Hard(decision)wood flooring

Mat and I are ready to put down hardwood floors on the main level of our house, but we (I’m) having a really tough time deciding what to put down.

I love the look of dark floors, but there are a couple of reasons why we don’t want to put them down:

• Everyone (and I mean EVERYONE) has said dark-stained floors are a pain in the ass to keep clean. Dust and foot prints are never-ending. Not to mention we have not one, but TWO white dogs (extra paw prints, extra dirt and EXTRA white fur)

• Scratches are easier to see especially if the scratch is deep and takes off the stain (see 2 dogs above)

• Dark wood is so popular right now and I’m worried that it will be the dated honey-coloured floors you see today…I wonder if I like it so much because it’s so trendy - ?

Of course we have a budget (not big, but comfortable) and we found a great place that carries “leftovers” if you will, which means what they have is what you get. No ordering and if you wait too long to decide, there’s a good chance it will be scooped up.

Mat and I don’t like a lot of things: We don’t like “colours” so nothing with a red tone to it, or anything too yellow. We don’t want a bowling alley either…

Again we like the look of dark, but not the high-maintenance of it. We like “different” like tiger wood ($$$, hahaha ya right) and wood with character.

Last night we found this:

It’s hickory which is extremely durable (quite a bit harder than maple). It’s got character and I’m pretty sure that dirt, scratches etc. aren’t going to show up.

Not to mention that this particular one we found is solid (not engineered) and is 3 ¼” wide – both of which usually add a lot of cost per square foot but is within our budget because of this warehouse.

I really really like the look of this, but I’m really concerned that it will look “country”.

I’ve scoured the internet and found pics that support that it will look country, and other pics that show that it can look very – modern – if you will.

Here are the pics that confirm the flooring looks country:

And here are the pics that show it can look warm but modern:

And here are some (really) dated pics of our house, but it gives you an idea, anyway:



(this picture was from the listing when we bought the house - we now have stainless steel appliances and much nicer stainless steel light fixtures)

wall colour is now a bit lighter (still grey) tile will not change (kind of a burgundy)

Thoughts? Thoughts?? Thoughts???