I'd do something darker - dark enough that it doesn't look like you're trying to match the rest of the wood. I have the opposite situation in my house - all my woodwork is very dark - like walnut. I refinished my floors and just wanted to lighten them up a bit. So they're a few shades lighter than everything else in my house - the contrast looks very nice. What I don't think looks nice is some painted baseboards that I had replaced and tried to match the color of the floor - and it's slightly off - it bugs me every time I see it. Fortunately it's in my bedroom so no one sees it but me. The stuff that's in my hallway I had taken off and replaced with some of the old dark baseboards from my old kitchen - much nicer.

What if.... I looked at the stone-look vinyl in the store and while it's nice, it's just not what I want. There are other patterns online that the store didn't have though. But what if I did use the wood look vinyl, separated from the real wood floors by a couple of different colored wood transition strips? Oh & get this. We have boxes of old 8x8 tile in the garage, the white marbled stuff that we put down 15 years ago. I've been trying to figure out how to get rid of it, and mentioned putting it on craigslist today. Dh was shocked and thinks we are still going to use it. Um, no. I was thinking GIVE it away. On the FREE CL side. He was shocked, after we spent so much on it. Yes dear, 15 years ago when we were both 25 pounds lighter, everyone wore tracksuits everywhere, and the beastmobile was a gleaming new truck. No. No. No.

Take a look at Savannah Oak and Spring Oak in Karndean's Art Select line. They are both on the lighter side. Karndean makes a great floor, and have the best visuals in my opinion. Their floors are pictures of real wood, which is not always the case in luxury vinyl. Some other brand's visuals are CG. Installers also love Karndean flooring. Art Select also comes with a 30 mil wear layer, which is pretty much bulletproof.

Go to a real flooring store (not a big box store like Floor & Decor) and take a look at high quality SPC (luxury vinyl plank with a stone core). Today's higher end SPC versions really do an excellent job of mimicking real wood, and in many cases it takes a very discerning eye to tell the difference. Despite knowing that for my scenario a SPC would be best, I temporarily listened to people here who kept insisting that engineered hardwood is much superior. I went to a flooring store to compare the SPC I was thinking about with engineered hardwood. Unless I was willing to spend at least double the cost of my higher end SPC, the engineered wood didn't have nearly as nice a look and it needs more care and babying. This comes from someone else in Florida. We aren't right on the water but pretty close to it, and we have a cement slab. I didn't want tile because it is so hard on your back. I am putting in natural maple cabinets with Karndean SPC flooring in a French oak. Also, our association has warned homeowners who are on the first floor with a cement slab (like we have) about problems other owners have had with engineered wood and moisture. The color I have chosen probably wouldn't work for you because it is too close to the color of your cabinet, but I thought I'd show you an example of their products. They have some truly lovely, very realistic products.