You're right about it being hard to find pictures! But then it's hard to find pictures of non-white kitchens these days. There is a huge variety in the photos that I found. They cover everything from ultra modern to very rustic. Take a look and see what you like and what resonates with you. You're obviously drawn to wood (me too!) and I think you could have a beautiful kitchen with wood floors, cabs and counters. It's probably also something that would be pretty easy to make a mess out of. But you can say the exact same thing about a kitchen that is all white. You'll want to make sure your wood tones work together. I'd love to see pictures of samples you're thinking of using. Do what you love! [[(https://www.houzz.com/photos/eclectic-kitchen-rustic-kitchen-minneapolis-phvw-vp~347229) [Eclectic Kitchen design[(https://www.houzz.com/photos/eclectic-kitchen-ideas-phbr1-bp~t_709~s_2104) by Minneapolis General Contractor John Kraemer & Sons [[(https://www.houzz.com/photos/rustic-contemporary-rustic-kitchen-austin-phvw-vp~916372) [Contemporary Kitchen design[(https://www.houzz.com/photos/contemporary-kitchen-ideas-phbr1-bp~t_709~s_2103) by Other Metro Design-build Legacy DCS [[(https://www.houzz.com/photos/ktichen-rustic-kitchen-atlanta-phvw-vp~1942555) [Traditional Kitchen design[(https://www.houzz.com/photos/traditional-kitchen-ideas-phbr1-bp~t_709~s_2107) by Atlanta Architect Peace Design [[(https://www.houzz.com/photos/natural-wood-countertop-traditional-kitchen-nashville-phvw-vp~2299390) [Traditional Kitchen design[(https://www.houzz.com/photos/traditional-kitchen-ideas-phbr1-bp~t_709~s_2107) by Atlanta Furniture And Accessories Littlebranch Farm [[(https://www.houzz.com/photos/rustic-kitchen-dining-room-rustic-kitchen-nashville-phvw-vp~2299400) [Eclectic Kitchen design[(https://www.houzz.com/photos/eclectic-kitchen-ideas-phbr1-bp~t_709~s_2104) by Atlanta Furniture And Accessories Littlebranch Farm [[(https://www.houzz.com/photos/michelle-fries-rustic-kitchen-minneapolis-phvw-vp~312323) [Traditional Kitchen design[(https://www.houzz.com/photos/traditional-kitchen-ideas-phbr1-bp~t_709~s_2107) by Minneapolis Interior Designer Michelle Fries, BeDe Design, LLC [[(https://www.houzz.com/photos/cambridge-contemporary-kitchen-contemporary-kitchen-boston-phvw-vp~36342) [Modern Kitchen design[(https://www.houzz.com/photos/modern-kitchen-ideas-phbr1-bp~t_709~s_2105) by Boston Architect LDa Architecture & Interiors [[(https://www.houzz.com/photos/spanish-style-rustic-kitchen-austin-phvw-vp~81317) [Traditional Kitchen design[(https://www.houzz.com/photos/traditional-kitchen-ideas-phbr1-bp~t_709~s_2107) by Other Metro Kitchen And Bath Palmer Todd

Engineered is real wood and if you look around, you can find unfinished engineered, so you can have it finished in place and not have the bevels if that is important to you. I didn't look at the videos provided so this might have been covered but here in Texas almost all houses are built with slabs at grade level and most of the new ones have wood on the ground floor.. There are several acceptable ways to do it: Plywood subfloor nailed to concrete and solid wood nailed to that (solid wood probably not as good in your case, these slabs all have vapor barriers under the slab, which you won't) or engineered glued to the plywood subfloor Engineered wood glued to slab (do a calcium chloride or other approved moisture test first) Vapor barrier and engineered wood floated over that. Many of the engineered woods allow floating installation, you have to glue the tongue and groove together. Different products are labeled for different types of installation, you have to be sure to check what they are labeled for. Find a reputable, knowledgeable NWFA installer, get them to do the moisture tests (the glue down a piece of plastic is not considered reliable) and then have them spell out your options. Now guess how I know all this? :-)

