Thank you both for your feedback. I'm leaning towards porcelain tile (to reduce maintenance), so do you mean the slate lookalikes? The variations are pretty high, and I'm concerned it will be look busy. Is there a brand/color you'd recommend?

(On the island, I was thinking the island cabinet would be wood and the counter-top quartz, but not sure what brand or color.) In terms of large format, what do you mean, 18x18? (the sales woman at the tile store thought 12x12 or 13x13 better represented the period but 18x18 could work, if that's all I could find. I'm thinking the larger tiles may be less busy--fewer grout lines--and possibly a little cheaper per square foot and to install)

Thanks for the feedback on the floors in the back of the house. My fir floors aren't in great shape. I haven't had a floor expert out recently, but at least one contractor wondered if there was even enough thickness to refinish them. I don't need pristine floors (or anything) and when I got a bid to refinish/replace the fir floors 20 years ago, the guy said fir doesn't refinish all that great and then ended by saying my floors look like the distressed floors people are paying to put in. So it's possible the fir may get replaced at some point.

BTW, on the newer polyurethanes, one book (The New Bungalow Kitchen by Peter Labau) said to avoid high sheen (too 80s). I assume there are longer-lasting polyurethanes with lower sheen that can help retain the feeling of an older home?

thanks!

I put wood tile (American estates in spice) next to recently refinished 110 year old Douglas fir. Many would discourage wood tile next to real wood but I think it worked well in my case. I probably wouldn't do it in an open room though.

Our second floor is also Douglas fir, refinished about 5 years ago with a satin sheen poly, it has held up well.

Thanks again everyone for you feedback. I have a flooring company coming out this week to give a bid on refinishing the old floors (she said they can work wonders) and installing Doug Fir in the back. Thanks for helping me avoid a design faux pas.

Still looking for suggestions in the kitchen tile, if anyone has ideas. Thanks!

I’m following as we are in the same boat. I love our scratched, dented and dinged 70 year old heartwood fir floors. But we need something for a bathroom. our previous bathroom floor was also fir, covered by laminate, covered by paperboard like wood, then all damages by water...I would put fir back in there if the kiddos didn’t go to sea every time they took a bath!

Not sure if this helps, but I decided to remove my fir floors and put in oak. Felt like a crime but I realized I could refinish those floors one more time (to “ok” results) . Then the next time someone wanted to ”refinish” them, they’d have to be removed. In my case, I decided to take the long-term view. This house has been here almost 80 years. What’s the best choice for the next 80? Removing the fir opened up new options and I chose to put down all new oak floors throughout the house, including the kitchen. I have tile floors in the bathroom. I’m happy with the results and it helped create a more consistent look in thIs house that has been added onto 4 times. (Including my bump-outs). Others might make different choices but FYI. Good luck!