The Bedroom Suite Floors Are Finished! (Red Oak Hardwood Floors Finished With Bona Natural Seal And Bona Traffic HD)
The floors in our master bedroom suite are finished, and I couldn’t be happier with the result! Our floors are red oak (this part of the house has new red oak floors), and I finished them with Bona Natural Seal and Bona Traffic HD in an extra matte finish. After sanding the floors starting with 36-grit, and then moving to 60-grit, 80-grit, and finishing with 100-grit, I did one coat of Bona Natural Seal (which I purchased here — affiliate link). Then I did two coats of Bona Traffic HD in the extra matte finish (which I purchased here — affiliate link). Then I sanded that finish very quickly with 220-grit sandpaper on my 5-inch sander (after learning the hard way that I’m not strong enough to use a floor buffer), and finished with a final coat of Bona Traffic HD. I applied all of sealer and finish coats using a 14-inch roller and 14-inch Wooster microfiber roller cover that I purchased at Home Depot.
I’m going to share a ton of pictures of the finished floor today because when I was trying to decide which Bona sealer to use on my red oak hardwood floors, all I wanted was to find pictures. I wanted loads and loads of pictures, but those are hard to find. If I found pictures, there would only be about one or two pictures of each room, and it was hard to tell what I was looking at based on the lighting. I was able to find quite a few videos, but they were either 15 second walk-through videos of finished floors, or longer videos showing the entire process from start to finish with only a minute or less showing a walkthrough of a house with the finished floor. I just wanted pictures, and I wanted to see the same room from different angles, and I wanted a lot of them. So today, I’m going to show you these finished floors from just about every angle I can, and I’m going to provide some info that I hope will be helpful for anyone who happens upon this post who is looking for info on Bona finishes for hardwood floors.
So here is what our newly finished red oak hardwood floors look like with the Bona Natural Seal and Bona Traffic HD in the extra matte finish. I’ll start with the foyer of the bedroom suite.
The foyer only has one ceiling light that has two bulbs in it. Both bulbs are 5000K (daylight) LED bulbs. As you can see, the foyer has no windows, so there’s no direct natural light in this room. Keep in mind that if you use warmer lighting (which most people do), the color of the floor will look warmer than it does under 5000K LED lighting. Also, I did not use Bona Red Out on my red oak floors.
Next, I’ll move on to the bedroom. I can’t wait to get rid of these striped walls, but one project at a time. I’ll start working on this room as soon as I’m finished with the walk-in closet. Anyway, this room is the one that has the most natural light since there are three windows. I took these pictures early this morning (around 7:00am, only 30 minutes after sunrise), so it wasn’t during the brightest part of the day. This room has four recessed LED lights that are set to 5000K (daylight). So again, if you use warmer lighting, the floor color will appear warmer. Here you can see the beautiful low sheen of the Bona Traffic HD in the extra matte finish.
And finally, here is the walk-in closet. This room has some natural light, but since there’s only one window, and these pictures were taken early this morning, there’s not a whole lot of natural light coming in through the window. The room has seven LED recessed lights on the 5000K (daylight) setting, plus a center chandelier with three 5000K (daylight) LED chandelier bulbs.
So if you’re trying to decide which Bona product to use, especially on red oak hardwood floors, I really hope this is helpful! I do find it interesting that the color is slightly different from picture to picture, but I think that’s just because my phone (I take all of my pictures using my iPhone 15) picks up lighting differently at different angles. But it’s actually very accurate to how I see the floors in person. Depending on the angle, the lighting, and the time of day, the floors may appear brighter, or they may appear slightly darker and warmer.
But the overall appearance of the floor with the Bona Natural Seal and the Bona Traffic HD is going to be slightly darker and warmer than the bare, freshly sanded red oak flooring. These pictures were taken at different times of the day, so you have to take that into consideration. But here’s a picture of the freshly sanded floor on the left, sanded to 100-grit, and the finished floor with the Bona Natural Seal and Traffic HD on the right. The difference is very slight, but I do think that slight touch of warmth from the finishes makes a very big difference.
