Congrats on your new home!

You don’t have to do hardwood, but I think it would be best to weave hardwood into the kitchen and then refinish, so the open living spaces all have the same continuous (and beautiful!) flooring.

If what your saying is that after the wall is removed, you will essentially have one long continuous space,I would want the floor to be the same. The photos are limiting in getting the full concept

my mistake,your photos are fine.. same answer though

Any chance to do all new flooring throughout? If you try to match you will have one old section against one new. Look at tile from some of the higher-end suppliers to spark ideas of what could be done. Crossville and Happy Floors are good places to start as they are leaders in design and their dimensions are square to make installation easier. I'm not a hardwood expert, but my impression is that hardwood is a delicate choice for the kitchen area with spills and water issues, so if you go with hardwood, you'd want a material that is as dimensionally stable against moisture as possible. Hickory is the hardest commercially available hardwood, but oak is more stable against moisture, especially a quarter sawn or rift sawn oak.

Find a pro to extend the wooden floor you have. Will look amazing ;) (and you don't want your island to be halfway a floor transition) Trendy tile transitions aren't timeless.

I can tell by the photos that the kitchen isn't wide enough for an island with seating. That's why it has that dinky little island in it in the listing photos. Knocking down the dining room wall isn't going to make the kitchen any wider.

zmith, there's 13ft? There will be plenty of space for an island. Assuming the door on the right, photo#2, is a pantry and will be knocked down too. (156"=25"cabinet+42"aisle+44"island+45"aisle)

I think hardwood would look the best because it makes the entire space cohesive (assuming that's why you're removing the wall).

I would caution about moving the table to the front of the house though. Why would you want it so far from the kitchen?

Ah, ok, so there's a pantry and the refrigerator will be moved, too? I'll just have to assume the OP has a measured layout of the space and is reconfiguring all the appliance locations. I know it isn't what the question was meant to be about. But I agree with your math, rinqreaction.

I chose tile for my L-shaped "great room" which has a kitchen, large farmhouse table and sofa seating area. A rug is in the seating area and I have never regretted the tile. This room takes hard use and hardwood wouldn't be suitable for us.

@zsmith. The new Island actually will be set out past where the wall is. it will be 30 inches in width so at the end, where the island is no longer next to the cabinets- it will fit seats. Similar to below pic and each side of island will be 2.85 feet away from the cabinets/wall.

Riqreation and zSmith. the seating part of the island will be PAST the first skinny pantry.

the second pantry next the fridge will be converted into pull out pantry shelves similar to this

That's really tight.. Traffic aisles should be about 4ft.

I'd recommend removing the pantry (and placing the fridge where the stove is, rotating your layout clockwise). What's in the corner between fridge and stove?

Kathy M , if you do decide to run the wood flooring through your kitchen take a look at #1 Common Red Oak in Plain Sawn grain pattern. Lengths at least 2' and up. It should blend well with what you have. Be careful not to let your installer show up with 1' long pieces. It will clash visually with that you already have.

Kathy M, if you are opening the space and extending the island into the dining/living space, then using the same flooring throughout makes the space more cohesive, less choppy, improves "flow", etc.

2.85 feet distance from edge of island to edge of cabinets is terribly tight and doesn't allow much room for anyone to get by a seated person.

I know this is not what Kathy M wanted this thread to be about, but it's very important she understand the basis behind recommended aisle widths.

thanks Zsmith! Okay currently the fridge to opposite cabinets is about 103 inches. So if I did a 31 inch width island that would leave me 3 feet on both sides. (31 inches including the overhang of the countertop on the island). Your picture is super helpful!

3' between an island and perimeter is not enough room. You need a minimum of 42" if a 1 butt kitchen and 48" if a 2 butt kitchen.

Can you put together a 2D layout of the room with what you're hoping to accomplish?