cottonpenny- I am not a fan of prefinished floors and cannot recommend them at all, the finish, not the wood, is what typically gets damaged, and if you are obsessive about scratches, prefinished, glossy floors may drive you crazy. Site finished, especially an oil finish, shows less wear and tear and can be spot fixed, just sand and reoil. With any sort of poly finish spot fixing isn't feasible. You have to decide how anal you are about scratches, dents and wear, how much you like to clean, how careful you and your family are with stuff, what kind of gloss level you want, etc., that will help you decide what kind of wood species and finish makes the most sense for you. Good luck- sandyponder

Thanks for the response live wire oak. We live in a 20,000 population community in the midwest (think fly over state that calls Mt. Rushmore home). We will be doing the tear out and some of the finishing work ourselves. We calculated our budget (roughly as follows). Again not asking for estimates but rather a rough idea of how far budget to actual variance may be. Thanks again for the responses as they have been informative. Kitchen Remodel 55k (same layout just new floor, non custom cab's, countertop) Appliances not included in estimate Master Bathroom Remodel 30k (same layout, new vanity, toilet, sink, and rip out old tub and replace with tiled shower.....could be interesting what is behind old bathtub) Bathroom Retrofit 20k (10k each) (leaving tub inserts and just updating vanity and floor (paint) Dining Room Hardwood Floor 8k (old school oak tie in to rest of house and new light fixture(no new outlets or j. boxes) Roof 20k (tear off shakes and replace with arc. asphalt...got three qouates from 12-17k....erring on high-side above quotes) Laundry Room hook up change 5k (might be a little low) Family Room (carpet) 5k Trim and Crown throughout 50% of home 10k (doing this with help from friend that specializes in this) Paint (interior) 5k (we will do the walls and ceilings...this is for trim and crown....I have done this before but really hate doing it again) Then add about 30k for unforseen changes and unforseen goblins. Total roughly 160k with another 30k for contigencies. Our budget estimates are more itemeized but didn't want to bother everyone with such specifics. There will be no changes to layout in any room or any new lighting except 6 cans in kitchen which has an unfinished attic directly above. Will need to add electrical for laundry and one outlet and cable for TV on interior wall. Only major structure changes are the 3 openings being expanded (could be the silent but deadly budget killer) and some soffits in kitchen (no hvac running through) that we will be tearing out ourselves. Thanks again

Aha!! Resin! It's a resin floor with leather in it. That should make as good a floor as a traditional linoleum (sawdust, cork dust, rosin and linseed oil). Sounds great! Cork looks lovely, but the kind that's good in kitchens is the bits of cork on a plywood base, so it's basically a plywood floor, but prettier. The ultraexpensive sheet cork is too soft and porous to be really great in a messy area like a kitchen. I have antique tumbled travertine in my powder room. It'd stone. It would be okay in a kitchen, but it's pretty porous, so could have a few cleaning adventures. The leather in resin sounds like a winner considering how well it goes with your finishes. The best thing to do now is torture your sample. Let a puddle of water sit on it for a few hours. Try to stain it with coffee, mustard, red wine, and beets or even tomatoes (leave on for an hour or overnight and then wash off). Roll across it back and forth and back and forth while sitting in a desk chair. See what the scratches look like. If you have pets, let them at it. Figure out now what the cleaning and aging will be like, and you'll have a better idea how it will work in the long run.

I’d decide on the floors first as they will have the biggest impact/cost, longevity, and also have to work in adjoining rooms. Paint color is a much easier decision and should be based on flooring choice. You can't go wong with a classic herringbone and there are so many options material wise. Would suit the butcher block/stone influence, good in other rooms and will be easy to live with for years to come. BM Van Duesen If you want some pattern, add a backsplash similar to your tile idea below. Will connect well with the butcher block.