Wood stain guide

Every stain has two qualities. Its colour is how light or dark it is: pale oak, mid brown, near-black. Its tone is the hidden hint of warmth or coolness within that colour, and it’s the tone that decides whether a floor feels sunny and traditional or calm and contemporary.

The wood itself has a tone too. Oak is naturally yellow, pine yellow-orange, cherry and mahogany red. A warm stain on a warm wood adds up to a lot of warmth; a cool stain on a warm wood calms it down.

• Warm stains lean red, orange or yellow: cosy and traditional. Golden Oak, Antique Pine, Teak, Light Oak, Red and Brown Mahogany, Antique Mahogany, Chestnut, Cinnabar, Natural Linen and Tasmanian Oak.
• Cool stains lean grey, green or blue: calm and modern, the secret to Scandinavian, smoked and weathered looks. Clay, Silt, Washed Umber, the Dark and Jacobean shades, and Black.
• Neutral and pale stains sit between: Chalk and White soften wood without pushing it warm or cool; Walnut, Dark Oak and Brown Earth give depth without obvious red.

Oak and pine already carry yellow, and almost every clear oil and lacquer deepens it, so a freshly finished floor can glow far more orange than the bare boards suggested. Orange is calmed by its opposites, and by white.

• Whites and pale neutrals veil the yellow before it can warm up. Earth Stain Chalk is our go-to for natural, Scandinavian-style oak; Light Fast Stain White and Water Stain White do a similar job on furniture.
• Greys cool the wood from within. Earth Stain Clay gives a soft smoked oak; Silt and Washed Umber take it further towards weathered and driftwood tones.
• Avoid yellow-leaning shades such as Golden Oak and Antique Pine, and choose a matt, water-based finish such as MyLac Matt, which warms the wood far less than oil.