Anyone who has the luxury of an old 1900s timber floorboards is, in my view a very fortunate Houzzer and would have a very difficult time trying to get anything today that remotely resembled those boards. I have a Queenslander from that era. All Queenslanders has tongue and groove Hoop PIne floors and they were nearly always covered in newspapers with "lino" ( made in England) over the top...so were well preserved. The advice I received about these untouched floorboards that had been seasoned naturally for many years prior to use was to initially "feed them" with a mix of kerosene and pale boiled linseed oil and then stain them if I wanted then give them a couple of sealant coats that would still allow them to breathe. I opted for just a kero and pale boiled linseed oil sprayover whenever they looked "thirsty" and I've used thick rugs to protect them from wear and tear. I've had them like this for 30 yrs or so and am very, very happy with my floors...and they are soft wood. Every couple of years I douse the floors with turpentine as this penetrates the timber and prevents termites, then continue on with the stain, kero and linseed oil mix...then get them buffed. That's just my story that may be or not a little helpful, I was born in Victoria so am familiar with the balck Japan satin that was used down the boards exposed each side of the hall runners....and the boards were the wider ones. Its a pity that multiple sandings compromise the tongue and groove..sometimes such floors need reinforcing from underneath. After acertaining that, maybe a light.soft timber "overfloor"rather than a hardwood would be the go although quite a bit of maintrnance for the first few years. You could stain it any colour you wanted. by getting a light to mid brown or teak stain and give it several coats allowing drying in between until you were satisfied with the colour. Its a good thing to keep in mind that timber flooring from that era was very well and naturally seasoned for years prior to being sold for use...the idea was to seel people timber that would last. I have put on a couple of decks here and am rather disappointed to see that the newer timbers are showing signs of wear and deterioration whilst the original timbers are still as unblemished and solid as the day they were used to build my old home. I think that was a very good lesson for me. All timbers today are kiln dried for expediency so, since they were not permitted to "age gracefully": and gently they are not naturally strong. If ever I do any more timber renos to this place I will be sourcing old timbers form places being demolished. These often cost more...but there's method in that madness! I'd say to anyone wanting their floors to stand the test of time...Buy old timber and treat it as it would have been treated of old. Should have some photos of these floors somewhere. I'll post them if I can

I think in this situation it's more the view than the color. The view from the dark house is spectacular..

In my house, our stairs are carpeted and the upstairs/downstairs levels are floating floorboards. The stairs worked out too expensive to do so we changed carpet colour to compliment the colour of the timber. It looks fine :) I think they're separate levels and you won't see them together so should look good either way!

I used to be a 100% wool girl but I've switched to Godfrey Hirst's Eco+ range for several reasons. It's made from a corn polymer so there are no concerns with allergies. It's divinely soft underfoot, is available across a wide range of pricepoints, all with a 25 year warranty and in a broad range of classic and contemporary colours, including a charcoal grey. It is not a sisal look but in a bedroom it's lovely to have something a bit more luxurious looking and feeling. I am not affiliated with Godfrey Hirst at all but my clients and I all love this product! If you decide to check it out would love to hear your thoughts. Here's the link to the brochure but you really need to go to a carpet showroom and stand on it :) http://www.godfreyhirst.com/au/ecoplus/inspiration/brochure-eco