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 there- what was the Bona color you used that was the same as your Dark Walnut?
The Bona was dark walnut as well. It has to be mixed. It’s a bit lighter in color, but I prefer it. It looks more natural.
xo Michael
Your floors are beautiful!
Two question: Are you sure that your floors are red oak, not white oak? They show no orange at all….gorgeous! My red oak floors are ORANGE and I need to stain them with something that will neutralize the red. I like yours!
When you said you used water-based instead of oil based, were you talking about the polyurethane finish or the actual stain?
Thanks.
I keep on going back to this post every time I am asked about what I am doing for floors in my new house! Do these floors have one or two coats of satin?
Of the top coat you mean? If so, two.
xo Michael
Absolutely beautiful!! It’s been stressful choosing a stain and u helped me make our decision. So, thank u!! I hope mine turn out as beautiful as yours.
How does the dark walnut hide the dirt, footprints, crumbs and hair? Sometimes too dark shows EVERYTHING!
I have zero issues. There’s enough texture in the wood grain that things are hidden. But I honestly prefer seeing when things are dirty so I can clean it up.
ox Michael
What color and brand are the walls? Love the combination
Beautiful floor! I saw you mentioned you preferred bona stain, but I didn’t find bona make dark walnut color, would you share more information for the bona dark walnut that you did?
Thanks!
It’s a custom mix. Their installers / refinishers should know the formula.
xo Michael
These are so beautiful! Did you do one coat or two coats?
I assume it’s just one coat of stain.
xo Michael
I am deciding on stain color for my wood floors tonight. Dark walnut is one of the samples I have. This post just made my decision for me. I love that color! I wasn’t planning on a satin finish but I think you just changed my mind on that one. Absolutely beautiful!
Beautiful selection on the stain! I’m redoing my floors and was leaning towards the dark walnut. Thank you for the pics.
I must ask….the wall color down the hallway is the perfect neutral I’ve been looking for. I realize that it was painted before you moved in, but is there any paint can left behind that might have a name on it? Pretty please!
Thank you! And I’m so sorry, but I don’t know the color.
xo Michael
It looks very beautiful. I’ve been thinking of getting hardwood floor and your beautiful floor is giving me the encouragement I need. Thanks for sharing.
…ahhhh I see you said duraseal. Thank u. I will check out Bona as well !
Definitely recommend Bona over the Duraseal. I had my first floor done with Bona more recently. While both are nice, I perfect the Bona.
xo Michael
Hi Michael
I’ve read this post countless times but you’ve never said if you used duraseal brand or Minwax brand dark walnut – they both make dark walnut floor stain. Thanks !
Your floors are beautiful and go so well with the paint color on the walls!
I know the walls were painted before you moved in. You mentioned that you still had the paint cans and were going to match then repaint. Is the color listed on the paint cans? If not, have you repainted yet and do you mind sharing the color or do you have any suggestions? Thanks!
Can you share the width of your planks?
I measured them to be 2 1/4 inches.
xo Michael
I am in love with your floors and want to do the same in my house. Can you tell me if you used 1 coat of stain or 2 when it was applied?
How did you choose the satin finish?? I’m debating between satin and matte.
I asked a designer friend. Based on the style of my wood floors, the material, and the style / age home, it was recommend to use satin. If you have a more modern home and / or wider planks, matte might be a good fit for you.
Hope that helps!
xo Michael
The floors look absolutely beautiful. Walnut stain was a good color because it’s so versatile.
Did u share the paint colors yet?
What paint colors?
If you’re looking for the paint color on the walls in this post, I unfortunately don’t know. The house was painted this color when I purchased it last year.
xo Michael
Looks beautiful.
Can you share the brand of the dark walnut stain?
Thank you!
The brand is DuraSeal. However, I was recently educated on stain color and while I’m still please with my floors, I wouldn’t use DuraSeal again. I recently had my downstairs floors refinished and opted for Dark Walnut, but in Bona stains.
xo Michael
How similar are the bona and duraseal dark walnut colors?
The Bona is lighter and seems more “natural”.
xo Michael
Could you confirm the bona color was dark walnut? I couldn’t find dark walnut stain in bona drifast, unless is a different product line,
Thanks!!
It was a custom color. They mixed two colors together to get the dark walnut.
xo Mihcael
Those hardwood floors really turned out spectacularly! It can be so tricky going through the whole process of picking a hardwood floor and making sure you really love it. I know it was for me and my husband when we installed hardwood flooring throughout our living room and kitchen. Very nice!
Thank you so much! I think they are beautiful too!
xo Michael