We had a Vic Ash floor laid recently in our living room. The floor polishing person we used was excellent in every way, including helping us choose which products to use, which was a great start. He said that polyurethane gives timber that tan colouring, but water based (non-toxic) finish doesn't develop any colour - so you get the natural colour of the timber, intensified just a tiny bit as if it is wet - our finished floor is beautiful. If you want the timber tinted, they have tints they can apply before sealing. The water based non-toxic finish is more expensive, but more durable than polyurethane, and not high gloss which I dislike, so I decided readily that it is worth it. We are in Melbourne and the business name of this gentleman, Sasha, is S&A Flooring Services. They were very clean and methodical, leaving no mess or unsatisfactory areas of work. They did a beautiful job, and the finish was as he described in the first place when we chose the products. Getting people in for various advice, repairs or restorations in the home can be difficult and disappointing, so trades people like this man Sasha, and the resultant finish we live with, are a pleasure.

Hi Maria, we love the wood but it is a little overwhelming in that space with the timber floor. A liming white is a great idea as mentioned by a few people here. This will let you have the best of both worlds, a lighter, brighter finish while still allowing the wood grain to show through. You could try Feast Watson Liming White Floor Finish (yes, it's not a floor but it has the size of a floor!) and build up the number of coats until you are happy with the amount of timber grain showing through. You'll probably need to give it a light sand first as it's most likely already got some type of coating on it. The other option would be to leave the walls as is and consider a large, light neutral coloured rug as pompom suggested on the timber floor and perhaps a good sized piece of art on the wall or white wall shelving instead of the dark side unit you have to reduce the amount of timber in the room.

i added a dining room extension 2 years ago and chose cyprus pine flooring to match the existing timber floor of my old cottage. Im near beaches so decided to lime wash the floor. 2 years down the track whilst i really love the look i can tell you the finish does not last. It is not even a high traffic area and you have to keep an eye on it to keep it clean of any little marks so they dont damage the surface of the wash. So my advice would be whilst a really beautiful look avoid because it does not go the distance.

Thanks to nickybaruch I am now considering doing the floor (which is now sanded back ready for finishing off) with white liming with a slight tint colour in it. Some say you have to be very careful when liming. Is this a problem? I would have thought it would be just like putting on a stain? Anyway doing it that way we would still see the grain of the timber floor which would be lighter than the dark cedar it was before and keeping the pine lined ceiling with the cedar coloured beams will blend in well I think with the lighter timber floor and the white walls we now have. What do you think?