First off, I want to say that I am not a decorator, so take whatever I say with a grain of salt. I have a similar decorating dilemma. Years ago I painted all my paneling and have no regrets, but my paneling was nowhere as nice as yours, and I'm not suggesting that you paint yours. Well now I want to upgrade to hardwood floors. I, like you, am sort of flirting the line between cottagey and rustic. I finally made my decision and am going with character grade natural hickory after seeing it in person . Here is a pic of the home that finalized my decision. It looks much better in person. I also had a inspiration pic from houzz that made me first consider hickory. I wasn't sure if hickory was for me because I saw a lot of pics on the Internet that were not my style . . . it seemed to be too rustic and busy. It is a busy floor for sure, but in person it is just so beautiful, warm and playful. Hickory is a very hard wood that hides scratches well. I would cross-post in the decorating forum, there are lots of good ideas there. Here is a link that might be useful: [Hickory floor in cottage[(https://www.houzz.com/photos/hickory-wide-plank-floors-traditional-bedroom-san-francisco-phvw-vp~2148118) This post was edited by theresa2 on Mon, Mar 4, 13 at 15:10

My husband has been installing carpet for 38 years. For as long as I can remember his advice has always been "100% nylon and stay away from polyester even if the salespeople tell you it's 'better' than it used to be". He installs a good amt of wool carpeting also, in the higher end homes, but it's a very expensive investment. Wears like iron :) Pad depends on the type of carpet but thicker isn't always better.

You have a lot of great woodwork to work with!! To prevent competing with the wood you already have in your space, consider a square or hexagonal tile at least for the kitchen and dining area. The living room could eventually work well with a stained concrete (if it's ground floor) with a large area rug to keep the space warm and comfortable but a little more sanitary and low maintenance! The one no-no would be wood-look tile. This tile palette would be a great way to start to update your space with a little more contemporary feel : Slate tile would pull some of the tones of the millwork for a cohesive and rustic look considering the majority of finishes you currently have: Best of luck with your project!

Carpet = quick, easy (read low cost), warm and quiet. As soon as you move to rigid flooring you have more costs then you thought possible. A hardwood floor OR laminate (doesn't matter which) requires 'flat' subfloors. If you currently have carpet, you will have uneven subfloors. I can guarantee it. Carpets hide some of the worst subfloors in the world. That's why builders LOVE to use carpet. It hides a myriad of problems (which they don't have to fix...'cause carpet hides all). Bedrooms are a personal choice. Laminate and hardwood often feel a bit cool to the touch (bare feet at 2am in February) whereas carpets are warm and naturally quiet. Many people prefer to see carpet in bedrooms. Of course hardwood is an upgrade but laminate is not. The STAIRS become an issue if you currently have carpet on them. As soon as you resurface the treads with rigid flooring you suddenly end up with an expensive situation you did not anticipate. As soon as you touch the stairs you will need to ensure you follow code. And that can be expensive. As in the stairs *can double the cost of the entire project. If you have 7-10 years in place, then go ahead and replace carpet with carpet. The floors will probably need to be updated when you sell anyway. And carpet is an easy, acceptable fix for today.