Is a factory finish really much better than floors finished by a local contractor?

This is our situation:

In our LR and DR we have original 60s oak flooring that. we like very much. They're waxed now, medium brown. Once our kitchen remodel is completed, we're planning on having the floors refinished in the same medium brown with matte or satin poly, or whatever one uses these days instead of waxing. We're being told that finishing by contractors will not match toughness of factory finished floor. If this is indeed so, this doesn't worry us, as these are LR and DR floors, not likely to be damaged by us.

Now, our family room has a ca. 20yr old factory finished glossy Auburn red oak floor by Mirage Classic. This floor is in perfect shape though, no scratches, dulling of finish or any other damage, despite having gotten tons of use from our kids, cats and dogs who all used the sliding door to the backyard, with the kids and their friends most often not bothering to take off their shoes...

Thing is, we really don't like the auburn reddish stain and the glossy finish of the FR floor.

This FR is totally open to our new kitchen. We're taking out the tile in the kitchen and would like to extend oak flooring into the kitchen.

We would like to have a factory finished floor in the kitchen due to the FR floor being so tough. But we want the floor to have a neutral brown finish as the LR and DR have, not the Auburn red of the FR.

Also, the Mirage factory finished floor has an "indent" between each plank, which makes me worry about spills ending up pooling in there etc.

So how should we proceed?

Add unfinished oak flooring to the existing FR flooring and have the FR floor sanded down, and then all of it stained and finished in place to match the LR/DR flooring? Or should we just: Remove all of the FR flooring, and have new factory finished floor installed, in the stain color we like (which will eventually match the DR and LR flooring)? (The FR is not large, about 12' x 10')