Hope everyone had a good 4th of July!

We would like to seek for advice on the following:

1. What are your thoughts on the flooring for kitchen and family room?

Originally we were thinking to do all engineered wood (chocolate color) since both kitchen and family room are in an open area in one big room so for a better flow, this would look better.

However, I am now considering doing tile in the Kitchen area for maintenance purpose (easier to clean spills, scratches from the chairs and bar stools.. )

Below are some pictures from an inventory home. We are doing woods everywhere except for bedrooms and game room on the second floor.

2. The builder recommended us a 8 ft door, maybe its the trend now? but we will lose the transom at the top.

With our floor plan and hallway, do you think 6.8 feet or 8 feet door would look better and more natural light? (Our entry is 10 ft ceiling and then the hallway is 19 ft)

3. For the exterior, I plan on getting white stones in the front porch area and the study room portion. Others would be brick..any suggestions on the color of brick? I am thinking a very dark color, maybe brown but not red bricks..

Any suggestions on the brick color, trims, and garage door color? We are adding a third bay to it, so there will be three garage doors instead of the one showing in the inventory home pic.

Appreciate any suggestions! :)

Kitchen Flooring

6.8 ft or 8 ft Front Door Pics:

Look with 6.8 ft door and transom at the top:

Exterior stone and brick color, garage door and trim suggestions