I purposely picked a place in the house with lower ceilings and LOTS of big furniture and red, with more red, and a splash of red, so you could see it at it's most overwhelming. The floors are about 8 years old, so they have gotten as dark as they will get. The planks are 2 3/4" wide. I cannot give you a good reason why I wish they were wider--I just like the look. Virtually everyone I know wishes they had wider planks and higher baseboards after they finish. Just make sure you put the baseboards on top of the wood--don't do that silly 1/4 round that they always use for laminates. Everyone who comes into the house comments how much nicer it is (maybe it's only a tradition in the West to do 1/4 round). Anyway, the ceiling height in this room is 9'. From having lived with both light and dark wood, as long as it isn't one of the dark, expresso type finishes, both show dust and scratches. A really good finish minimizes the scratches and they are easily covered up with a dab of floor cleaner or even olive oil. They show up a bit more in darker wood, but Brazilian Cherry isn't so dark that it makes much difference one way or another. The rule of thumb is darker wood is more formal, lighter wood more casual/modern. Honestly, I think medium toned woods are always the 'safest' choice. Extremes of dark and light go in and out of fashion, and they both require more upkeep. EVERYTHING shows up on maple as it does on those dark stained (nearly black) woods. What you will notice on either of the floors you are considering is dust in certain light or coming from a particular direction. (My sister's floor are almost the identical color of Amendoim). Nothing will hide huge muddy paw prints, but I'd give the slight edge of camoflauge to the lighter wood. Besides tile, wood is the easiest thing in the world to take care of and it so beautiful. When I got my floors, Amendoim wasn't really offered, but they had something called "Brazilian Cherry Lite," and I suspect it's the same thing. The one problem with this 'wood' is it's sort of a made up name--like the lite. It's a catchall name to cover several different species. Make sure whomever you get it from does indeed Janka rate it at 1900+ A quick look at the internet gave me ratings for everything between 1300 and 2200 so they are obviously calling different wood species Amendoim. I have a friend with an 80 lb dog who has Merbau (1700) and she has light denting, so I wouldn't go any lower that 1800-1900. And it really is the dents that you'll notice and you'll hate. Yes, the dog would be the worst offender, but my Mother's oak dents with moving furniture--yes it's heavy but still... And if it can be repaired, it can only be done by a professional. We always tell her it's patina, and all wood floor will get some, but you don't want it to look awful. I'd post a special Amendoim/Big Dog just to make sure. I suspect it will be fine, but you REALLY need someone with a big dog to know for sure. And for Lynn--Thanks so much for the compliment. I'm always told that less is more.... but my office is for my comfort--there is a big lounging couch on the other wall. The plants in this room are silk so I don't have to fuss. The paint is Ellen Kennon's Buttercream. I fought, fought, fought buying a designer paint, but I just couldn't find a yellowish tone I could live with other than hers. I wanted something light, neutral, but warm-toned because of all the dark furniture. It works very well even with the natural cherry in other rooms. I painted the ceiling the same color so I wouldn't have to do edge painting and it works beautifully. The walls look taller and the paint just seems lighter on the ceiling. And if you can live with darker floors, you won't regret going harder. I have a friend with Brazilian Walnut, they look fabulous in her home and she says they are indestructible.

desertsteph ~ Yep, I did them on-site. This was the second time I've re-laminated them in 10 years. Our original choice turned out to be (ahem) less-than-expected, to say the least. At the time they were delivered for installation, DH said that I should "live with them for a while" and if, in a few years, I still didn't like them I could replace them. After three looong years I decided it was time but I didn't want to rip out a perfectly good countertop/base or pay the $$$ when they were only three years old. That's when I decided to tackle the job. After much research and speaking to people in the trades is when I took the plunge. I have to say the first time it was definitely nerve wracking but the seconfd time was much less stressful. The first time I re-did them I chose a solid laminate from Wilsonart called, aptly, "Port". Here's a pic mid-process. Notice the fugly original counters to the right of the stove. Definitely not what I ecpected them to look like. I admit the mistake was mine because there's no way anyone can tell what a whole counter will look like when all you jhave is a tiny little sample chip. Duh. The problem with the red counters was twofold ~ because they were a solid with no texture or pattern, they showed every scratch. Because they were red, they faded quite quickly in the bright sun. So that's my story ;o) My experience has been that, unless the countertop is very light, I would stay away from a solid color laminate countertop with no pattern or texture. Tannatonk ~ Thank you for the compliments. We love our little piece of heaven.

We used Mannington Arcadia Firewood laminate in 2013 throughout the whole house, two bathrooms, kitchen, the works. Before we bought it we stuck a plank in a 5 gallon bucket of water for a month. Nothing happened to it and nothing has happened to the floors. Wearing like iron. I do have a bath mat to step out of the shower and I use a mat at the kitchen sink to ease long standing but I'm completely sold on Mannington. I use a microfiber dust mop every other day since I live where the dust blows a lot, wipe up any spill in the kitchen with the Mannington floor care spray and I have mats at the entry doors. We do not take off our shoes but dirt and mud stays out. My installer was a genius in placement--I only have transitions at the bathroom doorways, barely noticeable since they are lines up with the door itself. If I ever have a kitchen issue he installed it so the planks can come out beginning at the back wall and be replaced without tearing up anything in the dining/family room. The flooring runs parallel to the entry, the "long way" so it extends the view of the floor plan.

My feeling is that you may be in color overload. It is easy to get there, especially with the thousands of colors offered. Truth is out of all the colors there are really a handful of popular colors that work. There is a paint company called C2. They don't have a ton of stores, but you can order samples online. You don't need to paint your own samples - they sell huge samples ( 18" x 24" painted color samples (not printed paper). The samples are about $5 or $6 per sample.if purchased in a store, $9.00 online. They have smaller painted cards that run $1.00 online and are free in stores. Their full fan deck is only $50.00 They have a limited selection of colors, just the "Best in Class". Using EasyRGB to look up colors that are similar to Revere Pewter in Benjamin Moore Paints I get this: 10 colors with very little variance. Using the same program but looking for colors that are similar to Revere Pewter in C2 Paints I get this: 10 colors that are similar in depth of color but have quite discernibleundertones. You are pretty much guaranteed that one will look good with your cabinets and floors. More isn't always better. Sometimes it is simply more confusing. If I were you I would probably start with the lighter colors, closer to C2 Archival For $11.00 you can get the small paint sample of all 11 colors - pick the 3 you like best and for another $30.00 get big samples and make a final decision. Easy peasy done!