There are some newer options with engineered hardwood you could consider. The light oak you can find is often European Oak. It differs from domestic White Oak. It's denser with much less open grain. The grain on flat cut pieces doesn't turn dark. Finishes also have progressed. Ultra matte won't show scratches like gloss. Water-based doesn't yellow the wood. Bona Traffic HD or Ciranova Link. Watch the application video for more info. Ciranova_Catalog_USA_2023.pdf (shopify.com) European Oak is available from many suppliers. Monarch Plank is one with good information on their site. Link. Many widths, grades and tones.

Prime grade.

Rustic.

They also have unfinished.

My main regret is that I miss the continuity of our wood floors extending into kitchen and nook. I do not miss the extra work my particular wood floor required (and still always looking not quite clean). If I had enough money to do what would have been required to put in a new solid wood plank floor …I.e., remove and store all of our furnishings, likely replace the subfloor (rather that spending huge effort grinding the glue off), then adjusting all of the trim work since solid wood is about 1/4” thicker, and then putting all the furniture back, and assuming we had more months than we had until our daughter’s wedding, then we might have gone with solid wood planks. We are leaving that up to future home buyers if they choose.

All that said, I do like the LVT floor a lot… except for losing continuity of wood throughout entire first floor. We have a dog, we wear shoes in the house, we spill things and nothing seems to phase it.

Missy Bee, what brand of LVT did you install? I helping a friend pick out LVT for a lake cabin. Lots of pets and kids.

We used Mannington Adura. People here speak highly of Cor-Tek. We don’t have sand around here just normal grit and pebbles from walking trails and they recommend vacuuming at least weekly and furniture feet caps…so it isn’t indestructible. Keep getting feedback from other owners but be prepared for haters because it is not a “natural” material.

Missy, i found out about the hater issue recently asking about cabinet brands 😂😂😂😂😂

Thank you all for the suggestions. We are still considering engineered wood, but leaning towards LVP. Core tec does seem to have good choices and reputation