Do you know what kind of wood the floors are?

They are very interesting, in a good way.

Gray on your floors would be a bad idea.

If you need to do a little renovation, I would change the backsplash in the kitchen. That silver/gray color does nothing for the cabinets or the countertops. While you are doing that, get rid of the 4 inch backsplash that matches the counter. And make sure the current owners take the "Coffee Bar" sign with them! Your kitchen ain't Starbucks!

I dont know what the wood is - guessing white oak?? the contractor is bringing the flooring guy out on the 5th, I'm hoping he'll know! thanks for confirming, I also thought the grey, while I love it, wont work in this house on these floors. wish I liked warm tones, I'd be in heaven, LOL.

It's hard to tell, but the floors look like Hickory ( unless the boards are all solid colors and they really mismatched the separate boards. If they are multicolored boards ( mix of sapwood and hardwood, they are probably Hickory or something like that.

In any event, leave them be they're beautiful. I'd suggest refinishing them in a satin or semigloss to bring the"down a bit". Don't stain them or bleach them. You'll never be able to get them back.

Taking a second look, they may be white oak or a mix of all sorts of odds and ends, or someone got creative and stained selective boards. If that's the case, maybe sand them and see what they look like before finishing. Worst case you can find a small area, do a test with bleaching or a light stain, and if you don't like that, sand that out and leave them unstained and just with a poly over them. Good luck

It looks like the wood was chosen to MATCH the cabinets! I might be wrong...but that might be a low-grade (not bad...just not 'clear grade') hickory. Hickory is KNOWN for having plenty of movement! That means LOTS of different colours. As many as 7-10 different coloured boards. Which is what you have.

To get rid of the stripe you have to get rid of the hickory. To get rid of the orange...you need to stain VERY dark or get rid of the hickory. But then you might have a floor that has issues with the cabinets that you cannot afford to change.

Hickory is hickory. It won't change unless you rip it out or do something OUTRAGEOUS to it (like bleach it within an inch of it's life and then stain it a different colour...or white wash it).

Can you afford a $7-$8/sf bleach + refinish of the wood? Can you afford a $15/sf remove/replace project for the flooring?

Can you afford large area rugs that will offer your monochromatic look?

Remember: The Europeans will 'ignore' their floors. Why? Because some of them are the same age as the 200 year old Chateau they are living in (or an apartment in said chateau that is now in the heart of a major city like Amsterdam, Paris, Munich, etc).

Traditional coloured wood floors (like yours) go with everything. You will take a little bit of time to get used to it...but eventually (with ZERO money spent) you will forget they are there.

I like your floors the way they are. They look beautiful with your kitchen cabinets!

I think you should finish your decorating and not worry about the floorsl Window treatments and rugs, plus a new kitchen floor and backsplash, as suggested above, should do it. Try the living room rug under the table and get a larger one for the living area. It should be placed at least 12" from the hearth, and I would bring it to within 12" of the walls, anchoring all the seating, covering a lot of the floor. Leggy pieces really need a rug underneath.

GREAT idea!

Floors are beautiful and the go wonderfully with the kitchen.

Live with the floors for a while please.

A lot of folks have said I should live with them, I‘m beginning to think that may be best. I’m defiantly not going grey, if anything, I will sand and leave them natural with a matte poly top coat!

I believe the floors already have a matte water based poly on them. There's no need to change them...there is NO STAIN on them! And they are MATTE finished already (by the look of the photos).

That means you get to save $6/sf on them! Congratulations!

I would leave the floors for now, and see how they look with your things in the house...and see how you feel about them after living there for awhile. I see what you mean about the stripes, but the actual colors look nice and the floor has character...better than a laminate or vinyl plank floor. I had chestnut colored wood floors at my last house, but also had orange oak laminate in all the bedrooms that did not look at all natural. Once we got all the furniture in and painted and decorated etc, I kind of forgot about the floors. It’s so nice to not have to worry about carpeting, that I was just happy to have hard floors haha. I did have to buy area rugs though.

Post back on here once you get all your things in place. Good luck! I'm closing on my new (to me) house in a few weeks and am going through this same process as well. It's fun, but also can be a bit overwhelming...and costly. My goal right now is to only do things that really need to be done otherwise they’ll drive me nuts, and also do lesser expensive things since we had to offer over asking price just to get a house.

Refinish your white oak floors with a aged look finish - gray, brown or white. Not stained look like everyone is doing. It will go perfect with your interior design. Keep us floor finishers busy!

Thank you @LindsayK - I’m beginning to think you, and others are right that I should just move in first. We too had to go way over budget just to get the house, and I’ve been quoted 8K to refinish the floors (they are in the entire upper level.) I know I’m rushing, but I just thought it would be so much easier to refinish them BEFORE we move in. But I suppose it’s better to take my time. I know I HAVE to redo the kitchen counters, I absolutely hate them, so I suppose my money is better spent there. I may get used to the floors over time, which would be a huge bonus. Area rugs to the rescue? And, yes, I am excited to not have carpet - this will be our first home with just hardwood (and travertine tile). Thank you for your words of advice, I’ll post after we move in! Good luck with your new house!!!