Thanks - I truly love it & it matches my personality -
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When we put our wood floors in our neighbors said to also consider how the sun lightens dark wood over time. We have the same floor plan with a wall of windows to the west. We put in a white oak, quarter sawn if I remember correctly. Super happy with it and no fading so far.
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I hate the grey pallet. To me, it’s very cold & depressing.
I love dark floors (leaning towards more of an espresso brown color than a red cherry) but they do show everything.
The problem with trying to be trendy is that trends don’t last long and then you’re stuck (remember the pickled oak cabinets?) I don’t think you can go wrong with a medium-to-dark finish, wide plank floor.
I also don’t care for the white kitchens but my builder husband tells me it’s what everyone is asking for. JustaMom - I love your kitchen! If I ever do another one, I also plan to do the painted cabinets.
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That ceiling light. 
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In my first house, I had maple floors and I loved them. Very clear wood with no real grain showing. No stain, just a poly finish.
Second house, we just couldn’t afford the maple…so we got red oak, again no stain. We have a variety of wood finishes in our house, and just a poly finish really captured everything.
This house, we also have oak floors…but I sure do wish we has sprung the additional money for that maple. Still…ours are that light honey color, and really are nice and bright.
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Wow - thanks SO much for this great feedback. Focused on this all day yesterday and what a treat to wake up to these additional thoughts!
In an effort to factor in upcoming trends - I looked at a bunch of higher end ($1.5 mil +) new construction developments along the east coast (where I live) and in a few other states. Figured they had established design consultants who must have done some market research. Almost ALL had very light or medium-light floors.
Conclusions so far:
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No grey (totally agree w/everyone - too trendy)
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Will go w/ luxury vinyl plank as it works w/open floor plan (plus great for dogs - which we hope to get again someday
). Our prior pups scratched up our wood floor in weeks. 
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Despite the new construction light floor trend - hub and I def don’t like the super light floors for our (kinda formal?) house.
Just a big no once we looked closely at the pix of other homes (not sure why!) -
However, the dark color I’d picked before (after months of research -below ) now seems too dark.
Now trying to figure something slightly lighter. Wondering if a slightly rustic look would also be out of style soon? I couldn’t tell from looking at the pix online. I’m thinking just visible wood knots etc. - not extreme farmhouse, super-distressed…
Again - thanks so much for the feedback!!
I’d go for wood that looks natural above all. And I’d go for real wood over anything else if you can afford it. Real wood flooring never goes out of style. It’s an investment that’s pays off. It can always be sanded and restained if needed. I’ve got hardwood floors in most of my home and it’s the way to go. Id go for a medium shade on the darker side. Something with rich color. Walnut is too dark, cherry is too red.
If I am being honest, I think the shade you have there is actually quite gray and seems a little on the “flat” side. The grain is nice though.
Try using a tool like this, where you are able to “see” the flooring in your space. Good luck.
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I would not go for the rustic look in flooring…which is pretty permanent. If you want a rustic look, do it with furniture and rugs.
I would choose something more universally timeless…and rustic isn’t.
Then again…I’ll repeat what I said upstream. Get what you want and like. That is more important than anything else.
And asking…folks with wood floors…why do you feel you need to stain them at all. What’s wrong with the beautiful natural color of these woods.
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I also think that floor has too many grey tones. It’s not warm enough for my taste, and I wouldn’t call that light at all.
I also agree that if you can afford real hardwoods, they do stand up well to dogs (you just need to put the right sealer on), are great in kitchens and laundry rooms, and can be restrained if the next owner doesn’t love the color.
@thumper1 - We have a dark stain on our hardwoods right now that was original to the house from 1904. I felt like I didn’t have a choice when we matched the new kitchen floor to the existing hardwoods as they can no longer be refinished (been sanded down one too many times). For the basement, we are doing a more natural ash blond look but it’s LVP because, it’s the basement.
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Thank you both! Yes, I had a feeling even a slight ‘rustic’ was a little too trendy. Appreciate that.
I’m really wanting the lux vinyl because we have a pretty open floor plan - and all the real estate agents I’ve talked to have said in that situation, really strive to make the material all the same. If I went with wood, then I’d have to do tile (or something similar) in the downstairs powder room, kitchen, and laundry room.
I guess that’s an option - but was so tired of my patchwork first floor that I was looking forward to ‘all one material.’ 
Do you think hardwood in entrance hall, library, living room, dining room, and family room with tile in bath/laundry/kitchen is better than all lux vinyl (if it’s good quality and looks nice?)?
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Yes!
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Why? I have real hardwood in all those rooms and they hold up really, really well. Also easier to stand on for long periods than tile. (And easier to clean because no grout lines).
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@momofboiler1 - wow you have hardwood in kitchen? That’s so interesting! No problems w/water, etc.?
The dog-scratching thing was worrying me about the wood, too, though… (maybe we just had ‘soft’ inexpensive wood that was susceptible to scratches?)
I’ve had hardwoods in my kitchen in multiple houses and absolutely love it. I do keep a small rug in front of the sink but zero issues. I also have a dog ; )
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We also have hardwood in the kitchen to match the rest of the house. It’s been in 8 years and we’ve had no issues. It’s still looks great. The dogs haven’t hurt it at all.
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Hardwood in the kitchen is actually forgiving material, if you drop something on tile, it’s breaking. If you do on hardwood, you might have a chance of saving it.
I’d only tile the laundry room, and you can always pick a wood finish tile if you want that look in that room.
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Here’s my favorite model standing on our kitchen floor. You can see the transition into the dining room to the original floors which we tried to match.
(It reads a bit darker in person).
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I have to say-dog scratched floors started when our dog reached 40 lbs even with diligent nail trimming. She’s now 65 lbs. Our 15 lb dog caused no scratches at all.
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Why? Our kitchen is open to our breakfast room, dining room and family room. All have hardwood flooring. Sealed well.
Our front hall is tile and that tile goes into our mudroom and powder room. I don’t think wood is a good choice for an entryway that is used often!
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I believe that you should select what you like along with the style of your house. 2 of my neighbors have LPV flooring throughout their open floor plan plus dogs. I noticed they are noisy when the dogs walk/run on the LPV.
We built a new home 2 years ago with an open floor plan. Hardwoods throughout the high traffic areas. Opted for tile in the open kitchen, entry, laundry and bathrooms. I think the installers did a good job with the transitions. Went with a rustic medium Hickory but it fits the Mediterranean casual farmhouse look we wanted.
We wanted wood cabinets so I wanted the contrast with the kitchen floors.
I attached a photo of the transition with hardwood and tile and a partial view of the kitchen and great room.
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