We are having our plain sawn white oak floors refinished in a few months. I want our floors to be a soft, neutral brown - a bit richer than the natural look of the raw wood. I also want to minimize the contrast between the soft and hard wood grain as the graining pattern is quite busy and any color variation between floor planks - I want the wood floors to have a uniform look that fades into the background. Any expert recommendations? Should we be staining or trying the oil approach? Is one better than the other in terms of minimizing grain contrast or color variation? Should we water pop the floors? I am confused whether water-popping enhances grain contrast or minimizes it. If we were use to Bona's craft oils, we would intend to finish with Traffic HD (we have kids and a dog).

In terms of specific colors, I very much like Weathered Oak by Duraseal (just to complicate things further!). The flooring contractor we are most likely going to hire primarily uses Bona products and has suggested a custom blend of Golden Oak and Birch as one possiblity. Some of the craft oils seem like possibilities, colorwise - Neutral, Air, Sand, Pebble.. Neutral/Ash blend, Sand/Pebble blend, Air/Frost (1 coat each). Any other suggestions for stain combos or which oil combos to try? Thanks!