Accel Wood Floors is refinishing our floors, and we were told to pick out a gallon of whatever stain we would like. Initially, Chad and I found a gel stain color that we liked. However, when we showed the color to Dad, he thought it would be really dark once it was applied to the floors. So, we decided to go with a lighter stain. Then Matt with Accel told us we should not get a gel stain but just a regular interior wood stain, so back to Menards we went to look at more colors. We found a Walnut color that appeared to have the look we were going for. We wanted darker floors to really make the walls and white trim pop. We also had a spot on the living floor where the previous owners had glued down tile, and it left a black tar-y residue on the floor. We were concerned that this would not come up with sanding, so we wanted a darker color to help camouflage if necessary. So, proud of ourselves for picking out a pretty stain that was still lighter than what we originally were eyeing, we bought the gallon and dropped it off at the house.
Yesterday, the flooring guy came to the house to start his sanding. The floors look awesome when they are stripped down. They have a lot of character and color variation. I absolutely love them.
A spot in the hallway that has not been sanded yet... You can see the big change that has taken place!
A closer up look at the living room floor... The color variations are beautiful!
Well, when the floor guy saw our stain choice, he had some reservations and mentioned it to Chad. He put down a sample on one of the floors to give Chad a visual. Thank goodness he did, because the stain looked HORRIBLE! It was so dark, it was almost black. I can't imagine what we would've ended up with had the guy not questioned it, and I can't imagine how dark the original stain would've been when Dad told us we should go with something lighter. Wow...I had no idea. So, last night we picked out two different stains that we thought might go well and dropped them off at the house. One was a Red Chestnut and one was a Gunstock. Over our noon hours today, we stopped at the house to take a look at the samples. Oh boy. We were getting closer...they did look much better than the Walnut, but they were too red, and believe it or not, the Gunstock was more red than the Red Chestnut. Go figure. Our floor guy encouraged us to go with something that would flow with the stain of our cabinets. So, we grabbed a cabinet drawer and off to Menards we went again to find something we might like better.
I wish we would've taken the drawer with us initially. Right away we picked two possibilities...Cherry (which I never would've thought) and a Golden Pecan. Back to the house we went. While we were gone, Matt with Accel put down a plain polyurethane coating in one spot to see if I liked that. I had told him how much I loved the character in the floor, and he pointed out that stain will blend your floors more, where the polyurethane will let the natural characteristics pop out. I didn't think I would like it, but when I saw it on the floor, I loved it! Ugh...now what?? Well, we put down the Golden Pecan and the Cherry...and now we had six different samples on the floor. Take a peek!
This is the natural polyurethane...
This is the Cherry...
And this is the Walnut we originally purchased. Needless to say, it has already been returned to the store.
After putting all the stains on the floor, we ruled out the Gunstock and Red Chestnut for sure. We also ruled out the Golden Pecan because it looked very similar to the natural polyurethane, and why buy a can of stain to more or less get the same look? So now we're down to the Cherry stain or just using the natural polyurethane. The floor guy called us about 7pm tonight and he was just leaving the house, and he said he left the samples on the bedroom floor in case we wanted to come back tonight and take another look. He also told us to wear socks or dry shoes on the floors now, because wet shoes could leave a footprint that only shows up after the stain has been applied. So...dry shoes and slippers in hand, off to the house we went to take another look.
We decided to try putting a piece of white trim next to the colors, since the floors will have white base board around them when finished. Matt with Accel also pointed out that stains will "lighten" a little when they dry, and when you put the polyurethane coating on them they will deepen again, but the stains will also blend your flooring characteristics more as well, as opposed to leaving it natural.
First up, Cherry and white trim...
Natural and white trim...
And back to Cherry with white trim...
Chad enjoying the fact that even those this is a tough decision, we are thankfully at the point in the flipping process to have to decide!
Cherry, bedroom wall color, and white trim...
Natural, bedroom wall color, and white trim...
One final look at the line-up...
Tomorrow, the floors will begin being stained! We are already excited to head over after work and take a peek through the kitchen. I am confident it will be beautiful when finished! So...which color did we decide on?? I guess you will have to wait until I update the blog tomorrow night to find out!! :)
