I like the stained bit.

Two thoughts:

1) what is the distinction between the sample chunks and the stain tested directly on your floor? are any of them just a neutral sealer?

2) these samples seem to be all over the place, so it may come down to taste. do you have a preference? inspiration pictures?

I would not do grey. I like the lightest stain possible. It keeps the room looking light and airy.

Thanks everyone for your feedback! The one that is done directly on the floor itself is the natural sealant. I believe Bona Classic. And they will put traffic HD on top.

I just took custom mixes that a lot of designers use. My preference is to stay pretty light.

Thank you for your feedback!!!

White oak?? leave it natural!!

You will discover the Bona Classic allows a little bit of ambering (as seen in the photo). The Bona Traffic HD is a clear coat = no colour added. Bona ClassicSeal offers a snick of yellow...which is why you are seeing so much yellow in the patch. You can move away from that if you wish. Bona makes sealants that STOP the wood from turning yellow like that.

I REALLY like a natural look or a clear coat look (without the yellow) when working with blue. Blue sets off the light yellows in the wood and the light yellows set off the blue beautifully.

When living with a gray floor, it can feel gray after a few years. As in blah. That blah feeling will GET WORSE in the winter or on gray days/rainy days in fall.

A natural or 'raw' wood tone will feel warmer and more inviting through the winter months. It is like the sunshine is coming from the FLOORS instead of through the windows. It's part of why I like it so much.

And it is easier to decorate around should you wish to paint walls in the future (not many people keep the same wall colours for 20+ years). A gray floor does not offer the flexibility as a natural toned floor.

If you want the floors to look as close to the CURRENT colour (sanded white oak as shown in your photos) I would look at Bona NaturalSeal. It is NON-YELLOWING. It offers the look of 'raw' or unfinished flooring. It will keep the lighter grayish tone you already see on the floor.

Personally the little bit of yellow from the ClassicSeal is very handsome in your setting. It will allow the floors to glow without adding orange.

Just a thought.

The natural looks beautiful, neutral and timeless!

Thank you everyone! @SJ McCarthy thank you for your expertise as always.

I am very concerned about the tanin pull. Do you think it will be an issue? And do you like Bona Classic or Bona NaturalSeal better? I saw that Bona advertised Classic as being defensive against tanin pull. But to your point, it does have yellow and some orange hues (in my eyes). Thanks so much once again!!!!

Houzz will not let me edit the original post but we are doing LVP in the basement. The goal is to match the hardwood as much as possible to the LVP.

It is called Sweet Talker by Provenza.

Thank you!

I prefer a mid-tone site-finished stained white oak floor. It's a classic and does not ever look "trendy" or "dated". I would absolutely avoid the gray tones. A hardwood floor is for decades and should never be subject to trends

I would not use a wood-look LVT in the basement. Choose something that is not trying to pretend to be something else, when one has the real thing in the house (even if on a different floor).

Never make a color selection off a computer screen.

Follow up question would be would you recommend satin or matte finish?

and does anyone have an example of Bona NaturalSeal look?

Thank you so much!!!!

I prefer a satin. I like a glow to my wood so that I can tell if it needs cleaning or not. Only a homeowner can decide on gloss level. A 'shiny-clean' person (someone who believes clean means shiny and vice verse) will never accept a matte or even a satin. The LACK of gloss will drive them INSANE. Semi-gloss is as low as they can go and still feel good after they clean their floors.

The rest of do well with satin. Matte can be a nightmare to live with. Oils are SHINIER than the matte. Which means skin oils, cooking oils, paw oils, etc will all show up on a matte floor. Many people feel like a slave to their floors when they work with matter (or glossy...the extremes are always hard to live with).

So we tried out Naturalseal in both satin (left) and extra matte (right). I can hardly tell the difference!

Classicseal definitely has more yellows and oranges. Naturalseal seems to bring out the grays in white oak more.

Which one looks better?

Classicseal marked as #2 again below.

Thank you for your help!!!! We decided to go with naturalseal and satin finish. The flooring contractor said they have to do two coats of naturalseal. Not sure why. And two coats of traffic HD satin...

Second picture - second color from the right is your winner.

Third from the right could work just as well.

I love your LVP floors! We’re picking some now for our house and Sweet Talker is my top runner! Would you be able to post more pictures? I can’t tell from the sample I’d they will read yellow when they’re all laid out. I love a natural white oak look but don’t want yellow tones. They look so beautiful!

Can you share stain for the one circled as it looks very similar to our flooring and our painter has tried dozens of stains which aren't remotely close to the floor color.

It's not letting me add a photo, but it's the one to the right of the one you identified as 1 and above the one you identified as 2