You will not find any shortage of white oaks (prefinished) out there today. Only ten years or so...I couldn't count more than a handful...if that, except for the Europeans where Red oak can't be found. It's always been my favorite through the design trends. Definitely engineered if choosing wider planks. More stability.

Thank you all for your responses. I'll try my best to reply: jh - I really like your suggestions of grey or green as the color for the cabinets in the bathroom. We will have to look into this. I'll try to post a picture of the white/grey speckle finish so that you guys can get an idea of what it looks like In regard to the backsplash, I appreciate all the recommendations for the special patterned backsplash. Unfortunately, we don't have a very high budget and are trying to get several things done in a certain time frame. I can see how the tile pattern backsplash would look good and help with the black/white combo, but we just can't swing another big change like that. We'll live with it for now. Regarding the transition to the living room: The living room is a much warmer space with beige carpet, same almond-ish paint, with warm lights. Hopefully by going with white in the kitchen, and allowing some of that warm light to shine on some of the white cabinets, it will be a much more gradual transition. Hopefully, we can find that LVP plank that has both the warm and cool tones in there to match the warm living space. Everyone is posting beautiful pictures here. My wife's fear though, is that our kitchen/bathroom is not nearly as fancy looking as what you guys are posting. We won't have the fancy trim or molding around the cabinets. It'll appear much more basic. Hopefully we can dress it up a little by adding the hardware. Thanks everyone!

Dish out is common on plain sawn oak, if, you do not have the right equipment, sandpaper and sanding sequence. More softwood is removed than hardwood, creating the undulation. A resanding is needed with a hard plating sanding driver, multi-head, power drive or trio to remedy the issue. Scuffing - will depend on the quality of the product and their process. Did they split the finishing process - sand and applied a couple of coats and returned at later date to finalize the project - contamination? Was there a stain applied - insufficient dry time? Did they, thin the product to save some money? What brand and product line did they use? Something happen to affect the performance of the product. Dragging a light cardboard box shouldn't cause too much damage, unless the scuffs are caused by staples. What was in the box - tv, toys, clothes?

That’s a difficult layout! Doesn’t look,like there’s enough room for chairs in front of the windows. Maybe an ottoman to replace the coffee table, so it can be used as a seat if you need it?