Is this flooring just going to go into the kitchen or is it part of an open-concept room? What will be the flooring adjacent to it?

I like the look of this floor, I have no idea if it is decent quality.

https://www.fantastic-floor.com/ProductID6694

The floor will also go in the dining room and the living room adjacent to the kitchen but I’m less concerned with those areas as they have minimal wood to coordinate with. I’m only concerned with coordinating with the kitchen cabinets. Thank you for your suggestion and the link. That looks nice but I think it’s a little too dark for what I’m envisioning. The search is on.

You can choose a European Oak finished engineered flooring. from a lot of sources. Wide-plank engineered Hardwood flooring with Bona® UV Urethane finish - monarchplank

Different species robur that has a different grain structure and density allowing flat cut without the open grain of NA White Oak alba.

Often there's a range of tones involved in a flooring product.

Thank you. Totally agree with you, @kempek01, and that’s where my original conundrum was. But I think I need to change course. I did exactly that, comparing the colors, and in order to keep the floors light I need to go somewhat darker on the cabinets. I’m already seeing that it won’t be easy to find the right tone that I know will work for both. The search continues. This should be fun but it isn’t.

Hi Lidia P. How’s it going? Did you settle on stains? We are in a similar situation. I’m ordering lots of floor samples to get the right combo of “not too dark” for both the floors and cabinets without both being too light and washed out.

Still looking, I brought home lots of floor samples that were not right. But I’m getting a better idea of what should work, actually I’m narrowing it down to a point few options. As a side note, I’ve been looking at a lot of photos of kitchens with cabinets similar to what I’ll have, to see what color floors they used, and I was surprised to see that many have very little contrast between the floor and the cabinets. I thought this was a no-no. Maybe they run into the same problem as us? In any case, I do want some contrast.

The first issue is actually NOT the floor. Your inspo is probably a factory created cabinet. By nature a more consistent finish ......call this current "internet lust" and much more difficult to achieve in a local cabinet shop. Far more difficult, where pieces and parts may indeed take stain differently.

I'd be very certain, with a LOT of sampling testing from that shop, well in advance - before I tackled the flooring selection.

Truthfully - your best solution may be a white oak sanded on site floor, stained only when you know the final finish of those cabinets, and even stained, AFTER the cabinetry is installed.

https://www.houzz.com/discussions/5983411/help-wrong-finish-on-white-oak-cabinet

https://www.houzz.com/discussions/6230815/how-to-keep-natural-white-oak-color-on-cabinets

The floor below was pre existing, and the kitchen redone, new island years after. Floor is engineered , long discontinued, but it took quite a few trip/tests to the shop to get what my client wanted. Minwax.........one coat......nothing atop it. Believe it.

In general · More Info

In general · More Info

Failing that above? You could try to sample as below, near you? I've used twice. In different tones, and quite lovely

https://www.randrproducts.com/Hardwood-Flooring/Timeless-Designs/WESTSIIS/Timeless-Designs-West-Palm-SingerIsland-WESTSIIS.aspx

@Jan Moyer Thank you very much for your input. Re your first recommendation, to finish the floors on site, it is not an option. Our choice is to go with engineered wood floors, and of course they are pre-finished. The cabinets company insisted that we choose the floors first and they will stain according to our direction, color samples, etc. But I will know to discuss more details about it to ensure we get what we want. Your points, and the ones in the discussions you linked, are well taken. I have to put some trust in them, otherwise nobody will do stained cabinets expecting bad results. This company also made our vanity in the master bathroom, also custom stain (on walnut), and I’m very pleased with their work. So I hope I’ll feel the same after the cabinets are done.

@Jan Moyer, I really like your first two photos. Both floors and cabinets are custom stained in both?
@Lidiap, I’m settling on two rather light finishes that have slightly different tones. Closer to Jan’s first picture. Good luck! Please keep me posted!

A custom floor company near me works with you to get the stain color just right... even adjusting sheen to your specifications over multiple samples. Then they deliver the floor finished with your unique color and shine. It is about $15 a sqft however for the best priced oak.