You can stain with an oil based stain and then apply a waterborne polyurethane. This will give you the look you're after with much less VOC (volatile organic content) load, although most floor stains have a high VOC content by themselves. I have stained heart pine with Bona DriFast stain and then topcoated with Bona Traffic Satin and have gotten very attractive results. You can consider the Waterlox system, although if odor is your prime concern, then research thre pros and cons of using that. Hard wax oil, of which I have no experience using, may be another option for you.

I bought sheet vinyl from the discontinued/remenant room of a carpet store and my tile layer/carpet layer/jack of all trades carpenter laid it. I think it's all in the installer. Mine is about 5 year sold now and survived the kitchen rip out in February. Still looks great. He even patched it where the penensula used to be. It's easy to clean. Not so slick that I fear for my life. And mine is a wood look so near the real thing a friend WITH the real thing bent over and rubbed her hand on it to feel the vinyl. My bathroom is next. I had planned on heated tile until the other morning when I stepped on the sample tile. NOW I'm thinking vinyl. At least it isn't freezing cold! And I've got ideas for that, too! And I know how easy it is to take care of. AND if I want to replace it at some point, it wasn't so expensive that I can't. It won't cost a new remodel loan to buy something else. And last but not least, the color/pattern choices are endless. My guy is so good I will wait in line for however long it takes for it to be my turn. It's only a day for his labor. I also considered/am considering cork, marmoleum, Duraceramic, and bamboo but the vinyl is at the top of the list today.

eastbaymom- your cabs and floors look great, i think you are right, we could go darker but we would lose the contrast, so it just depends on the kind of look we are really going for river spots- we did look at 3 different maple grades at the flooring showroom. we definitely ruled out the grade 3 maple, but liked some of the contrast that the second grade offered. I can see however that the cleanest grade of maple might be considered the most contemporary. another possibility that i kind of like is white quarter sawn (or rift and quartered) oak. That would also fit in with some of the arts and crafts details we have in our home. and that leaves the option to leave it unstained for now and if we ever do remodel the cabinetry to have it refinished and stained darker in the future. I had never before heard of maple being country styled either but no fewer than 3 individuals in 3 different conversations told me that it was. i'd appreciate any other opinions as well as to what other woods/colors would look good with our cabinets. I originally had the flooring quote done in walnut, which i also love, but i'm afraid with my kids being the way they are that the scratches will look awful in a short time frame.

Davidro1.... You are correct in that the LR/DR black granite tiles are set on the diagonal. The foyer terrazzo tiles are set 'square' to the front door. The kitchen entryway from the foyer is flanked by louvered double doors which I plan to remove along with the door trim. I plan to open up the entryway to the ceiling. The current transition is awful as I think it sits up too high and when I hit it with my foot (which I tend to do a lot), it is reminder that I don't like it. I plan to make the transition flush with both floors. As I mentioned in my original post, I was going to use a strip (two+ inches wide) of AB granite to serve as a visual transition in the Foyer/Kitchen entryway. Since I am now going to use a terrazzo tile, I don't think I need to repeat this transition in the other entryway. The Breakfast space (which is contiguous to the task area) is closed off by a swinging door (that is never used). I plan to remove this also and open up to the ceiling. The sliding glass doors (as shown in my mockups) open up to a balcony which is no longer a functioning space. We moved the doors outward bringing the space indoors gaining almost five feet. The remaining balcony 'space' is about 18 inches deep....just enough space for a few small pots of herbs. I went to three granite/tile places today looking at terrazzo tile. My one positive accomplishment....I think I am going with an 18" square, rectified tile. I had thought to use a 12" size but after adjusting my thinking and visual perspective, I think the larger tile will work - unless someone is willing to tell me otherwise and explain the supporting design principle. The color will be a lighter, less busy pattern similar to ArizonaTiles 'Torreon Stone' My design vision doesn't see to be too far off from yours. I have tentatively selected maple with stain/wash/glaze/whatever to create this sort of look. I realize I might have to change my wood species to achieve it.: The granite selection seems to be a moving target right now. I had originally selected Imperial White which is a very tight, fine grained 'granite' (and I use that term with much chagrin). It was the closest granite that I could find that had a somewhat even look of engineered quartz. I wanted a stone that was not very busy and fairly even in color which EQ provided - but I didn't like the looks of after five years of use. After thinking that this stone 'was the one', I learned via the world-wide-web that this material is actually an Orthogneiss which means it needs lots and lots (did I say lots?) of pampering. After finding this out I've done two things....1) lots of reading about sealers and 2) started looking at Bianco Romano...which I'm not really keen on the garnet accents but at least they are fairly small on the slabs that I'm considering. Imperial White not-granite slab (picture color is not accurate, only posting to show the look): Backsplash, I don't know if you saw my comment on another posting, but I credit your Clippings of reminding me that I had a solid glass backsplash in my Inspiration folder. My only conundrum is whether to paint the back ala Palimpsest or frost it and place it over a painted wall. The drawback with the frosted-over-the-painted-wall version, is if I ever want to change the kitchen paint, then this one portion will present a challenge...which I have a whole other thought tangent regarding paint colors. *sigh* There are other small design elements that I plan to add which I won't bother you with in this post unless you express an interest. Thanks for taking the time to read this and for taking the time to reply to my post! Pepper