I have lived in my home for 30+ years and have hardwood floors in my kitchen. I have never had any problems with my floors. Properly finished, they have held up to wear and tear, occasional spills, regular cleaning, and…yes, my dog. I highly recommend site finished hardwood flooring in the kitchen.

Yes, wood, aside from unifying the floors, will also warm up the kitchen and at contrast/interest to your white cabinets.

100% do the wood floors. In our last house we had wood floors in the kitchen. They were great and we lived there for 23 years.

Definitely wood.

Wood for sure.

Thanks everyone. If we are not able to change the kitchen floor to wood, how else can I tone down the stark gray and white to soften it? New wood stools, new island lighting?

Yes definitely wood, it will really warm up the space. I have had wood floors in my kitchen for a long time and love them!

I believe you JUST had the floors refinished is that correct? The time to 'add more wood' is before you have the wood refinished. Yep. You would have had it all done at once. Since you have the wood RECENTLY finished, you are in a bit of a bind. You can add more wood to the kitchen...but then you need to redo parts/all of your existing wood. Oh...dear.

It is near impossible (it can be done but the pro needs to be SUPER diligent about colour application, wood selection, etc) to get a perfect match to the existing wood. That's why everything should be done at once.

As for the stark white/gray/black scheme you have going on, you will want to add COLOUR. Wood is a nice way to add depth of colour but it isn't going to solve the 'laboratory kitchen' you have.

I LOVE red...but that's me. You can use blue (like the colour of the pot in the kitchen) as a BACKSPLASH or you can use colourful ART or you can use wall paint to add colour. Your home's colour scheme is helping you 'see' the 'sterile lab' of your kitchen. A new option for paint (in the kitchen) and new lighting will certainly do wonders.

But pick a colour FIRST. Choose a theme for your kitchen and then work towards making it your 'kitchen colour'.

we could change it to the stick down vinyl flooring rather than ripping out and putting in hardwood floors. what color flooring do you recommend?

If you aren't going to change the flooring to wood have you consider painting the island? What colors are in your family room? I'd also change the pendant lighting to something that makes a statement as those lights just disappear. Your kitchen is lovely with a few tweaks -don't ruin it with stick on vinyl flooring.

I think that extending the hardwood into your kitchen would really elevate the look but agree that it will be a challenge for your hardwood guys to make it look cohesive. Really make sure they feel confident they can do it. The guys we used specialized in floor blending so there are people out there.

Stick vinyl is the $0.79/sf cheapskate DIY option. You would ruin an excellent floor for a sh!tty floor.

How bout changing the island countertop to wood butcher block? Cheap and fast!

How much money do you have to spend?

Professional flooring workers had no trouble adding wood to match our 25 year old hardwood. You will be so happy that you made the change.