Flooring and Wall Colors

The new flooring has been one of the hardest choices for us to make.  We originally chose a very dark engineered wood, wide plank, handscraped floor for the kitchen area and adjacent sitting room.  However, our original plan was to paint the kitchen cabinets a gray-green color, but now we are sticking with the dark wood and hoping that the new cabinets will match the old - if not, we refinish them in the same color.  So now that the cabinets are staying dark, we decided to go with a lighter color wood flooring.  There are so many options right now from exotic woods to old standards like red oak.  The trends seem to be wider plank and many are choosing handscraped for an older look.  We decided to install red oak, medium width planks.  This is a timeless look that never goes out of style.  I was worried about the wider, hand-distressed planks going out of style sooner.  They just seem like a trend, not a mainstay.  And since hardwood floors last for decades, a timeless look that can be both modern or old is the way to go.  The lighter wood is easier to match with darker furniture and darker wall colors, both of which we like.  Really dark flooring tends to be paired with light furniture, light rugs and light walls - although I do like the all-dark look, but my wife doesn't. 

Red Oak

Dark Maple

Wall colors. I want more gray-toned colors, my wife wants more vibrant colors. I want a darker feel and she wants a brighter feel.  So, after painting a number of color patches on our walls, we ended up with Sherwin Williams Softened Green.  I still think that a more gray-green, or even gray-brown color would have been better.  I especially like Valspar's "Smokey Oyster" and Sherwin Williams "Frape". 

Sherwin Williams "Softened Green"

But, I'm not afraid of color, so green it is.  I'm hoping that we can paint most of the main floor all the same color.  Our floor plan is not very open and is divided between four main rooms (Kitchen, Dining, Living and Sitting), as well as an Entry.  The Kitchen, Sitting and Dining rooms will now all be the same wood flooring, just leaving the Living room (tan carpet) and Entry (Beige tile with an antiqued design).  The Entry tile will probably stay - any votes otherwise?

Entry Tile

Entry with View into the Sitting Room