I have hardwood on the entire first floor except bathrooms. Love it! I wouldn't have it in a mudroom, though. My back entry into the laundry area is the most used entrance and water, mud, and the laundry use destroyed it, so I replaced it with tile and love the durability and ease of clean up. For hardwood, small spills like an ice cube aren't to worry so much about. It's the leaks from appliances that'll be the problem! In my old kitchen, I held on too long to a leaky refrigerator because I knew I'd be remodeling, and that flooring had to be replaced. But, I didn't give up my love of the hardwood. Didn't want tile or stone, too cold and hard. Besides, the wood flows with the rest of the house.

I agree with the above post. I have hardwood floors throughout my entire house. When we first moved in we had carpeting. I always found carpeting gets dirty fast and then you are living with it for many years. Even if it is professionally cleaned, it just doesn't hold up. With the hardwood floors, it is easy to change out area rugs and runners.
If you put the hardwood in the mud room you will need a rug there for sure.

I have Brazilian cherry in my living and dining area. I went with tile in the kitchen, foyer and mudroom though because I was worried about water issues. We have 3 kids though and live on an acreage so a lot gets tracked into our house. We already had a small leak (water line for icemaker) with our brand new refrigerator that caused some cupping of the hardwood. (The fridge is right on the dividing line between kitchen and dining and it was just my luck that the water flowed to the hardwood.)It was a very small drip, but apparently it had been dripping for a couple of weeks before I noticed it. I am hoping the wood dries out and the cupping subsides. It is only 1 board that was affected. I now have a leak alarm under the fridge ;) There are many people though that have hardwood in the kitchen without any problems.
I have some advice with the hardwood color though, if you don't like to dust mop everyday, don't get a medium to dark color. My floor is beautiful, but it shows every speck of lint, dust, crumbs, etc. A lighter floor would be much more forgiving.

I have white oak in my whole house except for the bathroom and laundry and just love it!! I love the way it feels on my bare feet and how it looks. It's also easy to maintain. Big spills need to be cleaned up, but little drips don't seem to hurt anything. Usually even a big spill won't cause permanent damage. Even buckling of the floor from flooding appliances usually flatten back out if given time to dry back out. The only down side (and it's really not a downside) is that dust and dog hair show up much quicker than on carpet. carpet just traps the stuff until your vacuum sucks some of it up, but with hardwood you can remove it all easily. I use a dry microfiber mop instead of a broom to keep the dog hair and dust gone. It's fast and really easy.

I love my hardwoods. I think any kind of flooring is going to sustain damage with an undiscovered leak. At least the subfloor will. And they are no harder to maintain than most other options. And they look good, even when they get a few scratches and dings. And they are easier on your back. And they go with most any decor you like. And so much more, IMO. Did I say I love my hardwoods?

We have 90-year-old fir in the entire house including kitchen and bath. Refinished it with Waterlox and some good oil polyurethane, and it is truly impervious to anything we spill.

At times we've left water puddles from the shower all day and can't tell that it had any effect at all other than having to wipe up the slight powdery ring where the water evaporated. Granted, the old-growth wood seems to be much higher quality than what's currently available new, but I don't think there's THAT much difference.

If you have the kind of appliances that might leak (icemaker in fridge, dishwasher) it's pretty easy to have a waterstop sensor put on them so that the flooding folks here mention is no longer a worry.

I think that a bigger adjustment for folks who haven't had hardwood is to realize that some scrapes and scratches are all part of its character. You will LOVE the warmth and feel of real wood under your tootsies. I promise. :-)

I'm so glad to read these responses! You have helped ease my mind (and feel confident that hardwood is the way to go).

Since you guys brought up rugs - that's something else I wonder about. Do you have to reposition them frequently or go without them for a few months of the year to keep the hardwood color even? Meaning - does the surrounding floor "fade", leaving the covered areas darker than the rest of the floor?

And I should clarify - I call it "mudroom" although per plans it's technically a "drop zone." It will be the entry area from the garage (where we will have a rug and shoe tray) with a bench seat, cubbies/storage, etc. so not actually dirt traffic. It's more a place for coats, backpacks, keys, etc. - and a bathroom! Must have that as soon as I walk in. :) Laundry will be on the top floor with the bedrooms, and will have a vinyl floor.

There is also a bathroom on that floor which I forgot to list, but it's just a half bath.

The kitchen opens to a deck, but it's covered and the stairs lead to patio, so hopefully no major dirt.

Great tips on the color of the hardwood. I plan to go medium-light with cabinets (knotty alder) either a bit lighter or darker. And with a satin/matte finish on floors & cabinets.

And since some of you mentioned dog hair - water bowl dribbles ever an issue, or are they small enough you don't have to worry? Although our dog does have a habit of "attacking" his water bowl (Bowl Appetite so it's a gallon in there) and making some large spills. I'm sure we can find a tray or other remedy...

I keep a bath mat under my dog's water bowl most of the time. A waterproof place mat works well too. I often don't have anything under it and the little drips don't hurt a thing.

We have hickory hardwood which we picked for it's durability with the dogs. It's been great and I plan to redo the upstairs with it also. We have it in the entryway and it's covered with a rug (it gets messy with Canadian winters) so we haven't had any problems.

Currently the dog water bowls are living in the bathroom (which is tiled) because one of our pups is a big time splasher/water dripper. He basically leaves a trail from the bowl, lol. As far as dog hair it's not a big issue but it's one of the reasons we went with light coloured wood.

We just put in white oak the size you mentioned in the LR, DR, and hallway. It replaced carpeting. It is very easy to keep clean-there are just 2 adults here-no pets. I just use a swiffer sweeper once a week and the floors look like new. The only negative is that I wish I had put in a harder wood as we already have one small ding/dent. We decided to go with tile in the kitchen but think it's just a matter of personal preference-there are pros and cons to almost any type of flooring.

We have hardwood all downstairs and I love it. As part of our kitchen re-do, we had them re-sanded (after 15 yrs) and a new coat or two of poly put down. I have four boys and a dog who is the sloppiest drinker you ever saw and who refuses to wipe her feet ! I do not wipe up immediately (sometimes I can't). I do not fear what I spill. That said, I have a friend with daughters who says nailpolish and remover are a woods floors worst enemies !

We had some wear at our back door ( boys take off their skates in the house and again with the dog) but nothing serious. Like I said we re-finished it once in 15 years and expect it to last another 15.

Very easy to clean. Get an extra coat of poly and wash with white vinegar and you're all set.

I have had tile (in a previous house) and 'dairy' in the grout is a problem if you catch it right away. It eats it away.

We chose brazilian teak for our sunroom adjacent to our kitchen an we love them! Love the color variation and and durability of them. They are also very easy to clean.