Matching stains and sheens? 2 Answers

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Matching stain color of other woods in room

Q: My family room contains lots of oak (woodwork, windows, bookshelves, TV cabinet built in). It’s a beautiful medium color oak. I would like to replace the carpet with hardwood floors. I feel oak flooring might be too much for the room. Is there a rule about whether the floors should be a darker or lighter color than the other wood in the room?

Any suggestions you can give me are appreciated.

A: I worked in a home recently which likewise had a large office/TV room with high quality oak paneling, built in library and entertainment cabinet, and large oak crown molding with oak plank. It was all stained golden brown and looked stunning. If you wanted to do something a bit fancier with the floors, you could install oak but also install an inlay or medallion. Allan Macdonald, the owner of www.oldeworldflooring.com would be more than capable of helping you with that.

Note from Webmaster: if any interior designers out there want to chime in about choosing hardwood floor stain color, just submit your response via are question forum incl. your URL so we can send you traffic.

Matching sheens on stair treads, rail and baluster

Q: Should the urethane sheen on a wood stair tread match the urethane sheen on a wood rail and baluster?

A: While it seems normal or typical to say, yes the sheen should match, it could also be viewed as subjective.  However you like it.

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