I agree with the above poster. to get the floors really dark, your installer has to "pop" the grain. Sorry, I don't have any pictures. We added red oak in the kitchen and living room and had the dining room and foyer ( combination of red and white oak) sanded and stainded. They look exactly the same and I love the look. The installer that I hired was the only one that talked about wetting the floors and "popping" them. He said that was needed for the stain to really penetrate deep into the wood. Good luck. Beth

When it comes to hardwood, trends are something to ignore! Why? Because hardwood is pretty much a lifetime purchase, and unless yours is damaged in some way, you're probably not going to replace it. So, light wood vs. dark wood, wide planks vs. narrow planks -- that stuff's all going to come and go. With that in mind -- as well as the very real concerns about cleaning dark wood -- I'll vote for a nice, neutral midtone every time. Not too much contrast, not too red, and (unless it's a beach house) not too pale. I think this is the wood that's most likely to give you good service and stand the test of time.

HI joshua123, The kitchen tile is from Pratt & Larson. It is a custom waterjet mosaic piece in marble. The color is a dark grey with a lot of variation. the exact color is bardiglio. the white boarder and interior boarded are snow white marble. kathy and Micah at pratt & lason were extremely helpful finding exactly what I wanted for our kitchen. I'll have to post a couple more pictures from a sunny day, as the ones I have posted dont really reflect the real colors. as far as style and mosaics being dated or not, I'm a firm believer that you should go with what you love and what speaks to you. you are going to be living in the house and walking into that kitchen every day. I dont think our kitchen mosaic looks dated at all, but I'm also not a designer. I can tell you it makes me happy when I walk in to make my morning coffee in that room. I did consider using more of that tile to cover the entire backspace area from the cooktop to the hood, as diana illustrated in some of her photos, to really give it a more modern look, but it was too expensive to justify in this house.

@Sharmeen Aghaeian @Caroline Field Sure, pics are from various stages of remodeling/decorating (so maybe 18 months in between them), but really liking them so far. Seem like good quality and don't show dirt easily. Some scratches from my kids, but even those aren't too noticeable. Have not done any maintenance yet. We wanted something updated but not trendy and I like how these floors are neutral without being too light or dark.