Georgina, you are most welcome. Yes, I saw that you said in your initial query that you had lacquered them and did not want to sand it all back, hence my suggestion for the least messy option (otherwise yes would be better to sand it all back etc etc like others have said but let's be practical not perfectionists). Yes a tinted lacquer, yes I'm sure you can buy it, I've mixed it myself but best to just buy one but beware not to go too far the other way and take tiny steps. Paint a bit that's going to be under a desk etc and leave it for days to dry and look at it in different light etc. It's not ideal, but I suggest you use the same clear lacqer and add a tiny bit of tinted one because you are painting on a darker colour already so experiment with small amounts of each, keeping track of how much you have put in. (I mix my own wall colours so have just learnt to give it a go in small portions). You also mention wanting a black and white rug, these colours will clash with the wood (colour theory) and make it look even more orange so best to use a colour that tones more. It's hard to tell the exact colour from the photos but go with warmer deeper colours which will then tone down the orange rather than clash with it and make it look cheap and more orange. So if you want to go dark then a rich chocolate brown with some creams, khaki and even a bit of burnt orange for example will make the orange in the floorboards recede.

I wanted an invisible tough non-yellowing sealant over a thinned white emulsion wash. I used the 2 part Bona ultra matt for heavy traffic in our shop. It has been brilliantly hard wearing and 4 years on it still looks great! Having designed and decorated for nearly 30 years I would highly recommend Bona as it is easy to use and the results are superb. The secret for me is in having an ultra clean dust free floor. It's a bit of a drag but definitely worth the trouble if you need high standard professional results ! Firstly, lightly sand the water-based whitewashed surface with fine paper, wash with water and microfibre cloths and vacuum. leave for an hour or 2 to let any airborne dust settle, vacuum again and apply first thin coat. Leave for an hour or so after it's touch dry, then very lightly sand with fine finishing grade paper and vacuum. Repeat this between each subsequent coat, (usually 3 thin coats) and apply within the time stated on the instructions so that each layer bonds chemically to the one below and doesn''t shear off. It's near impossible to avoid some signs of wear over time in high traffic areas but Bona is excellent. It's not cheap but as they say, you get what you pay for!

Why not give it a go? A light sand and wax won’t cost too much and the boards are solid - so worse case scenario is that you don’t like it and need to do it again. You won’t have lost much apart from time! Many moons ago in my first cottage I couldn’t afford to get my boards sanded, and I didn’t have the skill or nerve to do them myself - so as I wanted them darker, I rubbed a little black paint into them and then waxed them. To me, they looked amazing (and they aged well!). But - my rustic charm boards are someone else’s scruffy mess. It’s all subjective! I’m my current house I had the boards done professionally. The end product is completely different and I liked both - so it depends on the look you’re going for.

Thanks everyone for your feedback. Definitely don't think it's the washing machine - we ourselves have an upstairs neighbor and it's very obvious when their machine's on. Our whole ceiling practically vibrates, as I'm sure does the downstairs neighbour's when ours is on. The downstairs neighbour insists the noise happens when we're walking around, I did offer to go down to their flat but they didn't take me up on it. Even if they did and I heard the noise, I'd haven't the first clue whatsoever about what it could be nor whom to call to fix it. Before this flat we only ever lived in new-build blocks so I'm totally clueless in terms of what's normal for an old terrace like this. Surely the most prudent thing to do would be to call a professional, have him go into their flat, diagnose the noise, and put together an action plan. If it means a fix through my floor, so be it. Does anyone know what kind of tradesperson would be able to identify the problem?