I have had wood island countertops in 2 kitchens now and love them. I would only use John Boos Hard Rock Maple with the oiled finish. It is super easy upkeep, and allows you to cut right on the countertop. The oiled finish is just an easy rub in/ rub off application. When the counter is new you need to do this about once a week for about a month, then after that about quarterly. It is so nice to have a fully useful counter. Just yesterday I fixed 35 pounds of pulled pork and did all the "pulling" and chopping right on the counter. So nice. current house: previous house:

I ended up getting the red oak stairs and the white oak floor. Did white oak, no stain, water poly. Stained the stairs darker to make it look intentional. I might have been able to get away with keeping the red oak stairs natural, too, if the floor installers had been asked to, and they had looked for boards that were redder and installed them near the stairs. There were some boards that looked like red oak. Here's the thread and pics ... [https://www.houzz.com/discussions/red-oak-stairs-do-i-install-white-oak-floors-or-red-dsvw-vd~3697644[(https://www.houzz.com/discussions/red-oak-stairs-do-i-install-white-oak-floors-or-red-dsvw-vd~3697644) Make sure you read the part at the end about the nosing strip. That was a real oversight on my part. (I miss my stairs looking like that - they look cluttered now with the railings.)

Gray flooring is very trendy - which means it will become the dreaded "dated". While light gray as a neutral will always be useful, the extreme over use of gray will turn on itself - just as over use of oak did. If this was a cheap laminate gray floor with a limited lifespan - no big deal (except the waste in the landfill) but you had better love this expensive floor 10 years from now when the HGTV crowd will say "yuck - look at all that gray" - just like they say "Yuck, look at all that oak" now. If you will love it, go ahead. I have my oak kitchen which I like just fine. However, a natural wood floor will add color and will go with just about any style thrown at it. It is best if one applies the trendy colors to easily changed surfaces - like paint for walls, decor, curtains, upholstery and even a backsplash if it is not a huge expense. Listen to SJ - she is a flooring expert. The gray, gray rooms just looked washed out - especially when all the new design pics I am seeing are showing color.

Thank you all for your feedback! Yes we own it. Honestly I just would like for my home to look modern and tile isn't modern to me. The main reason I want to replace flooring is because I want to rid of the tile and the home needs new carpet. There are a few areas with minor cracking and I also strongly dislike the look of tile. I would rather replace the tile now while the home is empty as it would be less of a hassle. I initially thought it would be easier to just replace all the floors rather than finding something to match the enhineered hardwood. I decided on LVP because I have kids and a dog and I wanted something waterproof to replace the tile and didn't want to have to try to match the LVP with the hardwood. However, we ultimately decided just to keep the hardwood stairs and engineered wood floors. But since we already see signs of aging in the tile we are still going to replace it. I decided to go with the CORE LVP Flooring in Roswell Hickory in the tiled areas. Any thoughts on it and how it may pair with my floors (another pic is below)? This will be $8K to do plus the cost of carpet install which is $2K. It's right on budget! I'm hoping it ties together with our hardwood and I'll top everything off with a new coat of paint before moving in. Our floor dark floors are in the living and dining room, but all other main areas are tile. So the new CORE LVP will be in the kitchen, kitchen nook, laundry room, entry way and all bathrooms. The floor transition will be dark to match the dark wood areas. Most bedrooms are carpeted and will be replaced with carpet. This really just applies to the main area. Another picture of my floors...