Asked on Mar 14, 2014

Neutral floor stain?

Margaret
by Margaret
We are getting ready to put down wood floors. The room is dark and I don't want to go with a dark stain. I am terrible at choosing stain colors. Can someone suggest a neutral, light colored stain?
  11 answers
  • There actually is a natural stain. If you do not want a dark stain you have many choices such as a golden oak, colonial maple, fruitwood, even a cherry (minwax colors) I would go get samples from the store and lay them in different spots to see how the light reflects in your home. This can make a huge impact on how yellow or brown the stain is. What color is your wood furniture? This may make a decision easier too. But get samples...good luck
  • Margaret Margaret on Mar 14, 2014
    I have a golden oak table and a walnut china cabinet. I love both pieces and don't want the floor to compete. Was thinking maybe Puritan Pine. Thanks for your helpful comments @No search results.C Renee Fuller.
  • Katie Katie on Mar 15, 2014
    What kind of hardwood are you using? We did floors in Ash which is beautiful and light and just put a clear finish on them.
  • Margaret Zibura Margaret Zibura on Mar 15, 2014
    I would go with the lightest color you can find, are you planning on ever doing the room over to lighten it up, if so, take that into consideration as well, best bet is to bring home samples to see how they look in the room with it's natural lighting, as the stores are always very bright and you have a better chance of picking the color you like, good luck :D
  • Margaret Margaret on Mar 15, 2014
    We will be using pine plywood cut into 6" planks. I was hoping to find a neutral stain (If there is such a stain color) or solution that would match whatever colors we end up using on our kitchen walls and cabinets. The kitchen ceiling was a dark walnut stain, but we have since painted it white and the walls are a light green, but I'm considering changing to a neutral grayed blue and white.
  • Robin H Robin H on Mar 15, 2014
    TUNG OIL! It's non toxic so safe around kids and pets and it even has a pleasant "nutty" scent. You'd have to periodically recondition them but I've used it on some wood shelves and it looks great!
  • Terry's Flooring Terry's Flooring on Mar 18, 2014
    As always I agree with C Renee Fuller .... :)
  • Margaret Margaret on Mar 19, 2014
    Thanks for all of your answers.
  • Patricia Patricia on Sep 06, 2015
    Pine darkens over time and is more a golden color. Were I you I would use a clear finish and let it turn over time. Even the lightest stain is still darker than a natural finish pine.
  • Margaret Margaret on Sep 06, 2015
    Thank you for your input Patricia. Not wanting to go warm in color on the floors, we tested minwax's "special walnut" on our pine flooring and found it was darker than the samples we saw online. We ended up going with a white wash using flat white paint. It's not what I originally wanted, but will lighten up the kitchen substantially.
  • Patricia Patricia on Sep 07, 2015
    I am thinking about doing that also. Makes for a lighter room in a dark house.