If you prefer the appearance of the floor on the left, you’ll probably want to stick with Bona Nordic Seal, which is the lightest color available. But if you like the natural red oak look but want just the slightest touch of warmth, the Bona Natural Seal is the right choice. I’m absolutely thrilled with my choice, and I couldn’t be happier with my floors now!
And just for fun, here’s a quick comparison of what I had previously (red oak stained with a mixture of dark walnut and special walnut) and the new lighter, brighter red oak floors.
What an amazing difference!! I love the lighter floors so much more! And now the countdown begins. The floors require three days to fully cure, and then…I can finally move my washer and dryer into the closet!! I’ve been waiting for that moment for far too long, and I’m more excited than a kid waiting for Christmas morning to arrive.
More About My Walk-In Closet/Laundry Room
see all walk-in
closet diy projects
read all walk-in
closet blog posts
Addicted 2 Decorating is where I share my DIY and decorating journey as I remodel and decorate the 1948 fixer upper that my husband, Matt, and I bought in 2013. Matt has M.S. and is unable to do physical work, so I do the majority of the work on the house by myself. You can learn more about me here.
Kitty tested, Kristi approved! The floors are beautiful!
100% worth the effort to go back and re-do those, they’re BEAUTIFUL! The extra matte finish looks so much better, too!
The floors look great! I’m glad you decided to go through all the work to get the color you truly wanted.
Your floors are gorgeous but I don’t understand why you’re doing a different finish then the rest of hbd house? Unless I missed it somewhere and you explained the reason. I’ve always thought continuity throughout the home with flooring was the best way to go otherwise it looks choppy. Just interested in your reasoning.
I wrote this post explaining all of that. 🙂 https://www.addicted2decorating.com/heres-why-im-going-to-sand-my-newly-finished-floors-again.html
The floors are stunning! I’m
Biased because I’m a light-wood girl but they are simply beautiful—what a wonder you are! So excited for you to have your beautiful dream closet and laundry room! It’s been a game changer for us having laundry next to our closet!
The floors came out perfect! Love them so much. Your original floors were gorgeous too, its just a whole different look. You must be thrilled. Im curious about your blinds. Will you be changing them too? They look great as they are and I know you have them throughout. I was just wondering if you’d be bringing that lighter color up into the blinds as well.
i haven’t decided on that yet. I’ll wait and see how the rooms come together before making the decision. I have thought about trying wood bleach on them to see if I can lighten them up just a bit rather than buying all new.
I was team dark floor, but seeing those pictures side-by-side and the beautiful sheen of the lighter floors… I should have trusted you all along, lol. What a good decision!
They look so good!
So happy for you,Kristi! Thank you for all the info! This kind of post is the very reason I follow you! Can’t wait for rest of the journey.
Beautiful!!! Congratulations on your hard work and dedication to getting it just right!
They are beautiful! Are you going to get the wallpaper on that end wall before the washer/dryer install? Seems like it would be harder to wallpaper with them in place (or are the cabinets deep enough to enclose all the way towards the front of w/d?)
I’m planning on doing the wallpaper today! 🙂
The floors look awesome! I’m very curious what color you were wearing when you took these pictures.
Love, love, love! I’ve been wishing I had chosen lighter floors. Now I need new floors.
I love your floors!!! I’ve never been lucky enough to have hardwood floors but I wonder a few things. Do your pets nails scratch the floors or moving furniture? How do you clean them? Can they be washed? Lastly, how many time are you able to sand and refinish them?
I don’t know how you manage to do all the things you do plus take care of Matt, the pets, laundry, cooking/cleaning! You are so talented, and I wish I had an ounce of your abilities!
Red oak is a pretty hard wood, so my pets don’t scratch the floors. Cooper is a big dog, and he won’t let me touch his feet to clip his claws, but even he doesn’t affect the floors. The finish I used in the rest of the house has been very durable, and I’m hoping this Bona finish will be just as durable and hold up to his claws.
