I'm a fan of slate, but your slate has too much contrast. Additionally, it seems like a casual material that has been placed up against a more formal Brazilian Cherry wood.

Staining those floors ebony is going to be a maintenance nightmare with kids and dogs. I don't think you want that.

This look posted below is very popular and classic. I'm agree that the floors should be lighter, but engineered wood would be my preference.

Thank you for your response! I agree with everything you say. Also loving the photos you’ve posted, they totally are my style and will help with resale value. Any recommended brands or products? I see Mohawk everywhere. Does engineered hold value over true hardwood?

Why not just refinish the current wood floors to a lighter finish and update the tile? Seems a shame to rip up hardwood floors. I agree to avoid the dark finish on your floors, you will see every piece of dust and every dirty footprint from animals and kids.

I'm not sure that brazilian cherry can be refinished lighter unless a white could be applied? It's pretty dark wood. They would have to be sanded and then washed with a white, which is actually easy to do. In terms of cost, new floors may be cheaper?

I completely agree about dark floors - we had brazilian cherry and then noticed how they showed the every spec of dirt. I can't imagine what kids and dogs would do - the Roomba would have to run 24 x 7, ha ha.

Engineered floors have come a long way. We really like the white oak floors we just put in our new house; they are tough, no expansion cracks due to changes in weather and they don't show the dirt at all. They may be more rustic than you're thinking of, not sure. Also, engineered quick to install by the professionals.

If you check on YouTube, changing the color of Brazilian Cherry involves bleaching and is incredibly labor-intensive and you can NEVER get them what you would call light.

Agree with @User. The hardwood shouldn't be pulled up, just refinished to a lighter color, if possible. I'd focus on changing out the flooring in the kitchen to something with less of a pattern, or possibly just match the hardwood in the kitchen too. Later, when you've saved some money, you can redo the kitchen.

As far as resale goes, you don' t mention how long you plan to stay here. If it's 10 years or more, the heck with resale. Do what works for you and your family. The next owner--whoever that might be in the distant future-- will make their own changes to suit them.

Hi,

I agree that a light colored manufactured wood tile would look great in this space. In addition, it will be much more durable with your children and pets . Our LVT tiles have five custom-created layers that make it resistant to scratches, stains, weather and water.

https://www.houzz.com/products/duren-28mil-acacia-6x48-luxury-vinyl-tile-flooring-washed-oak-prvw-vr~164480930?lid=115523545

Brazilian Cherry in your house is PURPLE...which is the least liked version (there is a second colour range with fire-red/brown/orange). Brazilian Cherry (Jatoba) is photosensitive = gets DARKER as it ages.

Your floor is as dark as it will ever be. You can sand that down and get the pretty pale brown....and then 1 year later they will be this dark (and this purple). Sigh.

Bleaching is the ONE option you have to get these lighter. But remember: you have the PURPLE colour. Guess what colour you will get if you mix white with purple? Serious-Pink! Berry pink is possible.

How happy will you be after spending $6-$8/sf to refinish if it turns 'Turbo Pink' on you?

Go ahead and rip those out and the slate. Be careful with the kitchen. The slate is perfectly matched to the backsplash. And that matches the counter tops.

I would be careful with the replacement product if you do not want this to turn into a very big renovation.

After looking at your photos again, I definitely think you should save your renovation dollars to move your range (it is right at the end of the island which will be tricky with kids!), and also replace your entrance tile (maybe with a lovely marble?) Those changes will make a lot of difference!

Embrace the wood, lose the slate if you really are invested in resale as you say. Engineered or vinyl plank is a HUGE downgrade.

Wow I’m loving all the feedback! I’m leaning further towards refinishing and now thinking of updating the slate tiles with something marble like and then new counter tops, backsplash, and mantel also in a marble like material. We’ll paint the walls white or off white. I am torn with what direction to go with refinishing, dark vs light. I do fear the purple turning pink, but if that were to happen we could fix by going dark.

I have Brazilian cherry that is 22 years old.. At the time I had a very wise designer helping me, and then finished with a water based finish that did not amber.. Our floor is a just a medium brownish and some areas a bit red floor. It has held up to 4 kids and numerous dogs. I am going to refinish it to appeal to newer buyers , but keeping a natural look with just a water based sealant. Don't get rid of it ,just refinish as natural and use a water based sealant. Make sure your windows are filmed or you have curtains so it does not change ( I did). It is a wonderful flooring and looks great with a white kitchen and our blue gray paint or even would look great with an all white paint. Get rid of the slate!

