Who makes the sausage in bread, the homeowner, or will the pro bring it?

Hi I need help with colour choices. I am trying to decide between these two stain/stair colours. The dark brown (Elm) is the natural light one. My stair treads will be carpeted with this carpet colour and the downstairs floor will be this bleached spotted gum. Which looks best with this? The contrasting dark or the more matching light?

We are turning an old modified colonial with deep wrap around verandas into a modern farmhouse. We love the recent colour scheme we've seen emerging on old colonials and queenslanders of fresh white exteriors and interiors which really contrast stained honey coloured timber doors and windows and let them stand out and sing. But we're trying to nail down specific paints for walls and trims that do it. Has anyone done a similar colour and got advice? Cheers, hive-mind!

To me it looks like the wood has been sanded back and finished with a tinted wax but I can’t discount the pictures being edited to remove the orange tone or showing up different on the screen. Are you sure the downstairs floor is hardwood? I would find a spot that you could do a few test sands and stain/wax tests.