I use Bona hardwood floor cleaner in my Bissell Spinwave to clean my hardwood floors. It does a beautiful job.
The number of times you can refinish hardwood floors depends on the type. Our are 3/4″ hardwood floors, so there’s plenty of wood there to refinish several times. Some sources say they can be sanded and refinished up to 10 times, but I would be nervous to do that. I’d probably cap it at five times for our floors. That’s for a major sanding where all of the finish has to be removed. They could probably be screened and resealed more times than I’d ever want or need or have time for.
Beautiful!!! You did it again, you deserve a vacation.
Your new floor finish looks absolutely amazing! I loved the darker color, too, so I was a little skeptical, but now they are just so fresh and bright! I also enjoy that your kitty is stopping by to remind you who’s really the boss! I’ve gotta say, I don’t have a single photo of my garden that doesn’t have a kitty or two wandering through in the background. They do like to take over!
WOW!!! You really knocked it out of the park with those floors. I love hardwood in any color, but I must say that the new light-colored floors really do make the rooms seem larger. I also love the light Scandinavian feel of them too, just so light and airy. You will be like a kid in a candy store when you get your washer and dryer in there. Have Fun!
Cheers to you and Matt and Felicity!
You are Wonder Woman. I couldn’t understand why you would go to all that work sanding down the floors that you had just stained to get light floors. Now I understand and I love the matte finish. The floors are so pretty. And the kitty likes them too!
I believe it was worth all the work. I’m glad you are pleased with the look. Upward and onward to the next project.
Beautiful! Bona should pay you for your pictures as they show their product very favorably.
They look wonderful. I’m becoming a lover of lighter wood floors now!
Absolutely beautiful. I love white washed but so glad it came out warm and light without the whitish hue.
You nailed it…. Perfectly.
Love, love your floors! I liked the richness of the darker floor stain, but your choice to go lighter is so much better. I love how well it plays against the teals, blue, coral and other colors in those rooms.
Towards the end of the year, when you completely finished this enormous project, PLEASE relax and only do some fun small projects! You need to recoup and enjoy the holidays with Matt, your family and friends! I will enjoy seeing you rest as much as I enjoy all of your other work.
The floors are gorgeous and all your hard work is obvious.
I was going tobadk when the w/d could be moved in and happy to see for your sake very soon. What a difference your life will be, even more so when your clothes and shoes and purses are in place. Congratulations Kristi
I love the lighter floors! They look beautiful.
Everything is so beautiful. You have put in so much effort and it shows. Thank you for the pictures and directions that you have shared.
Can you remind me of the grade of red oak that you have from Home Depot? Thank you
This is the exact one I bought: https://www.homedepot.com/p/Beasley-Unfinished-Solid-Red-Oak-1-Common-3-4-in-T-x-2-25-in-W-x-Random-Length-Hardwood-Flooring-19-5-sq-ft-case-RO214-1CSE/320608877
Beautiful!
They look beautiful, but bottom line … I’m so happy you’re so very happy with them!!!
Beautiful result. Light and cheerful. It was worth everything you put into it.
Love your floors❣️
Love the floors!
I have a question, are you going to paint the island in the closet the same blue or a different color? I love that blue and l usually stay away from blues. My house is purples, corals and teals.
But that blue is on my mind. You are amazing!
I had considered painting it an accent color, but I think I’ll stick with the blue. I hung the rest of the wallpaper yesterday, and I don’t want to add a color on the island that will compete for attention with the wallpaper.
I was very nervous that the floors were going to turn out too orange for your liking, but they look fantastic! I can’t wait to see the finished project. Good job!
Your floors are GORGEOUS. I’m going to copycat you someday when my floors need refinishing. Ten stars!!! ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
Thank you for posting this!! I am your exact intended audience – our floors are getting re-done next week and I had selected Bona Natural and Traffic HD RAW without a ton of photos. These helped so much, we are going to stick with our choices!
Yay! I hope you love it as much as I do! I still stare at my floors every day, and I love how they turned out!