Your flooring has a value if removed correctly. It can be resold for another installation. A light European oak would be appealing. A waterproof SPC core engineered hardwood could go down to include the kitchen.

My non-professional opinion is that your real cherry floors give your home more of a high end look than the engineered bleached oak trend of the moment. It is a lot of the same flooring, so more and/or larger area rugs might help break it up. Also that the cool blue wall color isn’t doing them any favor.

IMO brazilian cherry is not what I would do for resale in your future it is very much a disticnct taste and often not to a wide number of buyers . I do think if the home is pretty high end then wood floors is the way to go. I do not think the slate works anywhere with the arghed doorways and very traditional trim. My suggestion would be to just carry on matching the wood for the floors all over and then if you want to do them ebony understand that also will be something not every buyer will want. either. I guess an idea of your budget would be good. I love vinyl plank with kids and dogs but I honestly cannot see it in that home .In my experience brazilian cherry does not lighten up much but a nice dark brown like a walnut could be a good choice and also appeal to a much larger buyer pool. Run it everywhere in the same color . As for walls white is fine but maybe a soft color would be better . That IMO is the last thing you choose so wait until the floor are done. The FP it kind of suits the house style and with a nice piece of art instaed of the TV could look quite nice That backspalsh in the kitchen of course needs to go and all your lighting needs upgrading both in style and cahnge to LEDs in 4000K

I'm a fan of slate and color variation so I'd likely leave it there. Brazilian Cherry can be sanded and lightened with two-part wood bleach, and either pickled, stained or finished natural. When finished natural, it can either be coated with old school oil poly to achieve a golden Teak color or with Bona ClassicSeal (or similar) and non-yellowing waterborne urethane. With the latter option, the tones would likely coordinate nicely with the colors in the slate.

To achieve this you would have to live in an area where floor finishers are familiar with using wood bleach. If you need any technical help, shoot me a DM or email tim@jfcwood.com .

@Jeff Smith What brand/specs did you go with for your engineered wood floors? I am in the same dilemma except I have a the lighter/browner cherry floors.

@A G The floors we got are Hallmark Altavista..https://hallmarkfloors.com/hallmark-hardwoods/alta-vista-hardwood/

Ours is specifically Laguna Oak. We like the matte finish but they do need a little more care than varnished wood floors because the wood surface is porous.

These are our newly refinished brazilian cherry floors finished with Bona Satin HD. Not sure if they are in style, but I think they are beautiful. Ours never got that dark or red because they are 3/4 nail down and I finished them 17 years ago with Bona Chemi traffic. I would simply refinish and put a clear finish on.

Best move is to wait a year and budget. Budget refinishing from your areas top reputable wood floor pro and new simpler floor tile. Budget new hardwood throughout (you are concerned about resale so stick with that. No vinyl. Nope) and then see how far your budget goes. Sookmomof4 shows how lovely they could be (but can YOUR floor get there? - heed SJ’s advise).

Actually realizing it is a year later :). What did you end up doing?

sookmomof4 gorgeous floors! This is what I think of when I think of refinished cherry in a "lighter" finish.

This may sound weird, but what about incorporating some black? Such as painting your built in units black and using some black furnishings to tie in some of the dark points in the slate. I might be off base here but it just might work! Also, the gray/blue on the walls might be pulling some of the purple out in the floors. Perhaps try a warm white on the walls. Good luck!

@sookmomof4 your floors so so gorgeous! I love that warm medium tone. I think they look classic and timeless and I would take them in a heartbeat. Thank you for sharing.

@sookmomof4 would you mind sharing what color stain you used? I love this!

https://www.houzz.com/user/laurendelco we just used Bona Chemi HD in a satin finish.. No stain.

https://www.houzz.com/user/laurendelco we used bona chemi HD in Satin. No stain.

Sorry for being a bit dense, but what is ”chemi”? i tried searching for it but came up empty.

Bona was formerly known as Bona Kemi.

https://www.houzz.com/user/laurendelco-I apologize it is is Bona as Timothy Winzell said.