets. I have Repose Gray at 75% in another property and I love it; will definitely do swatches of that and a creamy white.

Yes, please don't do a distressed finish in a contemporary condo...

What you have is nice. Why don't you just have it refinished? It might be better quality than what you want to replace it with. Plus, save a tree :)

I found a photo of another unit in my building that did distressed floors, and definitely do not like that look here.

I think white oak or European oak would be great options, any concerns with it being lighter than the cabinet color? (unfortunately refinishing is not an option, I wish I could)

I would think you would want contrast with your cabinets.

My cabinets are darker than the wood I chose - cabinets are white oak stained medium and flooring will be natural red oak. Liked the white oak but thought natural would create too many "brown" tones overall.

I think lighter than your cabinets would be great. Plus, it hides dirt and dust a lot better than dark floors (which i consider a plus, others might not.)

Personally I would do bamboo...as light as possible.

I’m back with more samples! Smooth finish, and I’ve labeled my top 3. They said the Euro Oak will have a lot of black grain in it , which I don’t want, and white oak was too pricey. 1st 2 pics (Tidewater Oak) are an option I’m iffy about

is this the realm lol

Yep...those are super light. I'm always leery of natural maple. Maple is photosensitive which means it turns from a soft pale wood to a strong 'yellow' in the presence of UV lighting (which is every type of light we have). Even with a water based finish, maple turns yellow. It is the biggest drawback (in my eyes) that maple has.

It is interesting that hickory is shown as a simple pale wood. Hickory is known for all of it's movement (colour changes). It can range from 'maple white' to walnut brown. It has 5-7 different wood tones in it and it is considered 'normal'. The only way around this is if it is the HIGHEST GRADE hickory on the market. Anything else and you are guaranteed to have plenty of colour in your floor...and there is nothing you can do about it. It is normal and completely natural for hickory.

Maple will have less grain compared to hickory.

Light natural maple flooring seems very '80s, but it is contemporary.

Can your existing hardwood floors be refinished?