Post your favorite and her favorite stain colors.

She likes the top two and I like the bottom.

Here's the kitchen which is staying as is.

I would say the top one. It's the most neutral. It will flow nicely with the kitchen floor but it might not work with the paneled walls. They can always be painted or restained at a later time if the tones clash.

The bottom is too red/orange and too dark.

Why do you think the bottom is the best choice for her space?

I think her goal is to coordinate with the present color of the paneled walls, thanks.

I don't think redoing your floors to match one room is a good strategy.

What about the rest of the house, the furnishings, the new paint? The bottom floor is bossy and if she doesn't coordinate the rest of her choices with it, things will look off. Especially if she likes the more modern grays and whites.

This is her furniture in old house.....warm tones. And all moving to new home.

When you mentioned the change to white paint I did not have those furnishings in mind! You know her taste and decor style better than I, good luck.

I really want to help. This is a huge decision, as they are going to have to live with this for a very long time.

The listing pictures are a different lighting, so I am having a difficult time being confident in the color selection based on the current photos. I think you may have the same issue.

Can your daughter take one of the cabinet doors off and set it against the wall next to each of the two stains.

Have her send you the pics and post them.

Note the color difference of the sanded floor to the listing pic.

Both make the cabinets look dreadfully yellow, but the floor in the listing photo is also dreadfully yellow.

I would be less concerned with color of the tile in the kitchen. We almost expect a wood floor to be warmer than a hard surface as we find this in nature with the warmer wood tones and the cold colors in rocks and stones.

Just saw your picture of her furnishing from her last home.

She will hate my suggestion, but I would grab a couple of the pillows from her furniture and put them near the samples as well.

The best way to pick colors is to see them next to each other and how they play together.

Here is what I did to decide and make tweaks to my color selections.

The more of your things that you bring in more confident you will be in your selection.

Kind of like picking an outfit. The shirt has to go with the suit, the tie has to work with the shirt and the suit, the shoes have to work with the suit and shirt and tie. If any one of the items is off it makes the whole outfit look off.

i like them natural

I like the top one. I rarely like to see beautiful wood paneling painted, but, after looking at her furniture, that room needs to have the paneling painted for the room to look cohesive.

After seeing her current furnishings, I would pick the bottom stain.

I'll be sending this link to her later this morning as I think she's heard enough from mom :)
She needs to pick at noon.

Please share before and after - we love seeing them!

Will do for sure!

@efayen I’m curious- what type of wood are the floors (red oak?) and what color stain is the bottom one?

I think they are red oak, Carolae, and I don't have the color names.

Bottom one seems the best for the existing wall color and looks least "forced". The top 3 go too cool/grey, too trendy, and would make the walls look orange-y. Although personally I would leave them the color they are.

Hi all, I’m the daughter and picking the color today now. I am very much leaning towards painting the walls lighter after thought and research. I am seeing one more darkish color today and choosing. I just don’t like the dark walls and I don’t think any of these floors match the wood paneling. I need to brighten the room and update it as I love farmhouse style. Thank you all for posting. I will update this post later.

I'm glad you have more time to make a decision about the stain.

The space has lots of potential, just keep in mind that cool colors (greys and grey-toned whites) and warm colors don't naturally play nice together. You can see the issue in the paneled room, the grey stone fireplace looks out of place. The previous owner tried to tie things together with the gray accents in the furnishings but it wasn't enough to help the eye blend the warm walls, warm rug, and the cool-toned fireplace.

Look at Jennifer's post above where she has samples of her choices next to each other. That's a great way to make sure your choices look cohesive. The only thing I would add is to also look at samples in the light of your space, which can sometimes can change tones of colors.

Amandaaglanz

Picking house colors always seems so difficult, but in reality we do this every day. We pick clothing and makeup and jewelry to coordinate outfits.

I like using outdoor sunlight because it truly is the only full spectrum light. If two colors work together without any issues in sunlight they work together. If they are off you see it right away.

I learned this from an artist.

Here is a link to something I wrote for people trying to pick colors for their home.

It may have some helpful information.

https://www.houzz.com/discussions/5832220/how-i-select-a-whole-home-color-palette

Far from hating :) daughter took your advice, Jennifer Hogan. She settled on the third one down in the left column and I think she did fine. Thanks to all for your efforts!

Love the final choice, especially when seen with the other elements for the room!

That looks like it will be beautiful! I am so glad that she took the extra time needed to get it just right!

Thank you so much, I did and I feel so good about the choice. This string of comments have been so helpful! I can’t wait to have it done and post the final pics. I definitely want to paint the wood walls a lighter color.

Following