@nancyjwb: it's not that I like the slab door, What I like is the strip look in my inspiration pictures but I feel that stripy look only goes well with the slab door. If I'm unable to get the stripy look then I definitely won't go with a slab door, then my pick is shaker style. I like the simplicity of the shaker door. But like you said that hickory door I saw in Cabico website is not the one in my inspiration pictures. Cabico Unique is a full custom line. I never looked into walnut, but now I will. The Alder cabinets in the second picture, how do I find which grade that is? This is my preferred countertop for the island, I love this, and a solid counter top for the rest. But I must say the couple of pics I've seen of kitchens with Oakmoor looks totally different to me. This is a kitchen with Oakmoor counters. So if I were to give up on Hickory would this counter top go with Alder cabinets like in the second picture? @arielvetica: thank you for the picture. I don't think we'll be happy with a dark stain. And like in the picture I find most stains on maple looks very flat. I like the shiny bright look in the second picture.

A good flooring person should be able to determine the species of the original wood and match it. You'll have to redo all of the floors to get matching stain but it will look like it was all done at the same time. Definitely go for real wood, putting a faux wood (like laminate, tile, or vinyl) next to real wood never turns out well.

I did ask her to stop using it and she happily obliged to using a wood cleaner with a microfiber cloth from now on. She did ask me on my initial consultation if steam was ok and I said that would be fine, not thinking. Thankfully, it’s only been cleaned that way less than a handful of times as I only have her come once a month and we recently bought the place. Some folks in my town must be ok with the steam. I did read that it can be ok as long as the floors are sealed, but I’m not taking any more chances. I made sure she was also using granite safe products on my counters in the beginning, so hopefully there’s nothing else that I need to worry about.

When it comes to "trends" vs. "timelessness" you want to look at your personal timeline for selling. Are you planning to sell in the next 5-7 years? If so, go with the trend and ignore your own tastes. If you sell in a few years then you are not buying/constructing the home for yourself. You are creating it for the NEXT buyer. If you are in it for the long haul (7+ years) then you put in the floor that makes YOU happy and that makes YOU smile and that makes YOU feel better about your choices. If you want flooring that can be "extended" into other areas for a later remodel (like in 10 years time) then work with the 3" product. It will be around for a long, long, long time. Wide planks are trending HEAVILY right now. They come and go. And if you are in there for 10+ years, you will want to have the option of refinishing so that when it comes time to sell, you can update your floors for $5/sf instead of having to pay someone to rip out and replace the floors ($10+ per square foot for a job like that).