What kind of flooring are you talking about? I can see unfinished tongue and groove wide pine flooring working just fine. live-wire-oak - Why would it have to be installed like flooring is installed? Why does it need a "subfloor" (so to speak)? Couldn't it be nailed to the floor joists or rafters? How is unfinished flooring that different from car siding? If the ply is needed to achieve some effect (like not having the seams all lined up along a joist) wouldn't the same be needed for car siding, anyway? What am I missing? You can buy it and finish it before putting it up. Depending on the size of the ceiling, that wouldn't be all that difficult. (The difficulty, in my mind, comes in when you have to find a place to lay all the boards for staining and sanding.) And because the purpose of a floor is very different from the purpose of a ceiling, you can be a lot less careful than you would be if you were laying floors. I might not even sand it at all. And, it could also be finished in place with a long-handled tool, depending on the finish. I agree, though, after painting just one ceiling in my house, that any ceiling work generally seems hellish. :-)

It just so happens we are building a new home with natural maple cabinets and brazilian cherry floors. We have looked at this combination at a few open houses recently and, in our opinion, it looks great. Our only reservation is moving furniture and rugs around while the cherry "turns" into its beautiful color. We are going to go with a pretty dark counter (not matching the floor) and tie them together with the backsplash.

You need to do a little more archeological digging still. You need to know the whole construction of the floor before you can decide how best to install something new. I'd take up that plywood piece in the kitchen and see what's under it. It's higher than the surrounding floor, so needs to go. You should also be able to see from there what subfloor is under the original kitchen hardwood. It's too bad the space under your entryway is finished, but I'd still do some exploring from below to see what's under there, and to figure out the fix to stop it from squeaking. Is it drywall below or a drop ceiling? I know it probably seems like a pain to tear out drywall, but if you cut out a clean patch, like 2' x the width of the joists, it'll be relatively simple to repair. Just make sure to cut it down the center of the joists so that there's room to screw the patch piece to it later. Cut the hole under the area that squeaks the most, if you can. Have someone walk on and watch the floor from below to see what's moving. It might be as simple as pounding in a couple shims from below, or face-nailing a loose board from above. You want to find out what's underneath the hardwood. It might be laid directly on the floor joists, or there might be 10" wide boards that the hardwood is nailed to. Another thought is to take out a board in the hallway, since that's not original and you want to replace it. See what the subfloor is there. I am a bit puzzled at why, when you've stripped the kitchen down to the original hardwood, it's still higher than the hallway floor. Is your current surface perhaps not the original kitchen hardwood? Peeling back the plywood area will help determine that. BTW, I haven't heard of that stop squeaking product you linked to, so can't offer any personal opinion. And don't pour self-leveling compound over top of hardwood. It needs to go over plywood.

When it comes to hardwood, trends are something to ignore! Why? Because hardwood is pretty much a lifetime purchase, and unless yours is damaged in some way, you're probably not going to replace it. So, light wood vs. dark wood, wide planks vs. narrow planks -- that stuff's all going to come and go. With that in mind -- as well as the very real concerns about cleaning dark wood -- I'll vote for a nice, neutral midtone every time. Not too much contrast, not too red, and (unless it's a beach house) not too pale. I think this is the wood that's most likely to give you good service and stand the test of time.