Flooring - To Stain or Not to Stain?

I’ve decided I want my house to have a gallery feel. Not cold and stark like a gallery, but instead fresh, subtle and non descriptive. Some may call this boring but I think less is more in this case.

An inspiration.
Via

I have oodles of art work and want them to stand out in the house, giving it colour and spark. One element in my home that will help achieve with the gallery look is the old, original 1930’s oak floor. Not only are the oak strips cut differently (the wood has been cut on various planes for each piece, and so the grain changes often), but there are two types of oak in the floor; red and regular oak.

Floor prior to refinishing; old oak floors, with an aged stain on top.

I made the decision to stick with the original floors because not only do I love the charm of the floor, but it was also more cost effective for my reno. I sourced matching 2″ oak planks for the new addition and to fill in the gaps around the house.

The floor was sanded down and to my surprise, most of the imperfections came out of the floor. As a side note, if you are planning to use old hardwood floors, be sure that the nails are not too close to the surface. They could have been sanded prior and as a result, lost some depth in the wood and the nails will be sticking up above the floor surface.

New addition floor, sanded.

Dining Room Floor Sanded.

The next major question was, how to finish this beautifully sanded floors? This one was hard for me. I wanted to keep the stain original to the home and era, but the orange stain really wasn’t working for me. This is my inspiration for my floor.

Floors are rustic, natural and interesting.
via

I tested out a few stains which I recommend before you commit to a whole house full of that colour! And remember…dark stains show everything! Dog owners, beware!

Spot treated where the cabinets will sit. You can see how
each plank of wood takes on the stain differently.

Neither of the stains, which were recommended by the floor finisher, were exaclty what I was envisioning so I decided on a straight urethane finish on the floors. This means no stain, just top coat. I couldn’t be happier!

After finishing…Urethane on Natural Oak Floors.

The rest of the house is still covered with paper protection from moving day! I have moved in and am settling in slowly. I will post some photos once more of the boxes are away and the embarrassing mess is gone!

And on that note, this will likely be the last post till the holidays…so Happy Holidays to you and yours!

Have a safe and happy New Year!

Krista

Flooring – To Stain or Not to Stain?

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