About "Mediterranean" design: what comes to mind immediately are the houses in Greece designed by John Stefanidis. His own house, on the island of Patmos, is the focus of his latest book, An Island Sanctuary: A House in Greece. Just lovely! As for "Tuscan" style in the way that you all are describing it, while I've never eaten in an Olive Garden, that pseudo-Italian restaurant style certainly sounds horrid. I want my wine bottles in a wine cellar or in the fridge, and then emptied and in the recycling bin -- not ranged along the tops of my kitchen cabinets! As for fake vines, I actually had fake ivy running along the tops of the cabinets in our old house. A lame attempt to add some softness and color, and to liven up a not-very-good kitchen and all I accomplished was weaving a dust and grease catcher up high where it was hard to reach. When I finally took it down and placed the fake ivy where it belonged -- in the donation room at a local thrift store -- the kitched looked much, much better. There is something to be said for "honesty" and authenticity in houses, and I think a good part of that means decorating and designing for the geographic and cultural place in which you live. Anyway, I see I wandered OT. To go back to the original issue, in my mind there is a distinct difference between Tuscan and Mediterranean styles, especially as interpreted by Americans.

Speaking of smells and Engineered Hardwood flooring... I had a previous neighbor, and now a cousin, that have Engineered flooring. Both homes smell so good...all the time!!! I cannot quite decide what it is, but I am thinking a fresh wood smell similar to, but not as strong as cedar. Neither neighbor or friend has any idea what company their flooring is from. Both homes were contractor built before ownership. Both floors have the hand scraped look. I am not a fan of the hand scraped look, or even Engineered flooring, but would be for perhaps the upstairs or basement if I could determine the brand. Does anyone else have this good smell in their homes?

@Trish Walter Wow, they are gorgeous! I love the amount of character and color and the plank width. I ordered several samples of the Hurst Hardwoods Engineered French Oak, but the colors were way off from what was represented on the website pictures. I mean way off, like a completely different color...a grey rather than a brown. And what were supposed to be four very different colors all looked almost exactly the same. I didn't ask for Riverstone, but maybe I will talk with them about getting a few more samples and see if anything works. My husband is doing the install, too, to save money. I don't want to get the HH unfinished and have him also have to do the staining and finishing on top of installing. Thanks so much for sharing the info and the pictures. Enjoy your beautiful floors!

They did all the appropriate floor prep. Old glue was removed, cement slab was grinder smooth. They checked for level and said my floor was the most flat and level they had ever seen! (A tile installer in another room said the same thing). They didn’t need to add any self leveler compound anywhere, which they said they sometimes do. I believe they did a moisture test, no moisture barrier is installed because where I am engineered wood is glued straight to the slab. Not sure the type of glue but they said it’s the best (yellow stuff), not sure about changing the trowels. Good to know about changing them. But, I have hollow spots in the first rows they laid. They are telling me a possible reason is because these were thicker and wider boards which make it harder to make good contact…I am considering contacting the manufacturer, but don’t want to make a mess of my floors if there will be no benefit for me (compensation, redoing my floors, etc) but not sure they would do anything for my benefit…