There's more than one way to deal with an orange floor. Sometimes we go dark.
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Many homes with existing hardwood floors have oak, red oak to be specific. We’ve found that most homeowners would like to get rid of as much red as possible when refinishing. Many times they want to go light (more on that look here). However, after much discussion and inspo sourcing with this homeowner, (more info on our virtual stain consultations here) we knew we wanted to do the complete opposite and go dark. The warmth of the rich brown tone complemented the neutral design scheme so well, as you’ll see. We used a water-based polyurethane to achieve a matte finish. Water-based poly also has no VOCs and a quicker drying time than oil-based polyurethane. Check out this blog post for more on water vs oil poly here.
Here is a before shot of the 2 1/4” red oak floors in this project.
and another couple of before shots
first things first, sand off that orange oil based polyurethane
I love when I stop by on day one and can see the swipe of the sander stripping that wood down to its raw form. It instantly transforms from orange shiny floors to a raw state of natural unfinished wood and from there the possibilities are endless.
another shot of the before of this home
after the first cut of sanding below, isn’t that just so satisfying?
told ya we were going deep rich brown on this one
We also added new red oak to all the upstairs bedrooms in this home which is quite common for us. Most homeowners are moving away from carpet these days. It’s so seemless during refinishing to add to your existing hardwood if you have solid site finished hardwood already.
Details, details.
Are you ready for the afters? Okay, here we go.
Can you even get over that matte rich brown tone with all the layered neutrals in this room?
I may have brought in my own vintage runner when we were shooting these photos because it’s just what this entry needed.
I also may have been on my stomach under a huge train table to get this shot. I think it was worth it.
You would think I would be used to it by now, but I still gasp when we go from orange floors to stunning floors.
I’m so glad we went dark! And so is the homeowner. It’s just what this beautiful, layered, neutral styling needed as the base.
And that’s a wrap. What’s your vote on the deep dark or light and airy red oak floor stain?
design, styling and photo editing by Michelle Rhodes