This has been a debate and eating at me for over a year. help!

House is a 90's Tri-level. The main floor (kitchen, dining, living room, front door entry) and all stairs are hardwood. Traditional Red oak (pics included). The top floor (bedrooms) is carpet. The bottom level (family room/kids play area) is also carpet, and it has to go. It's old, dirty and nasty.

This level has the entry from the garage which we use as our main day to day entry. There are also doors that lead to a patio and the laundry room is down there. So it's a high traffic area. Did I mention I have two active boys and a dog?

It is on a concrete slab. My understanding is that extending the same hardwood wouldn't really be a good option as it would require putting in a sub floor work to adjust all the doorways, stairs etc. due to losing an inch+. Also, we live in the Pacific Northwest so moisture is always a concern for anything remotely below ground.

I would love to not have carpet (large area rugs instead) but haven't been able to decide on a floor and/or floor color that looks good next to the hardwoods for this kind of space

. Luxury Vinyl seems like the best option but most of those planks are made to look like wood - so then you have two wood looks next to each other. Options I've considered:

1. Replace carpet and just deal with fact that it will get beat up (probably go cheaper). Pros: Consistent look. Warmer. Cons: Carpet for very high traffic area. "No shoes" rule seems nice, but when I have to run in and out 10 times in the morning because I forgot something (or my kids did), unloading groceries, bringing in ski/beach gear - I just don't see it happening.

2. Vinyl tile look just where the garage entry area is, then carpet for the rest. Pros: warmer for the family room and play area. Cons: you would have/see 3 different floors (not including upstairs). Transition placement is a little tricky. Lots going on at the bottom of the stairs/entry and although you can't see it, the line where the wall of the stair ends is not even with the wall the TV is on. So there isn't a straight line for a cut off point (of course not, why would it be easy?)

3. Vinyl through out. Pros: No carpet. Consistent look (for that level at least). Cons: At least 3 different floors in house. Each level would have a different floor. Need to find something that looks good next existing Hardwoods without trying to look like it's trying to match the hardwoods.

4. Tear out hardwoods and do luxury vinyl on main and bottom level? If I was building the house from scratch, I would probably just put in Luxury vinyl but this seems both expensive and people tell me I'm crazy to tear out hardwoods. Particularly for resale. Although we don't have immediate plans to sell, it could definitely happen in the next 2-5 years.

The furniture will also be getting replaced soon and I'm fine with painting, so colors to match existing decor isn't a concern.

Ideally, I would love any ideas on Vinyl looks that would work for the entire bottom level next to existing hardwoods - but open to all opinions/suggestions.