The only thing that I would say about anything with white is that it is going to have a pickling effect, and pickling wood with red undertones brings out the pink. I had pickled kitchen cabinets in the early 90s and they were pink. I was fine with it I don't have the negative visceral response that so many people seem to have with it, --but they were pink.

The other thing that I would say, having renovated several houses and having been a part of the design process in other projects is that you can't beat finding something that is produced in the actual shade you want and using it unmodified right out of the container. Custom colors...if you need touch ups, if an area needs to be repainted or refinished, you will have a really hard time getting a match.

I can't speak to the colors you mention but about five years ago, we refinished our red oak floors in our last home. We tested about five stains and ultimately went with driftwood in a matte finish. Have your flooring contractor do sample stains for you in all colors you are considering. I was very happy with the driftwood stain and it instantly updated the house. Of course now everyone is saying gray is out of style.

Thanks. I do like driftwood. How do you think it would look with this rug on it? https://www.etsy.com/listing/1181850162/natural-gray-turkish-oushak-rug-6x8-hand?click_key=22489593e1ad5b53c530040635e9f461aff04c56%3A1181850162&click_sum=ac971086&ref=as_recently_viewed-1&pro=1&frs=1&sts=1

@palimpsest Thanks for the good advice about white. I will look for examples of people who have tried a little white with brown

I hear you raimondi but just to be clear, i dont really want a very light color. From what i see, thats not what you get when you mix white with a darker brown.

I must disagree with the comments about adding white and turning it pink. In my experience, adding a bit of white to a dark stain can help obscure some of the redness, as long as you use the proper mix. I would suggest mixes in the range of 1 white to 20 stain, using something like Jacobean, Ebony, Coffee or maybe True Black. Antique Brown has a bit of red so eliminate that. If these mixes are too dark you can then add neutral to expose more of the wood tone. I'd highly recommend water popping before staining and using a waterborne finish that won't add any orange/amber on top of the stain.

Edit: We use DuraSeal QuickCoat stains, except for White Bona DriFast. And yes, we mix the two brands and have done so for years. From what I've seen, Bona stains aren't as intense, so if you're using them, alter the ratio of stain:white.

@Timothy Winzell this is super helpful, thank you. I do like the look of the stains with some white or Bona Natural (or both) added. I realized I might not mind a bit of red tone (but not pink) because I have a lot of walnut furniture and ashy browns don’t look great with that.

Considering the walnut furniture, what about Bona Golden Oak? Or Special walnut or Provincial with some white or natural? Sadly, I can’t water pop because it takes a bit more wood off and my floors are old and super thin and this will be the last time i can sand them. Thanks for any advice!