If the floors have not been redone in 28 years, they look great!

Not a pro. Sanding off the yellow oil-based poly and replacing it with water-based coating should get rid of the orange-ness. At least that's what the pros seem to say.

I do get them skimmed and coated every 4-5 yrs or so. I don’t want them darker or grey toned, just less orange.

What do you have them recoated with? Oil based poly is yellow/orange.

I recall a discussion with our floor guy about it, but I can’t remember which product they used- I know the fumes weren’t bad, so maybe water based(?)

Are the same floors in a closet or 2? If so, sand down a section in the closet and test what a different sealer will look like. You may find there is not much difference or that you like the existing better.

I agree with Nelly, they are beautiful and classic. Wood was never “ orange” until some TV personality said it was. Keep them as is.

Our red oak floors (16 years old now) were clear-coated with a water-based satin finish and they went from an almost pink-ish tone when the floors were newly installed, to what you would call orange. I think they're beautiful and classic, but then I love warm colors.

If you are into the cool gray tones that are popular now (a peek at your dining chairs seems to suggest that may be the case), I can see where the warm wood floors would clash and even look garish in comparison. Maybe you can add some other warm, natural elements to your rooms that tie the cool and warm colors together in a pleasing way. Also, next time you have them coated you could try choosing a less glossy/reflective finish (satin if you've used semi-gloss or high gloss in the past, for example). That might help tone them down a bit, but I don't think sanding and finishing them with a water-based finish would make them appear any less orange. Natural oak tends to age to that color.

This isn’t my space, but someone else’s after shot of sanding down her orange toned oak floors and applying a water based matte poly. This is the look I had in mind. More compatible I think we my current cooler tones in my house.

Ask a floor professional if you have enough wood to sand down and refinish.

It's interesting to me because I know it's not the cool shade but to me that is so classic and (almost) timeless. The picture of your inspiration is really nice as well and true to wood colors..

I love the natural oak with the water based poly matte. I've heard that the sunlight makes the floor turn orange and I wonder if there is a 'sunscreen' available to prevent this.

I too am trying to tone down the orange/gold tones in my house and move to a slightly cooler color scheme. It is a huge chore to have the floors refinished, so I wanted to choose a color that could change with the times and would be likely to look good with both warm tones and cooler tones. This is my before and after. These were 17-year-old red oak pre-finished Bruce floors in color gunstock. They were sanded and stained in Antique Brown and then finished with Bona Traffic HD in Satin. Now I need to paint over the gold walls!

Lovely! Honestly though, the before pic doesn’t look that orange to me, although I realize pictures are deceiving. Painting over those gold walls will make a huge difference as well!

Strong smell = oil based. The more oil base you use = stronger the orange.

Water based= NO orange.

There is no stain on your floor. Just oil based poly!

Kidd333, your floors are beautiful before and after!! I see your walls ( on my iPad) similar to the SW Double Latte walls in my Living room which are brownish to me. I am wanting to change the Sundried Tomato color of my connecting Dining room. I love the color of the small glimpse of the room I see off to the right in the second pic. Do you happen to have the brand/name of it that you could share??

You would have to sand or strip to remove all the gloss finish and the stain color. The wood needs to be porous to absorb a new color. Different wood species also receive the same stain color differently. You would have to know the exact specie of wood.

* Minwax Simply White. Minwax recently came out with a Simply White stain. It really softened each wood tone and color while not masking any grain–like semi-opaque stains do. You can see clearly the wood’s color undertones (yellow, pink, green, neutral, red) but they aren’t nearly as pronounced. Both of the oak species took on a sort of Cerused look I’m very into. The green that is generally very pronounced in Poplar, turned into more of a warm gray. The unconditioned Birch side, again, struggled with accepting the stain, but you can also see the conditioned side of each board is slightly darker.

I have very similar floors as yours, OP. For a while, I thought of them as orange and dated but in reality, they're only orange when compared to something very cool-toned or practically white. Now, I appreciate the warmth they give to my space and their light reflection, especially on long winter days. Saved me a lot of time and money to appreciate them and I'm certainly glad I didn't succumb to the dark stain trend tempting neighbours a few years back.

But that's my opinion. If you want to change yours, research the advice offered here and perhaps find floor samples you like to bring home and test out in your space for a few days before committing to the refinishing. See how your eye appreciates a different stain and finish in your actual space.

LB Interiors, those samples are all lovely on my screen. Strong Scandi vibes to all, imho.