The weave in looks OK, but there is no excuse for that result, other than not being able to source matching material due to cost or time constraints. I wouldn't want to live with that also, and I would never expect one of my customers to think that's OK. But it is, as you say, a conversation piece. Even if you source very similar material in terms of species, sawing, age and location, a flooring expert/artisan is still going to have to tweak the new material with stains and dyes to make such a repair less noticeable.

At 18 years old, your hardwoods are ready for a new finish = full sand and refinish. That's a given. Now I'm going to be the one who throws a stick into the 'wood floor' mud. As much as I love wood (and I do love wood), I'm going to tell you something you do NOT want to hear: the tiles are PERFECT for your counter tops/kitchen. Oh dear. Often times we MATCH or at least coordinate the counter tops with the floors. Which is why the floor-counter discussion is often done at the same time. And yes, millworkman has a point about cutting out the tiles. It is possible to undercut the cabinets so that the existing tile can be 'jacked out'. That shouldn't be an issue. The decision to run a new floor (tile or otherwise) in the kitchen is going to bring about another dilemna: trim on the cabinets. With a new floor comes an expansion gap which needs to be hidden. A new tile will have a smaller gap (easier to hide) whereas wood will require about 1/2" or more. Hmmmmm. Now we are into some weird stuff going on with the finish on the cabinets. Hmmmm. Ok, if it were my house and I was ONLY STAYING for another 4-5 years (and don't really want to spend more money if I didn't have to) I would LEAVE my hardwoods (for now). I would have the grout in the tile PROFESSIONALLY CLEANED...possibly seal the grout to prevent staining/dulling. I would then SEE how I feel about the change to the LOOK of the tile. It will be several hundred bucks with MINIMAL household upheaval. Now LIVE with it for a while. Once you have lived on the clean/white tile with white counters you can then decide if you NEED new kitchen flooring to SELL the house. So long as those tiles are intact you should be fine for resale. What I would then focus on would be figuring out WHEN to have my hardwood floors sanded and refinished. Traditionally if you were to do it, you would do it AFTER you moved out but before the house was put on the market. Again, it is all about minimizing disruption. So long as you work with a finish/stain that maintains the light/reddish tones, you can LEAVE the banister as-is. And that will save you THOUSANDS. There you have it. The easiest, cheapest options available. 1. Clean the grout in the tile and decide LATER if it needs refreshing 2. Leave the hardwoods until just before you sell - make the flooring decisions at that time 3. The counters look awesome with a WHITE floor....which is what you currently have which is why you want to leave what you have unless you have a TREMENDOUS amount of tile damage.

looks like the new floor is red oak and maybe the old floor is white oak? If so, then they will never match. I'd be tempted to have the new floor stained a little darker (with maybe a bit of gray thrown in), so it's just two different floors, rather than a near miss.

Thank you everyone for kindly taking the time to reply. I am in a dilemma as I have purchased a 1959 house with beautiful oak floors (about 900sqft total). They have had carpet laid over them for years, dogs peed in areas, hence, some black areas. The other problem is that the kitchen area (about 100sqft) does not have oak floors and just a patched up sub floor that used to have linoleum over it. I would really like to re-finish the floors and bring them back to life, and additionally weave in similar new flooring into the kitchen area, but the floor guy I called was against weaving a new floor in, even though it is a tiny area, and suggested I tile it. Tiling that area will look odd as it is an open kitchen/living room. My other option is to lay a new solid wood floor, and I don't know if it can be laid on top of the old oak, or does that old floor need to be removed... OR... can LVP be laid on top of all of it? I am open to any thoughts, suggestions, ideas... I am a bit lost and need to move asap. There is no kitchen, doors or base boards to worry about as I already removed everything. I will try to post pictures. Thank you very much indeed to everyone that has so kindly taken the time to write and try to help.