Provincial Stained Floors

Provincial Stain is a traditional, medium-toned brown that will work in any home. We applied it to our white oak floors after water popping them, to get a rich uniform finish.

Why We Chose the Provincial over Other Popular Wood Stains

The first thing that happened once we closed on our new house was to get the dingy ambered oak floors refinished and stained. After deliberating between Jacobean, Dark Walnut, Special Walnut and Provincial, we finally settled on Provincial.  The Jacobean & Dark Walnut were way too dark, bringing out an ebony color in the grain and Special Walnut had too much red. So Provincial it was :-)

Provincial is a warm, medium toned brown. If you’re worried about your floors turning out too dark, then provincial is a really great choice. It adds wonderful warmth and feels very natural and timeless.

Now let me tell you, the guy we worked with was really great and had the patience of a saint to boot (If you’re in Mass or NH and want his name, drop me an email!). Originally I was planning on sanding the floors and staining them a rich brown.  Then I changed my mind and wanted to just sand and finish with a water based poly to keep them looking natural. You see, floors get an amber effect that happens with oil based polyurethane (they are darker initially and get darker and more orange as the years progress).  A few days later I decided not only did I want water-based but I wanted Bona Naturale, which is a water-based poly that is completely tint free and matte. THEN, realizing that the floors would probably never really be as light as I wanted, I reverted to my original plan of staining them. PHEW. Did you catch all of that!?!

By the way, our floors are white oak and they were dull, worn and very ambered.

The walls were in desperate need of some fresh paint, too.

This navy blue carpet was up the stairs and throughout the entire hallway. The living room and dining room originally had matching area rugs, too.

All the carpeting was ripped up. The floors were sanded down to beautiful fresh wood and stained with 2 coats of Bona DriFast stain in Provincial.  The floors were also “water popped” which means a light coat of water was added to the bare floors. This makes the grain swell and allows the stain to soak in deeper, giving a richer end color.

Finally, 3 coats of Polyurethane in a satin finish were applied.

The new stain brings such warm and coziness to the space. I was worried that a darker color would make the house feel darker, but it has actually had the opposite effect.

We only stained the stair treads and not the banisters. The extra $800 didn’t seem worth it!

We really love how the floors turned out.  They look brand new and the color is exactly what I wanted.

If you’re looking to stain your floors, I really love how Provincial turned out. But if you want something a little darker, don’t be afraid to make a custom blend. Sometimes a 50/50 mix of one stain plus a darker one will get you the exact color you’ve been wanting!