Now last time I went to Lowes, they had some finished-in-place White Oak, and I thought it looked quite similar to my floors, so I'm going to guess White Oak too. The floors are original, circa 1948. I've had them refinished twice since I've owned the house in 15 years. It is rental property, but they do hold up well. Knowing the species might also help me figure something out for the 3rd floor. The bedrooms and hall is original hardwood, but the big living room has been covered with carpet. When I had the carpet replaced years ago, I pulled back the old hoping for a gleaming hardwood floor underneath. I found a mostly good floor with deep gouges and cuts, it looked like someone was using a circular saw right on the floor. I think I'd have to tear up the floor and start from fresh, with a little threshold going from the old wood to the new for the height difference. The carpet is showing its age and will have to be replaced the next time the apartment is empty, if nothing else. It's a shame as the hardwood would really make the room stand out. My neighbor's house (the sister house to mine, 90% identical) has the original hardwoods but without the cathedrals, and it looks great up there.

Thanks for the opinions. I am open to any other suggestions. I have spent hours searching for tables and am very frustrated at this point. Normally, I gravitate toward matching things and symmetry but all the design mags seem to advocate this non-matching look. Uggh, I think you have to be a professional to pull it off. Regarding some of the suggestions - I tried switching the tables and it looks about the same if not worse. I cannot turn the rug in the other direction as it would extend into the hallway. Also, I tried turning the couch to face the fireplace but it just feels very uninviting as it basically blocks off the entryway to the room and squishes the seating area because the sofa's fairly deep. The arms of the sofa are fairly low (only 21") so it's very hard to find tables that match that. These tables don't seem too high when you're sitting on the sofa but I agree they look that way from the pictures. I really wanted to add some lamps to the room for softer lighting. Is it a complete no-no to have the tables partially on the rug? Would a sofa table between the couch and the window work better than the side tables?

I've never been good at putting names to the look I'm going for. But "formal" wouldn't be it. Homey I guess. But not cluttered. I don't know. To give a more concrete example, Stickley has a rocking chair and book case we love for our family room. They obviously match (assuming we get them in the same finish). But I'm not sure we want to go all-Stickley in that room. And even if we decided we wanted to, we have a bunch of other stuff to buy for the rest of the house, so the budget isn't going to allow doing the entire room in Stickley right away. We have a few existing pieces we wouldn't mind continuing to use, and we'll probably pick up a few other pieces from less expensive sources. So I'm trying to figure out if I need to get a sample of the Stickley wood color and take it around with me shopping, limiting myself to things that really match perfectly or are a dramatic contrast (or not wood at all). Or if it's going to look ok if I just go with stuff I like that has the same general feel to it, even if side by side they don't match exactly.

I think the cabinets look great. The lack of contrast between the floor and cabinets would bother me a little, but if you lightened the floor as you mention it would address that issue. I don't know if these pics are yours or are from the listing when you bought (sounded like a new purchase), but the valances really don't work with the kitchen wallpaper. I think I could be won over to one or the other of the valances or the wallpaper, just not both together.