sarafvosz, I just used the furniture and rug that were part of your layout. I have no idea if they measure the same as your actual furniture. The chairs look tiny compared to the sofa. Most chairs take up roughly 3' x 3' so the chair Beverly created for her mock-up is more in scale with the sofa. CAD programs are fun to play with, but the selection of furniture is often limited. Since you have a small, oddly-shaped space you might be better off drawing a floor plan of these rooms so that 1 ft equals 1 inch. Measure your sofa and all the furniture that you intend to use in your home. Then draw the furniture outlines on a separate piece of paper using the same scale. Label and cut out each furniture piece. Now you can place the furniture pieces on top of the room and move them about to see how they fit. Since you will be ordering online, make note of the size of chairs and tables you are interested in. Draw those outlines on paper, label and cut them out to see how they fit before you buy. If you do shop an actual brick & mortar store, take a tape measure with you so you know the size of something before you bring it home. I also agree with Beverly that wildly mixing furniture styles and colors could give you a flea market look. Pick one style for your living room and stick with it.

I prefer site finished. It is easier to refinish when it needs it. Your friend has probably done "buff and coat" procedures. This is normally done ONCE and then a FULL sand and refinish. If your friend has been doing the buff and coat MORE THAN once, then she's doing it "wrong" (could be "right" for her, but it isn't the regular way for hardwood). Traditionally the FULL sand and refinish occurs around the 20 year mark. So the floors, after 20 years SHOULD look like this. That's kinda what tells you "it's time". A buff and coat only adds a coat of finish (to freshen up the floor). It doesn't "correct" anything. The FULL sand and refinish will do 10 TIMES more for the look of the floor than a buff and coat. The sand/refinish will strip the old finish off and then carve off 1-2mm of WOOD. That means 99.9% of all dings and gouges will be taken care of. The "dirt and food in between" (the planks) is MUCH MORE likely to occur with factory finished floors. These floors have bevelled edges (a little shoulder on every plank that creates little valleys between each plank). But it can occur with floors SHRINKING from LOW humidity. The floor can create little gaps between planks. That's normal if the humidity is too low or is uncontrolled. The THINNER the plank, the LESS the wood will/can shrink. That's why narrow/strip hardwood is the BEST option for uncontrolled humidity. Those big, beautiful, expensive, wide plank products that are SUPER trendy = not an option for uncontrolled humidity. A factory finished hardwood (with Aluminum Oxide = AO) is going to be SUPER expensive to refinish and here's why. The AO finish is SOOOO tough (how tough is it SJ?). It is SOOOO tough it takes 2-3 TIMES the amount of effort/material to strip it from the wood floor. Once the AO is gone, the wood turns into a normal hardwood floor. And just for fun, the 'refresh' buff and coat is almost IMPOSSIBLE to do. Even the toughest finish looks tired around the 15 year mark. Sadly, AO finishes often prevent a recoat (the finish is chemically very slick...almost nothing sticks to it = HELL to add '1 coat'). The average cost of a full sand/refinish = $5/sf. The average cost of a sand/refinish of AO = $7-$9/sf. Yes. It is THAT TOUGH to remove. A traditional buff and coat = $2.50 - $3/sf. So if you do the math, the site finished hardwood may cost a bit more on day 1....but by year 30 it will be MUCH cheaper/easier to deal with/live with. It allows you to freshen up the finish around year 15 (if you wish). It allows for a routine sand/refinish without adding a HIGHER COST of labour. So "cost effective" today can be much more costly by the time you plan on refinishing. In fact, so many people look at the extra costs and figure a new floor is cheaper....and they are right. Sigh...so there goes the idea of using up all the life on the hardwood (3/4" solid hardwood). That goes out the window when the owner realizes the costs are much higher and they choose to rip it out and throw it out; thus negating the benefit of a solid hardwood!