Jubilee, I guess I'll revise my remarks a bit by saying that I'm only going by what my designer taught me about the flow thing... Our house is not huge, it's a medium 2600 sf 2-story, so in essence the downstairs really is not that big. I wanted to mix like that, and she said in a small area (or at least not a LARGE area!) not to have so many different floorings. To avoid patchiness. To give flow, so it, well, flows. And seems larger and more cohesive. I have to say lately looking at model homes, her advice has been borne out as I've seen the same wood flowing throughout houses, with small amounts of carpet and stone here and there. Your carpenter is probably right, but he's probably also talking about very large houses, so that is a different story (than my house). I don't know if yours is a big house or normal house. Also, my own experience has been that the very best and most talented carpenters and cabinetmakers I've had, have not been especially genius at interior design, so I've learned to turn to my designer for design advice, and pretty much take their design advice with a grain of salt. Maybe yours is different than mine have been... Yes I have lived to regret two different floorings in abutting rooms. We had existing yellowish oak in kitchen/family room/hall/powder room (most of downstairs), and added pinkish-yellowish oak to an adjoining study. Actually it was the same wood, just ten years younger. I thought it would blend. It didn't. Since the ten year old floor was pretty grunged, we had someone distress the whole thing, including the brand new... and this included re-staining them to a really warm and mellow toasty color. Now they all match, and I absolutely love it, and have to say my designer was right about flow. I wonder if a solution like that might work for you, then you could have exactly the color you want, and flow as well. It cost me just over $2K to have the whole thing done, and I live in expensive Southern California. Now that I have seen it done, I think I could do it myself if I wanted to work hard.

drbeanie - I know exactly what you mean about not wanting to make mistakes and searching for other input. I had to remodel a kitchen in one of our rental homes before we put it on the market last year. We had to rush to choose things because we were only in town for a very short time. I chose things in a budget and really thought it would look great. I had to see everything from pictures when it was complete, but it was AWFUL. I would have hated to have that kitchen and worried that noone would want to buy it. Luckily, it was someone's taste. I definitely didn't have the same taste as my KD and we parted ways a long time ago. My husband teases me about how much time I spend on GW - but it's been such a great place to get a myriad of opinions from people that aren't going to just be nice and say it looks good to keep from hurting your feelings. This forum has saved my sanity this time around! :) Good luck with your choices!

There are so many shades people call "cherry" that I've learned not to assume I know what they mean. Do you have any pics of the cabinets or floor? How about inspiration pics? When I was looking at laminate, I loved the "Soapstones" by Wilsonart. Oiled Soapstone is black with a subtle pattern to it, and Pearl Soapstone is gray. Either strikes me as being neutral enough to fit a classic or contemporary kitchen. If your cabinets are dark, though, you may want an even lighter countertop color, like Formica Mineral Spa. When you say Formica, do you mean laminate in general, or are you definitely using the Formica brand? I can't imagine deciding on kitchen finishes individually. For me, it was most helpful to find inspiration pictures and choose the "look" of the kitchen as a whole to help narrow things down. Here is a link that might be useful: The Formica design center can help you visualize patterns in context

Will do when it's light out. Don't say I didn't warn you...