My Refinished Hardwood Floors (Dark Walnut Stain)
This Post May Contain Affiliate Links. Please Read Our Disclosure PolicyWell, friends, I’m back with the dramatic conclusion of my adventures in refinishing my hardwood floors with dark walnut stain.
In case you’re new to this saga, here’s a quick recap: I bought a house. The second floor had carpet which was ripped out before the house was listed for sale. The floors were in bad shape and needed to be refinished before I moved anything upstairs. I hired someone to refinish them. Now they are complete and beautiful!
All caught up? Great!
Here are the floors in all their glory:
You’ll probably notice that the floor color can look slightly different from one picture to the next. That’s because the light is different in each room and cameras have a way of distorting things. The lesson from this: If you’re staining floors (or painting walls), it’s always a good idea to test color options in your own space. You may love a color in someone else’s home or room or in a photo you found on Pinterest, but that hue may look totally different in your home. It’s smart to take the time to sample.
With that out of the way, let’s have a look around.
Hardwood Floors: Dark Walnut Stain
As I mentioned previously, I selected Dark Walnut for the stain color. The poly finish is satin. The wood on my floors is Red Oak.
I shared this with you in my previous post, but here is the color of the floors in the downstairs (left) compared with the upstairs (right). I wanted to avoid orange undertones, and this dark walnut stain was perfect.
I also like how the stain brings out the grain in the wood. This adds texture and movement, which I think will help to disguise dust and dirt between cleanings.
I’m not sure if you can see it in any of the photos, but I will need to repaint all of the base moldings because stain got on them. It’s not a big deal since all of the rooms will eventually get repainted. I’m saving that project for the winter months.
I am thrilled with the refinished floors and the dark walnut stain. and I was excited to finally be able to move into the second floor of my home. While I was told I could start moving furniture onto the floors after 72 hours. I decided to wait for about 10 days. It might have been a bit excessive, but I wasn’t in a huge rush and didn’t want to risk the possibility of damaging the new finish.
Since then, I’ve been using what I have to start getting the upstairs furnished and functional. A week ago my mom visited for the weekend. (She was my first guest.) So I purchased a queen mattress for one room and two twins for another. I still have a long way to go, but it’s feeling more like home.
If I can get my ducks in a row, I’ll share a short updated video tour of my home with you early next week. Stay tuned for that!
I hope you enjoyed this first look at my refinished hardwood floors.
Hi, I see this post was made back in 2018, but wanted to see if you remember the brand of stain you used for the Black Walnut – thank you! Looks great!
Hello, Thank you for sharing your journey and projects. Need some advice. What’s your suggestion between jacobean and dark walnut? We have a new build, and the hardwood is red oak. We would like medium stain just because the dark floors seem to be showing every spec of dust. The lighter stains we tried did not look good – maybe because of the undertones of red oak. We did not want anything pink/yellow/blue/purple/orange to show so we are down to
1. Dark Walnut (Is it too brown? Does it look to busy?
2. Jacobean (Is it too dark? Does it give nice browns with gray undertones? Or does it look very dark)
3. Aged Barrel (Too Gray? Does it lack warmth)
We want a nice timeless look and not too much maintenance.
Our cabinets are going to be white in the peripheral and rye for island, with quartz countertops (white with subtle veining). Already ordered and waiting for them to arrive. Now is the time to choose floor stain and interior colors. We liked all the three when we put the samples down on the floor but then we only put the direct stain, no poly and we do not know how each will change once finished. We do not have access to the flooring guy, our GC handles everything, he just asked us to choose a stain and confirm the paint colors. Time is running out and I seem to be switching between one to other. What are your suggestions? Thank you for your time.
GC confirmed Duraseal is what will be used. Also, the floor will be sanded, water popped, stained and water-poly finished. Now, for the stain – your thoughts, pls?!
My suggestion it to have your flooring person test all the colors on your floors in your home. This is a standard practice. Because of light, what direction your home faces, your type of wood, colors of you walls / furnishings, etc. – everything will be completely different. Test on your own floors, choose the one you love, and you’ll be all set. I hope that helps. I would be doing you a disservice to recommend something without seeing all the samples myself in person on your floors.
xo Michael
Question: re the satin coating finish on top. How long did it smell for? (I assume they used an oil based product)
It didn’t really smell once dry – may have been water based.
xo Michael
Could you tell me what brand of stain did they use? I want exactly this! But I know from brand to brand it’s different colors
What is your paint color?! It is perfection!
Unfortunately I don’t know the color. This is how the house was painted when I bought it.
xo Michael
Beautiful floors , can you please tell me how wide are the planks here ? They look like 3.25 inches but hard to tell.