I agree with Greendesigns on the color--the darker they are the more maintenance they will require with dust mopping or swiffering. I am guessing with all you have going on, you don't have the time to be swiffering every square inch of flooring twice a day. Going with a medium stain or even clear poly is a more practical option. Handscraped floors are beautiful without a doubt, but as you're finding are very $$$. Going with a #1 common grade vs. a select grade or clear grade hardwoodis a less expensive alternative to handscraped that still gives you plenty of character. On-site finish vs. engineered finish is really a personal preference IMO. With engineered, once it's installed you're ready to go, but if your floors are ever damaged (think dishwasher floods kitchen), you run the risk of not being able to match it to the rest of the hardwoods in the house at a later date, and you are limited on how many times you can refinish the floor. Going with site finished gives you the advantage of unlimited refinishing, ability to match at a later date if need be, but it does require drying time. I think the engineered prefinished floor have come into favor with builders who want it done quick + current homeowners who are upgrading their existing flooring and don't want to deal with the sanding & drying time required with unfinished. When building new, as you are, the sanding & drying time really don't play in as much--the builder has a cleaning crew come in to take care of any sanding dust + most hardwood guys use the dustless sanders now anyway & typically the floor finishing is done last--so while you're working on closing on the house, the floors are being completed & drying). Hope this helps!

I think your floor is beautiful! When we were building our home we went with prefinished because it was much less expensive due to the amount of time you have to spend on site-finished. I also didn't like the micro-bevels, but after living with it for three years now, I don't know that I would want site-finished. The prefinished wears fantastically, and once your rugs and furniture is in, it's much less "in your face". The low sheen is much better for hiding scratches, etc., so is better in the long run. I hope you come to love your floor; it looks luxurious in the photos!

When it comes to hardwood, trends are something to ignore! Why? Because hardwood is pretty much a lifetime purchase, and unless yours is damaged in some way, you're probably not going to replace it. So, light wood vs. dark wood, wide planks vs. narrow planks -- that stuff's all going to come and go. With that in mind -- as well as the very real concerns about cleaning dark wood -- I'll vote for a nice, neutral midtone every time. Not too much contrast, not too red, and (unless it's a beach house) not too pale. I think this is the wood that's most likely to give you good service and stand the test of time.

I have not heard of that brand but we purchased the Bella Cera Ruscello flooring and when the boxes showed up it said the dreaded "Made in China" on them. What could I do at that point? We had it installed and are very happy. There is not one piece in the 1100 sq ft that has a flaw. Now, it has only been a few months, but no problems so far... And we also did about 60 sq ft of LM St Laurent flooring in our vanity area almost 2 years ago, it was "Made in China", which I did not know until later, no problems with it either.