We are building a home and are just about to go to the design studio to make all of our final choices. I'm attaching pictures of what the great room looks like from one of their models. We've never actually been to the model since it's in Missouri and we live in Michigan.

Our design will be a little different we won't have the bump out in the living room and will have one in the dinning nook. We will also have an upgraded double stove with a single cook top.

My first question is, does it make sense to have hardwood floors in this entire space. It would also connect to the foyer but not in a side room in the front of the house (maybe a formal dinning, maybe a study, maybe a living room). I think it's really nice to connect all the spaces together. But one of our concerns are that we have a large dog and don't want to invest in the floors just to have them destroyed. We are stuck between Shaw Family Reunion cherry or coffee bean.

The second question is about the cabinets. We are looking to go with the dark colored cabinets. They are Aristokraft Sinclair Sarasparilla.

To lighten up the kitchen we are looking to add Azul Platino. Which flooring choice will look the best? A dark red or a dark cofee color? Will it be to dark with the coffee color?

Another question we are having trouble with is regarding the matching 4" back-splash. Should we keep it or take it out since we plan on adding some type of back-splash on the wall after we move in. I'm having trouble finding a lot of examples or pictures with the 4" backsplash with a tiled backsplash. The ones I have found are sometimes nice, and sometimes not. Any suggestions?

I know this is a little long but I appreciate any comments.