If you can share a photo of the laminate, that would help.

I generally subscribe to the fewer types of flooring, the better. If you put laminate in the bedrooms, you'll probably want to invest in area rugs, too. This can be either fun, or a nightmare, depending upon your perspective.

If this were my house, I would put the laminate everywhere, including kitchen, but at least your Option 3. It's difficult to predict resale, but there are plenty of buyers who prefer homes without carpet. Therefore, do what you will most enjoy for the next 7 years.

Congratulations on your first home!

Thanks! This is close to what it will look like. Not our house or the exact product.

I guess I should add more options:
Option 4: Laminate in LR, hall and kitchen (tell me why I shouldn't be scared)

Option 5: Laminate everywhere if we can afford it

Multiple flooring changes in an area that is visually linked will make the spaces contract. Is that a problem for you? Do you want your space to appear larger or smaller? Your choice appears darker than you now have. Will your "woods" look good next to each other? We are having lock in vinyl wood plank installed this week. We are uniting the informal dining room and kitchen. The living room and halls will have carpet--but we live in a cold climate and prefer warmth underfoot. Now our kitchen is linoleum and carpet everywhere else. Our spaces are pretty open concept. We were very concerned about chopping the spaces up visually. Looking at the options and reading the guarantees vinyl in the kitchen seemed to be our optimum choice when considering comfort underfoot, acoustics, water resistance, upkeep, longevity and visual interest.

For resale purposes, I'd put the laminate everywhere, except the kitchen. I think wall-to-wall carpeting is a big turnoff and is one of those things people groan about having to replace. The kitchen is less of a problem since people expect tile or laminate flooring in there. But for continuity, you can always put the laminate flooring down throughout the entire house and put a large indoor/outdoor carpet in the kitchen to protect the flooring. It would also look nice as there are some beauties out there.

Bedrooms, definitely the laminate with area rugs.

One more vote for consistency- laminate everywhere with area rugs - if it is in the budget...If not - all but the kitchen and leave what is there- for now- decide later...you have 7 years to think about it!

Carpeting can be a turn-off for re-sale. Area rugs are far easier to replace- if needed.

This is all on 1 level - correct? If so, I would do the laminate throughout.

I just had to make a similar decision for a townhouse we are selling. Originally I was thinking of tile in the entry and engineered HW in the LR/DR & kitchen. Both flooring reps and my RE agent advised me to do engineered HW throughout the 1st floor. We are selling empty so having different flooring would not have been visually pleasing.

We did carpet in the upstairs. This is not a high-end home and in PA carpeted bedrooms are pretty common and expected.

It is a one level, 1300 sqft house. I don't think we can afford to run the laminates everywhere and I worry about the company discontinuing the product if we do it in phases. This is a really tough decision!!
I am definitely going to take the flooring sample that I have and make sure that it coordinates with the congoleum in the kitchen. And just to remain open to the idea, does anyone have experience with laminate in the kitchen? The Quick Step beveled products are approved for use in the kitchen as long as they are sealed properly in certain areas. But from what I understand, any standing liquid on the laminate will harm it no matter what. When bad things happen to us, it ALWAYS seems to come in the form of water. That's why I'm being so cautious about the flooring in the "wet" areas of the house.

I WOULD NOT put laminate in the kitchen. NO WAY. I would put a ceramic tile that is near the color of the laminate flooring or I would use parquet flooring that has near identical coloration as the laminate, but laminate will come "unglued" in a bathroom or kitchen if you use a lot of water to cook and bathe. Also, laminate will pick up odors of food, pets, children, etc., and it will not hold up well to stains or heavy traffic. I would wait until I can afford to do the whole house in what I like rather than just "getting by" on what you can afford at the time. Your house is too small for so many disparate players.

Just for another point of view from someone who has laminate in their kitchen -

The kitchen in my old Cape had Armstrong vinyl flooring when I bought it it 1986, put in by the PO. I removed it when I re-did the kitchen. Under the vinyl was the original old growth Douglas Fir, which I had sanded and sealed. With three dogs (in two 'sets' over the years) their nails and exhuberance damaged that beautiful floor. I did some research and put in a high quality laminate in April 2008. Pic below.

Despite my dogs having access to the outside through doggie doors in the basement, and running up the stairs to the kitchen at times clean and dry, or wet and muddy or piled with snow, the floor still looks beautiful. They also have a shared water bowl on the floor that may get dumped at times, or splashed on the floor.

It'll sound like the Post Office motto of neither rain nor snow...but it has not come unglued, picked up any odors, and no matter what has been dropped on it over the years, there is not a single stain. I've really put this floor through its paces, and while I'd rather have the real wood that is in every other room except the basement bathroom (tile), if there comes a day that I don't have dogs (heaven forbid) I'll put a hardwood floor in.

What you see where the oval rug is, my pantry, has real oak, and many people, including some carpenters, have had to touch the adjoining kitchen laminate floor to see that it isn't real hardwood. It'a ALLOC Domestic with silent system. It's a very close match to the oak hardwood in the pantry.

Here is a link that might be useful: ALLOC Domestic

I am not sure where the linoleum not with water opinions came from. Linoleum has been the go to standard for kitchens and baths for YEARS. In the many many homes I have lived never has it come "unglued". It is the one product, no seams, impenetrable to water, that will not ever ever be an water use issue. It is now pooh poohed for its inexpensive and back in the day crazy colors and patterns but it has always had a superior usability.