I forgot to mention that we‘ll be converting the carpet and tile to hardwood. The question is whether to match the oak or stain the entire house.

Bumping this up.

I agree with your husband about one flooring throughout. This makes for a cohesive feel and the lower level will not feel like a basement.

With your dark furniture, I would recommend a lighter feel. There are numerous options for finishes on oak this is not oak. You could whitewash it, add greys to it, etc.

My favorite look with oak floors is natural with a satin finish. I think it looks clean and modern. It looks as though you have lots of varying tones in the floor so it shouldn't be a problem clashing with your furniture.

Thanks for the recommendations. Is this not oak?

This is what were considering staining. Any other suggestion? Thank you so much for the input.

Hi. I don't know what exactly that wood is or the stain. Bottom line: many wood floors can be stained with numerous stains. Oak floors with a natural stain will read golden. But, that can be changed with a stain.

A custom stain can be blended also.

As a first step, I would contact a flooring specialist.

I would not do gray floors. They are a trend and they will not stand the test of time. The beauty of wood floors is in the warmth that they bring to a room. Staining them gray will eliminate that warmth. The only way to know what's going to work best is to do tests with several different colors with a coat of finish applied so you can get an accurate picture of the finished product.

It depends what kind of wood the floors are - red oak - white oak? I agree that the whole house should be done, but doesn't have to be done at the same time. We did our downstairs at once, and then later we did the upstairs. I like floors either light or dark. If going the light route, I'd just sand them down and leave them natural (no stain) and then use a water based top coat in a satin or matte finish. If going dark, then use a dark walnut or jacobean. No gray, it's cold and on the way out.

On another note.....will you be keeping your current furniture? Example: you mentioned updating the house, but the bedroom set you have is extremely traditional. Is that staying?

Have you considered vinyl plank flooring. Easy to install, durable and has the look of wood.

All of the furniture in living room will be replaced. The bedroom stuff will stay. It’s actually only 2 years old. we bought it when we we were considering a traditional theme. Home decor is definitely not my forte. Right now, I’m hoping to achieve a transitional look.

I think what bothers me most is the three different types of flooring downstairs. We were considering a dark walnut color but I’m concerned it might make the house look dark. I was considering painting the walls gray.

When considering flooring, consider:

-what you like

-if you could be selling, on average, buyers tend to like a medium tone (not too dark, not too light)

-dark colors tend to show scratches more and dust

-grey is trending out, but you don't have to go by trends.

You might consider a whitewash finish.

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Also, consider luxury vinyl plank. Not sure if cost of replacing all with lvp vs. cost of refinishing existing wood and replacing tile and carpet. You could get an estimate.

Wood floors are not the best application in a basement. You'd likely at least have to put in subfloor.

(0s oak is just that and can be changed with stain but you will need to know wether red or white oak and aI agree all the floors the same and IMO not gray if you want transitional and I would do natural if it is white oak and then use rugs to bring in the vibe you want.

IMO whatever color you stain your floors do not replace with LVP. No one would pull up real wood floors and out down plastic. It would decrease the value of your home.

Thanks everyone for the tips. I really like the gray look because I‘m leaning towards a cooler tone. The whitewash color looks good too. How can I tell if my current floors are Red Oak or white oak?

Red oak tends to have a larger, wilder pattern than white oak, which tends to have a smaller, compact pattern.

The first step is to get a contractor in for pricing and to see if a wood floor is even viable in your lower level

imo, as a real estate investor who has made quite a comfortable living investing in real estate, do not do whatever design girl says, she has no industry experience.

@1171 -As a matter of fact, I am a licensed real estate broker as well as a designer.

You can certainly use cooler tones on the walls and in furnishings, but if you don't keep some kind of warmth in the room, it ends up being cold and looking like a black and white photo. Scandinavian design uses cooler colors almost exclusively, but there's always the warmth of wood in the room and it's usually the floors.

I would agree with CDR Design. Dark floors will show every speck of dirt and every scratch. Not ideal if you have pets or children who might be hard on floors. I like matte finishes for their contemporary look and ease of care. Honestly, most people will not know or notice the very slight differences between red and white oak. Also as someone else already mentioned, hard wood not great for basements or places that may get a lot of water/moisture but are almost always more desired over vinyl.
Ideally you should do what you like :) unless you are looking to sell in the near future in which case you should stick to a more medium tone which is going to appeal to most people.