I'd price on-site finished hardwood for the entire house before you move in. The finish will last for at least 30-40 years and it can then be sanded and re-finished. It's truly the best way to go. I prefer to use the high gloss (gym floor!) finish. Yes, it's very shinny for about a month or two, but it lasts far longer, is very easy to dust with a Swifter sweeper and always looks good. Satin does not wear as well.

We renovated two years ago and I wish I would have done exactly what Anglophilia suggests above. It's what I wanted, but I couldn't justify the expense; Site finished hardwood with a gym floor finish. I'm seriously considering ripping everything up in the next year or two and installing what I should've installed in the first place.

Thank you, any idea what it generally runs material and labor? What types of wood should we be looking into.

Site finished red oak, natural finish is the most inexpensive. I'd use water based satin commercial finish because I think it's more contemporary. I'm in a very expensive area, and I think I paid 6.00/sqft.

For the cabinets, I'd use General Finishes milk paint. We had a recent thread about this.

"paint rave"

Nice looking house. Congratulations!

I'll jump on the site-finished hardwood bandwagon. My 1911 house has, as far as I can tell, its original oak hardwood. Still going strong--we refinished maybe 9 years ago and had to replace a few damaged boards, but that's after almost a century of use.

Natural oak would probably be a bit more orange than what is there now, and have a bit more variation in the grain. Some people don't like the color, but it's what is in my house, and I have no complaints--ALL the houses in my area of that vintage have the same floor, so complaining about the color would be like complaining that the sky is blue.

I'm not an expert on refinishing cabinetry, but some poster here have had success using gel stain. You can do a search to find thread on that and DIY cabinet painting projects.

Are you on a slab or have a basement beneath? A slab is not a good candidate for site finished. I put in 1400 sq feet of site red oak stained and 3 coats of Bono High traffic. With shoe molding ran about $14K.

Crawl space @mobuddy89

I think you can do site finished then (moisture problems on concrete and difficult to nail). We used a medium brown (specifically Provincial). To us, it is a nice neutral.

Is your budget for just flooring or also some kitchen updates?

@mobuddy89 its for what I would consider Stage 1 Reno. We are going to redo the flooring in 90% of the house (all 1850 sq ft is that laminate) and depending on remaining budget we'll begin counter tops and cabinets.

I noticed the white strip around the cabinets to hide the gap required in floating flooring...I think you can do better if you put new flooring in and do not run it under the cabs.

I suggest stain matching thick (to cover the end gaps in the flooring) and tall (no taller than the remaining height for a kick-board) wood trim to run around the base of the wood cabinets. In a previous remodel with new flooring, we took off the kick-boards and used this type of trim as both the new kick boards and a decorative base on cabinet ends and a peninsula. It looks much better than that white strip.

Mike, you have a nice space there. Lots of light and plenty of cabinets for a first home! I think with a good paint job, your cabinets will look very nice. My only suggestion is that if budget allows, you do the floor after the paint job (less prep of the floors!). However, if there is only enough money for one of the three at this time, I think you are right in doing the floors before moving in.

Rantontoo's point about the floor being raised is a valid one. I am sure the installers will tear out the laminate, but nonetheless make sure there is enough room under the dishwasher. You could box it in and then if it ever needs to be removed, ruin your new floors (pre or site finished). Also today's refrigerators are super sized and with a new floor, there could be a height issue as well.

Link to thread about GF milk paint

http://ths.gardenweb.com/discussions/3485219/cabinet-paint-rave

Overview of projects with pictures.

http://www.houzz.com/projects/users/generalfinishes

What are y'all's thoughts on Luxury Vinyl Planks?

I was considering LVT for a laundry room. There are some good (and made in the USA too) products. Unfortunately most are not a tile look. I didn't want a wood look next to real wood. But I brought several samples home and did some tests. Was able to clean mustard, wine and cooking oil off with no problems. Took a knife and tried gouging it too. Held up well. Not real life, but at least a start. However not much cheaper than engineered or site finished.

We just installed engineered hard wood. Floating, diy, Pergo brand. Just over 1300 sqft. Just over $4k. It was on sale for 2.99 sqft at Lowes. We picked the mid range under layment for a few more hundred.

It is every where but bedrooms and baths.

We had site finished oak in our main area, but when we replaced the carpeting in the first floor master bedroom, we went with somewhat matching pre-finished oak simply because we didn't want the odor in the bedroom. We found that the pre-finished wood is much more scratch, stain, darkening, and dent resistant and shines without any special treatment. Our site finished wood really needs to be "babied."

We have engineered wood that is only 7 years old. Unfortunately, my dogs' nails slice through it like it is butter. It looks terrible. Like unbelievably terrible. I recently went to the flooring store to figure out options for replacement. I was thinking about a wood look porcelain tile because I have limestone in other parts of the downstairs and didn't think I could do another tile. The guys at the flooring store really recommended the luxury vinyl planks. They felt it would hold up well with the dogs and would be substantially cheaper to install than the wood look porcelain. I was really surprised because I had never even heard of it. Haven't decided what we will do yet.