(click to enlarge) Tonight or tomorrow, Dan and I will head to Home Depot to look at wood stain samples. Our contractor prefers to use Minwax, so we'll look at the colors they offer. We have about 950 square feet of hardwoods to be refinished (three bedrooms, hallway, foyer and living/dining combo).
Dan likes the Red Mahogany and the Gunstock. I like the Special Walnut and Dark Walnut. We do need to be wary of going too dark though, as darker wood stains show scratches and wear
more than lighter stains.
I'm thinking we'll likely settle on Provincial or Early American, which are good compromises between the reddish mahogany and the rich browns of the chestnuts.
What do you think?
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9 comments:
I think Dan's on the right track with a little red tint.
I say Red Oak or Red Chestnut!
Dammit, Ben. You might be right. I guess the hint of red would look nice in an older home (more like the original color). :)
Not sure how exactly I linked to your blog, but a comment from someone you don't know :) We also have a ranch house in Atlanta and redid our floors almost 2 years ago.
Personal preference, but we went with a neutral, I'm pretty sure Early American. We were unsure how we were going to decorate and didn't want to be limited with redish floors. We also avoided darker because of the scratching issue.
Also, see if you can look at the colors on the floors in different lights. We were actually planning on a reddish color until we saw it on the floor next to others in morning light and then realized it might be limiting.
I think all hardwood floors look great so you really can't go wrong.
Thanks for commenting, Elizabeth. You are giving us some good things to think about! Maybe we'll go tonight so we can bring a sample or two home with us for thought. :)
I'm gunna have to go with Dan too! Sorry baby... I can't wait to see it in person!
I love, love, love the color of our floors at the Drew Valley house. Very warm and really hides the scratches and dents. I think it is more of a chestunt color but you don't want to go too dark. love that Dan has already ripped down the ceiling and carpet. He is a real He-Man. Can't wait to see the progress and hopfully by my return this summer y'all will have a lot done and will be able to enjoy your new home together
Julia, by summer time we can all enjoy spiked lemonades on the astro-turfed screen porch!
We went dark with jacobean at our house. At first I thought it was too dark, but it's not as dark as the sample. We love it! Keep us posted on the reno.
Before refinishing our floors, we had something similar to the golden oak. It was a medium color that is probably the most popular for hardwood. I was tired of it, so we went with the darkest we could get - ebony. While scratches aren't a huge issue, even with a dog (we used Bona Traffic, a commercial style sealer), the upkeep is a PAIN! I knew it would be and am still happy with the change, but that's the thing you'll probably want to keep in mind most. The darker the floor, the more it shows every speck of dust and pet hair :)
I agree with Elizabeth about looking at the colors in different lights. While gorgeous at first, I've heard that some of the reds can look too red or even "orange-y" (is that a word??). Do you know what sheen you want? We went with the lowest possible since I didn't want to blinded by super-shiny floors! Depending the the product, you can usually get satin, semi-gloss, and high-gloss, and sometimes matte. The product we chose only had satin, but it looks very much like matte without much shine.
Good luck - I'm sure you'll love whatever you eventually choose!
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