I would never choose red oak so IMO spand the money on something I think is worth it.

Would you mind sharing why you wouldn't pick it? color or durability?

White oak.

My cabinets are medium stained red oak, and the floor is natural stained white oak. However, the floors were installed in 1990 or so. They have not been refinished yet. It also depends on your stain. Red oak will go more orange-red. I don't know if any stain can stop the orange-red in the red oak.

Can you buy a sample board or two and try different color stains? Try colors that you normally wouldn't like because it may change with the undertones of white oak. I still haven't decided whether to go lighter or darker on the floor when we refinish it. Even with this natural color, I can see where the previous owners had a piece of furniture set by a floor to ceiling window. The sun had faded the wood around their furniture. It seems like dark stain would have been worse, but I don't know.

eld6161 do you remember what color you went with?

https://theflooringgirl.com/hardwood-flooring/hardwood-flooring-trends/#:~:text=White%20oak%20allows%20a%20broader%20range%20of%20stain,than%20red%20oak%20%28due%20to%20its%20molecular%20structure%29.

The link has a long article, but it basically says...trends for 2020.

1. People are choosing darker stained hardwood. Darker is more maintenance especially with kids. Choose between style or less maintenance.

2. Cool tones are in. Getting away from red-Browns and yellows. Going to browns with no red tones or grays. Add a touch of gray to the browns to make cooler and lighter.

3. Very dark brown floors. Use Ebony and Walnut 50/50 or Ebony and Jacobean 50/50 to get extremely dark opaque floors that hide most of the oak grain. Shows every bit of dust and footprints though.

4. To go darker, but not as dark as #3, try dark walnut, antique brown, coffee brown, or special walnut, or other blends.

https://www.rocktherm.com/hardwood-floor-stain-colors-for-white-oak/

The above link shows a lot of stain testing with Minwax. Click of the link above, then click the right arrows to see the results. 25 pictures.

Duraseal has a link with quite a few stain samples on white oak.

https://www.duraseal.com/stain-gallery/

https://www.rocktherm.com/hardwood-floor-stain-colors-for-oak/

https://www.wideplankflooring.com/blog/three-reasons-to-love-white-oak-floors-2/ This link tells you about which white to choose. Some white oak from certain areas are not as strong as white oak from other areas.

Google "stains on white oak flooring".

Good white oak can last for 50 years. The color alone is worth it. Learn what red oak grain looks like vs white oak wood grain.

Since my cabinets are too orange-red, stay away from words like "cinnamon, umber, and yellow gold". Ask the names of colors that are mixed. Sometimes it helps. Mine is very close to a stain color called Fruitwood so you don't want that. The cabinets were stained a custom tinted color. Sherwin Williams told us it can only be bought in Oklahoma and Texas which tells me that no one should be using it. Other states have banned it??? I also think it doesn't last as long as other stains and clear coats that are put on separately, but my cabinet guy likes it. Hey, at least you know what NOT to buy.

The white oak floor was stained in 1995 by previous owners, but I think it was "natural". I think "natural" made the white oak a little yellow in 1995, but I bet there are stains now that don't. I think red oak will go red-orange-pink no matter what you do.

I prefer stained cabinets as long as the color is good. Here is a picture of two cabinets. The skinny one on the left was built and stained in 1970, and the larger cabinet on the right is brand new. Not much difference considering we had no idea what color or brand of stain was used in 1970. We have not resanded or restained the old one yet. We just pulled it out of the garage. The cabinets are a little darker in real life. Stained cabinets hide a lot of dirt and scratches that painted cabinets don't. However, with painted cabinets, you get to change colors as often as you want. I love blue cabinets!

Thank you so much for your thorough response. I really appreciate it. I have waited for over 12 years to get hardwood and I don’t want to mess this up.

I hear ya! Too expensive to mess it up. I hate regretting anything, so I tend to over think.

Please share pictures before and after the floor is stained assuming you don't buy prestained floors. I still need to pick abstain for my floors.