I think it would be jarring to go from stained to natural in one step.

Your floor contractor should be able to match the existing floor stain. Reasonably well enough anyway.

You want to see and approve samples of your wood with the proposed stain, after the sample stain is fully dry and sealed, in the same lighting that will be in the room, then decide on natural vs stained.

I realize you showed a pic of samples, but from photos on computers/phones its hard to tell and anyway it is your eye that has to be satisified. But don't become one of those Princess People that melts down because two rooms end up with a hint of slightly different stain on the floors.

You might not be able to keep to the current schedule of sanding and sealing tomorrow.

It is easy to add lighting to a room and change lighting colors.

Thanks!

Our contractor had suggested the natural look to avoid ending up with a close-but-no-cigar match to the existing floors, and for the kitchen we wanted a lighter floor than what we have elsewhere; it is on us that we didn't think to ask for more options and samples earlier in the process.

Trying to get the color just right, at this point, is going to throw a monkey wrench in the very tight schedule, so our thought is to keep it natural and - if we really hate it - get it redone (albeit for more $ and hassle) later.

None of the four samples looked at all good to us in person - all had a yellow/black tone that clashed with the reddish tones of the existing floors. So I am not sure what color we would do in the kitchen, anyway - and as I said it appears time is against us.

Finally, my partner is happy with the lighter color, and while it isn’t what I had imagined, it does help keep the room bright and warm, which is important to us.

Sounds like you have made a decidion. Keep in mind that wood is photosensitive. Unstained red oak tends to get more amber in color with exposure to uv light. Make sure that’s a look that you like if that’s what you choose.

That said, I’d consider staining them to get as close to the other floors as possible. Over time you will notice any differences less and less. Staining new red oak to “match” old red oak is a game that is played daily and well by most flooring contractors. Fixing it later is a terrible idea.

Have your floor finisher do actual samples on YOUR floor before final sanding. Stain it as close as possible, will definitely look less jarring than stained to natural.

People seem to think a time schedule controls or exhuses a quality level for a project. You'll have to live with the consequences ofletting that 'contractor' take the path easiest and fastest for him. Hey, he doesn't need to live with the results. He walks away. Get a perfect match or stop his work and find someone competent enough to get the match. Be a princess in standing up for your space. Only you will safeguard your quality for the future. None of the samples you show are near a match.

You can also sand and refinish the existing floors. You can update the entire space by using Ciranova Pink Relief on all your floors old and new sanded. You can fill open grain with light opaque stain and finish with water clear matte Ciranova EcoFix Plus with hardener. Here's what you'd be getting close to.

Wide plank European Oak. Skip the 'time line'.

We absolutely love our unstained red oak floors, but we have the same flooring throughout the living areas. I would not have two distinctly different floor colors in adjacent rooms. That's OK for different flooring types (wood to tile, wood to carpet), but not wood next to wood.

One thing in your favor if you do decide to go with no stain is that the floors appear together only at the doorway. One consideration is the sight lines - can you see from one room to the other from much of the room?

Much obliged, everyone. I spoke with our contractor and we stopped the flooring guys at one coat of poly for now. We will see how it looks cured and go from there; the contractor is happy to sand off that poly and stain with water based if we want (I have a chemical sensitivity so oil based, which the flooring sub prefers, is out.)

The kitchen is quite visible from the dining room - there is a 6’ or so wide cased opening between the two.

Are there any brands of water based stain that people recommend (or warn against)? Reading online it seems like a lot of people have had bad experiences with the water based stuff.

The flooring sub uses Loba for a top coat, if that matters.

"We will see how it looks cured and go from there;"

It will take on an amber tone over the course of a couple-few years, you're not going to see it right away or even in a couple months. It's not a big deal -- just sand and refinish if you ever want them stained.

@porkchop_mxk3 z5b_MI it did darken significantly with one layer of poly, though photos don’t make that clear, and the floor is obscured

by cardboard and cabinets at the moment.

Still much lighter than adjoining rooms