I vote for the second one. Maybe because it already shows so beautiful with white? The first is a nice color, but maybe too rustic unless you are going for a farm kitchen type of look. I think it would be wonderful in a living room or bedroom, but it doesn't read kitchen to me.

But, take my opinion with a grain of salt because I can't even make a decision on my own floors :o

I also vote for #2, I think the color would look great with your white cabs.

They are both gorgeous! I like the second one best, though be aware that the dark color will show more mess (crumbs, scuffs, etc.). The other may be more practical, and is also very beautiful. I think both would work with the kitchen you're describing. The one thing I would do is make sure the floor color isn't too close to the island color...I think it's nice when there's a contrast.

I worry about going too dark and having the floors show every bit of dust, etc. The more distressed and lighter teak would probably be more forgiving. I need a happy medium.

I like the second one and I think that Consumer Reports rated Mannington as one of the top flooring products. If you have access you might want to see if you can read what they said about the Mannington. It may make it easier to decide. Having said that, I have to say Mullican has some eye-poppingly gorgeous floors, eh?

I like the 2nd one, but showing dirt and dust is a possibility, depending on how much (or, actually, how little) grain variation it has. The texture will help. I'm worried about the busy-ness of the first one and it seems to have yellowish tones that may not go with your island?

I'm not sure I get the question: Is it between the top and the bottom? I also like the bottom better, but it's hard to judge since it isn't sample by sample.

Do you have kids? Or nearby grandkids, neices & nephews, etc.?

The problem with distressed is that human beings will sense patterns even where there is none. Not only is that true for what you see, but the people doing the distressing tend to do so in patterns as well. If you like distressed it just takes a little roller skating, long nailed dog trotting, stuff dropping, etc., to get it nice and lived in looking.

Personally, I like the third one the best, but my oak floors are going to be dark.

I'd go with the darker floor also, it's beautiful. We have Brazillian Walnut (very dark) in our kitchen and oak throughout the rest of the first floor. The difference between how they show dirt is not so bad that it would be a deal breaker for us. To be honest, if we had the option to do our floors over, I'd actually prefer to get rid of the Oak and install the Brazillian Walnut everywhere.

I picked the bottom one. Its a hand scraped, I hope I like it. The distressing in the top one was kind of uniform. They had a kitchen display done with it. Its very pretty, but I wasnt sure about it. With time and 3 kids the other floor will be distressed on its own Im sure. Its kind of dark, but it matches lovely with the island and I know with a hickory we should have alot of variation with dark & light boards.

Thanks for you help - AGAIN! I cant wait to start showing photos of our progress. The floors will be the first thing in, hopefully in a couple weeks.

I meant the 3rd one...I was figuring the top 2 as the same. But you already chose, so I guess it doesn't matter!