If you like the beautiful deeper red that Cherry turns when finished natural, don't stain it. If you want to alter the color or make it more uniform, stain it.

Love the look you have now.

I see no point in spending the money on the floor if you now want it to look like something else. What stain are you thinking of? I assume you like the varied planks so leave it and as for finish why would you think matte will not look clean?

Patricia, thanks so much. I just wanted to know if people thought it looked dated? Regarding the matte finish, I had a couple friends tell me it shows footprints. I’m not sure why — seems to me the glossy would show more scratches and prints. What do you think?

Dated is only in the "now" or the moment of time which people are viewing a product. In 5 years they will think differently. And 50 years from now, they will think something different. A hardwood floor will span 60-80 years worth of life. What is 'in' today won't matter tomorrow.

Hardwood can be changed (stained) or allowed to be itself. Depending on THE OWNER'S whim. But in the end...it is the same floor. Only the HUMAN perspective has changed.

So...now for the finish. A matte finish can have issues. Yes there are many finishes that show foot prints. Why? Because skin oils are SHINIER than the floor they are sitting on. And some matte finishes (site finishes) that have issues showing SHOE prints because the plasticizers in the finish clash with the plasticizers in the shoe rubber. Sigh.

For a low gloss finish, I like Satin. It is not so extreme as matte. That's what you want to avoid...the extremes. Which means Satin (low gloss) and Semi-gloss (high gloss) are the two finishes that have the greatest homeowner satisfaction. Matte is problematic. Gloss/Super Gloss is problematic.

The photo of the existing floor looks to be satin (the glow from the windows is NOT crisp and clear but a bit diffused = satin). If you like it, stick with it. If you want more shine...then go semi-gloss.

And remember to ask yourself: Am I a shiny-clean person? Do I believe that 'clean' means shiny?

A shiny-clean person will HATE a lower gloss floor. They always feel the floor is dull. These are the people who OVER CLEAN their floors because they never get a 'good shine' on the floor (unless it is freshly mopped and still wet = shiny looking).

Thanks for your thoughtful advice. I appreciate it. The existing floors are semi-gloss, but they are probably dirty and worn down a bit.

IF you feel the semi-gloss - which has dulled down to satin - appears a bit dirty and a bit worn then I recommend you work with semi-gloss again. Anything lower gloss is going to be upsetting for you.

Haha this actually IS dirty. But my thought was that if the floor is supposed to look dull, then maybe scratches and things that dull it won’t bother me so much. That has been the case with some of my distressed furniture, anyway.

etwitchell - What direction did you go with your floors? We have the identical and facing the same agonizing decision. If you have pics to share, would love to see and know what you ended up doing. TIA!

Yes - did you end up staining youe floors? If so, would love to see the after pictures!

We stained our existing American Cherry floors with a darker stain also laced in additional new American Cherry. They turned out beautiful and seamless between the old and new. Now they match our new Walnut slab cabinets. YES, you can “update” American Cherry from Red to a more even brown tone.