I think your floors are beautiful and I think the warm tones go well with your counters (at least with the lighting in the photo). Maybe it won't go well with your new gray furniture but it's easier to get new furniture than new counters, and as everyone on here will tell you, gray is on its way out anyway :)

I like what you got much better than the darker sample. That’s a lot of square footage for a very dark floor, woukd have been tough for lighting. Also, very dark floors show every crumb and speck amplified. You would have been swiffering constantly. Your floors look nice. No need to be upset whatsoever.

I also think your floors look beautiful! Warm wood tones add warmth to a room with gray furniture/walls. I love the combination of gray color and warm wood in this room...

I think slightly warm floors, like you have, actually look really chic in otherwise cool toned rooms!

I think the floors look beautiful. They also looks like a neutral brown/black that will go with anything. I think you will be fine with your furniture and other choices

Ditto - the floors are beautiful. They are a classic medium brown color, like jeans, and will go with everything forever. I think the darker stain would have felt more dated sooner. Also, you will probably have a rug under the new couch and chairs so really, they won't be right against each other. No one but you will ever give your floors a second thought.

The floors are spectacular- agree with newsouthernbelle that they are more timeless than the darker option would have been, and they won’t show every crumb or speck of dust.

I too like the current floor stain much better than the sample. Rest easy.

OK...question 1: Did the stain sample include a SINGLE coat of finish? In your photo I only see a stain can and NO added finish outside the 'stain' patch (usually there's a bit of finish that you can see...but not if it's not there).

Question 2: Did the refinisher use OIL based finish? Oil based is relatively cheap (almost 1/2 the price of the HIGH END 2part water based polyurethanes) which is why many refinishers like to use them (they make more money with them). AND... OIL BASED turns yellowy orange.

If you add a dark brown to orange...you get warm tones (just like what you see in your photo). Your lighting is quite warm. And the walls appear to have an undertone that is helping to pick up the warmth in the flooring.

Personally I prefer the deep warm tones in your floor rather than a greenish-black (like your colour swatch).

Oh...one more thing. The colour patches are normally put down after the entire floor has been sanded (you want to use the 2nd to last grit level). A bit of hand sanding will NOT mimic the real deal. The amount of stain the wood takes in is an inverse relationship with the grit level used. The lower the grit level (the first pass = removing all the old finish...like what was done in the swatch) the HIGHER the amount of stain absorbed. The grain is VERY rough after the first pass (lowest grit level). When the grain is open the MORE the wood will absorb. That's why you don't want to see stain patches until the floor is ALMOST ready (or has achieved) the final pass/grit level (highest grit = LESS stain absorbed).

It isn't a excuse but it is probably part of the reason (together with 3 coats of finish) that make your floors look different than the colour patch.

60 grit paper for sample will cause the stain to be darker like SJ mentioned. 60 grit is not standard practice or recommended by MFG. Kind of a dumb decision to show it at the wrong grit and deliver at another.

They look good to me.

Thank you all for the comments and feedback. Regarding the sample. It definitely was not sanded down enough to be accurate based on the comments here. I did have a conversation with the contractor when he came to pick up his final check expressing that if you were going to do a sample you need to manage back to that color. What is the point in doing it if ultimately the final product will not look like what you showed. Regarding the finish, it was oil based poly. After some research we read that this was More durable and long-lasting. The contractor also reassured me that it would not significantly change the color of the finish. Perhaps that was not accurate as well. Overall, I am just so disappointed in how he managed my expectations throughout the process. I think my plan is to wait it out a bit, get the new furniture in, and when we have construction done on a part of the house six months from now if I’m still not happy I will make a change.

Your floors are gorgeous IMO!!! I think the swatch was too dark.

What type and color of wood are they? Example: Red Oak, White Oak.

What brand of stain and finish was used? I'd may mimic your color in my new home build.

If the contrast between the gray furniture and the brown floors bothers you, there are a few tricks you can use to help the eye blend the warm and the cool. Strategically placed gray or brown accessories can help balance the two colors around the room. Patterns with both colors will help the warm and cool balance as well.

Thank you @User Red oak with dark walnut stain, and oil based satin poly. If I’ve learned anything it’s to test it in your own home in various locations/rooms to see how it looks under your lighting!! Don’t be afraid to ask your contractor to do this.

thanks @deegw I will def keep this in mind

Your floors are lovely and as many have said, the darker color would have been very dark.

I once was in the same situation, staining all floors same color. I had them do the office 1st (on 2nd floor) so I could see how it looked. Was way too dark, so had them go lighter on the rest of the house.

It's too late for this advice for yourself, but may help someone reading this for their project.

Do one room only then check it out.

What I find FASCINATING is many refinishers CONTINUE to spout the 'oil based is tougher' bit! A 'regular grade' oil based finish (as in $60/gallon) is tougher than a low-grade water based poly in the SAME PRICE POINT ($60-$80/gallon). This is true. Which tells me the professional RARELY steps out of the 'low end' price range in to the SUPER TOUGH/EXPENSIVE tough range. And THAT'S where the truth lies.

A HIGH-END, 2 part, water based polyurethane such as Bona Traffic HD or Loba 2K Supra AT are significantly tougher than the $60/gallon oil based poly. So why do these guys continue to push the 'oil is tougher' routine? Because it MAKES THEM MONEY! They do NOT want to double or TRIPLE their product costs (Bona HD = $160/gallon; Loba AT = $200/gallon).

See how that works? They don't realize they can charge MORE for the SUPER TOUGH water based finishes; OR they have discovered their client base (ahem homeowners) do NOT want to PAY for the extra cost = they lose jobs by quoting the HIGHER PRICED (yet higher performing) water based products.

And the other thing I've noticed: wood workers LOVE the look of the amber tones of the finishes. Soooooo many feel the gold/orange tones created a 'depth' to the colour of the wood. It sparkles and dances like gem stones (I have to admit I like the depth the ambering creates...but not the colour). For MANY wood workers this is DESIRABLE. So they don't 'see' the gold/amber as a DRAW BACK.

Last point: the vast majority of workers in the building industry are men. It is a medical 'truth' that as many as 30% of men have some form of COLOUR BLINDNESS! Yep. Some of these guys are speaking their 'truth' when they say the colour won't change much. Because it is entirely possible the worker HIMSELF cannot see the tones the ambering produces..

Whew! Humans are fun aren't they?

And there is a reason that oil-based finishes are not available in large cans in California...they're BAD for you. They off-gas for months - maybe even years. All sorts of lovely things like benzene, and toluene...https://homeguides.sfgate.com/long-vocs-last-hardwood-floor-refinishing-70407.html

In the mid-90s we used a 2-part water-based poly in our house in Oregon - our refinisher was definitely on the leading edge then. In the early 2000s we wanted to refinish and finish some new floors in our then-home in Massachusetts. Decided we wanted to use Bona Traffic and then had a devil of a time finding an installer trained in using it - many of them lied to us and told us that oil-based was much tougher etc. One idiot even told me *I* was crazy. It seemed the east coast was well behind the west coast in environmental concerns. I would hope it has improved now. (We're back in Canada now...still some refinishers swearing by the oil-based stuff here too)