Well, engineered floors vary quite a bit in quality. The best can easily match solid wood for the major characteristics you may be looking for,

You do want to look for 3/4” planks with 1/4” veneer surface for engineered floors.

We purchased around 2200 sq ft from Ken at Uptown Floors.

We purchased a number of small and large samples to begin with, and also went the custom stain route on two large orders. We had a year to sample and make a choice. We are EXTREMELY happy with the results.

Google Uptown Floors and give Ken a call. Get exactly what you want. They have a huge manufacturing plant in the middle of the country and can make virtually anything you can imagine.

We used a “Malibu wide plank” from HD in a different color. It’s 1/2”. But def listen to the pro saying to consider other floors in the house.

Hi Jennifer, thanks for your comment. How long have you been using it and how do you like it so far?

Jan - carpeting in the bedrooms which we decide to use the same floor as the living room. Kitchen has a dark ceramic tile floor and it is an open kitchen facing the living room, so my dilemma also includes how to keep a natural flow from the kitchen to the living room

Kährs and kentwood have some nice light colored options.

CC in Ohio , look for a 5/8" overall thickness engineered plank. Ours has a full 4mm wear layer at a minimum. Something like this would be nice. Made to order here in the United States. It can be refinished again in the future.

The best "flow" from kitchen to living room is the same flooring. That, quite honestly, is what drives the white kitchen trend for three decades now , the painted kitchen cabinet trend. I won't say nobody has tile in their kitchen! But I also won't say it doesn't disrupt an open feel. A glance even at Florida homes of every type will yield tons of wood look tiles run right into kitchens and baths, and bedrooms.. For that reason. Flow. and a larger feel. More unity

You are confining yourself to looking at factory finished floors. You can have any finish you want if you have the flooring installed and then finished on site. Of course, you need to be careful because the type of wood you choose will influence the ultimate stain color and look of the floors.

I recently remodeled and installed light wood engineered floors. They have a pretty decent wear layer - that is the portion of the "real" wood that determines how many times it can be sanded/refinished. However, more important to me was the durability of the actual finish because realistically I would not have any floor refinished - logistically it would be too difficult so if I needed new floors (knock on wood), I would opt for factory finished engineered wood floors.

My floors are from Mirage and they seem to have a wide selection of finishes - I opted for a natural oak finish which is very "blonde". They are a Canadian company and espouse green practices.

Mirage Floors

Solid hardwood floors are great in the right circumstances. They weren't practical for me because I have no interest in refinishing - I don't anticipate selling but if circumstances change, the buyer will either refinish prior to moving in or decide they don't like the floors and put down new flooring or the floors will still be in decent condition and they will just move in.

Oak & Broad has some STUNNING high-end engineered hardwoods in the 'whitish' look you want. And when we say high-end, we mean MORE EXPENSIVE than solid hardwood! You may have to define 'high-end' (some people believe $10/sf is high-end...whereas we see $20-$25/sf as high-end).

And just to be clear, the 'whitish' look may be hot right now...but super-trendy floors will date VERY quickly. In fact some hot trends can lead you not only to a 'decade' but 'early or late' in the decade. Remember the Burgandy/Emerald Green in the late 80's? How about the cream/tans and the GOLD TRIM of the early 80's? Right.

Just be aware of your wish for high-trend flooring. You will want/need to change them SOONER than if you had left them in the natural or 'raw' look (which can be VERY pale).

Trendy in certain areas. White floors have been around for a very long time in Scandinavia, nothing trendy about it over there. :)

@CC in Ohio , This is a lighter floor we sell really well in 3/4" structure with 4 mm French or German White Oak top layer. Hope you like it.

Millennium Whisky