Who's talking you out of things? either you should be working with a designer you trust and working from their recommendations, or you have a vision that your current contractor just doesn't want to deal with, and you should be looking for somebody else...

Why go wood in kitchen? Or are you taking it throughout the house? Hickory is very hard, but has many color variations too. I would go with a porcelain tile 12" X 36" with texture in a running bond for kitchen. Don't try to match it to the wood if it's going in the rest of the house. However I love all floors to have a similar hue. Good luck. I understand bamboo or cork is good in kitchens. (cork if sealed properly, comfortable too.)

I do have a designer, but he wants me to make the decision about flooring. We just removed all the tile we had laid 13 years ago and we are going with hardwood throughout the kitchen/dining/living rooms. We knocked down the wall separating our kitchen from the living area. It was the installer that said Acacia has to acclimate for 5 1/2 weeks in our home before he'd even consider laying it. I want the look of light and dark, but more importantly, I want to get it right! This will be our last chance.

Most designers insist on a plan *before* a single bit of demo is done. Working behind the 8 ball is never productive to making good decisions for the long term.

How have you selected products so far, and why isn't the wood already on site? What has your designer advised you based on the overall plan?

That's the problem. We wanted to do the demo to save a little bit of money. We have a plan for everything, but I just can't make up my mind on flooring. He's ready to go with cabinets, countertops and appliances in 2 weeks. I take full responsibility, but I only have one shot to get it right. We get a lot of light coming through now that we knocked the wall out, so suddenly I'm afraid Hickory will be too light.

Sophie is right. the floors should have been the very first selection so they could be ordered and on site acclimating while other work being done. Something is very wrong here. As for wood, I personally like Brazilian cherry.

We have natural hickory in our carriage house. I really like it - just make sure you are sure about the statement it will make. I have walnut in my kitchen in my house - it does dent if you drop a pot on it but I wanted the warmth and variation of that wood with modern white cabinets.

I'm so glad someone talked you out of the walnut floors in your kitchen. Although beautiful, walnut truly is very soft. I had it installed in my adult-only master bath thinking it was a hard enough wood. Every time I accidentally dropped a tube of mascara, it dinged the floor. My gorgeous engineered wood floor has two rugs now, to protect it. My kitchen, great room, laundry, pantry and hallways have had oak floors since 1995. The floors are very hard wearing. I have never regretted the decision to install wood flooring through out the first floor. It's warmer to the toes than tile would be, and here in Montana that makes a big difference. Just have it stained dark to keep in style. And use a Swifter to keep it gorgeous. Good Luck!

Do you have your cabinets on hand yet? If so, take one of the door panels down to a your flooring dealer and peruse the options. They should send samples home with you to look at in the kitchen and get a better idea. In my experience flooring is about the last step of your kitchen Reno, so don't make the decision hastily. So it's not ready on time! Do you having a specific deadline for a reason? (A magazine cover shoot perhaps?). Relax. I took 2 years after my remodel before finally chosing my flooring, and while I wouldn't recommend that much of a delay, I can say I have only regretted the choices I rushed into.

Thanks Rusty! Suddenly I don't feel so much pressure :) and Inhogheaven, oak isn't one I've considered, but I will now! I really do appreciate everyone's' input!

I thought the cabinets should be placed on top of the floor? That is how ours is being done. I can't help on the wood since we are continuing the white oak we have everywhere else in the home to the kitchen (we also took down a wall).

I grew up in a home with walnut floors and they looked awesome 30 yrs after my Dad installed them.

Have u thought of bamboo? It looks beautiful & wears well.

Bamboo is grass that is glued together, and not suitable for flooring. Here's a link to an old thread that was drug up from the dead a few days ago with a sad story about Costco bamboo flooring. Read it if you're seriously considering bamboo.

https://www.houzz.com/discussions/bamboo-flooring-anyone-use-costco-strand-woven-bamboo-by-wellmade-dsvw-vd~636729-flooring-anyone-use-costco-strand

Cabinets shoud always be on top of floors, and the floors are the foundation for the whole design. Oak is a classic hard wearing material that is appropriate to many different decor styles. Bamboo is a grass that is more glue than cellulose, and has issues with formaldehyde as well as succumbing to envirinmental moisture.

There is a wood hardness scale that lists lots of species. You can google it. Pick something reasonable hard whose grain you like. Big question is prefinished or get it installed and finished on site. I prefer real wood over laminate where possible so over time it can be refinished multiple times if needed.

There are so many beautiful porcelain plank tiles that look exactly like wood. I would steer away from wood floors in your kitchen, bathrooms or anywhere there is a lot of moisture. If you go the tile route, make sure to get good quality to avoid "lippage" because they can have a lot of curve if you don't and make sure the installer has knowledge about the proper installation.

I neglected to mention we are putting down Ash (which is rated above red oak on the hardness scale). We purchased it raw, and will finish & stain it ourselves. I've included a photo of it closeup so you can appreciate the lovely grain in this variety, which is black ash. Another photo shows samples of how it looks with either cherry toned or ebony stains.

Decision made.... 3/4 X 5 inch solid hand scraped Hickory. While it's a tad lighter than I wanted, there is a lot of variation in the wood and I think I'll get exactly the look I'm after. I appreciate all your input!