IMO if you are buying walnut flooring get it from a good supplier. As for the herringbone pattern I find it busy and works best in huge spaces. Is this going all through your house I would keep it simple. Walnu is one of my favorite woods but it takes some gentleness as not as hard as many. I like the grain of walnut and would not busy iy with a patteren that BTW costs huge extra $$$ to have installed.

1) I would never put wood in a kitchen. 2) As much as I love the look of walnut, using it in a high traffic area is pretty risky. 3) Plenty of people buy flooring from LL and wind up very pleased. However, the reviews of Bellawood are pretty bad. I would take a pass.

I just installed hardwood in my second kitchen and love it. My first was an espresso stained red oak and it held up great. I have two kids and a golden retriever, and other than the fact that the dog's fur shows up all over the dark stained wood, I loved it. We just moved and installed a medium toned hickory all through our first floor, including the kitchen. So far I love this, too!

Thanks very much to everybody for their comments! One thing I would be interested in hearing about also is how well a dark stain holds up over time (it sounds like the espresso-stained red oak held up well for speris for example). If not walnut, then we would probably consider a dark-stained hickory or other hardwood.

We're definitely doing hardwood in a herringbone pattern though (I know, both choices are debatable but my wife has her heart set on it). We're going for a look like the attached photo, albeit probably with a lighter stain. It will only be in the kitchen, the rest of our house has the original oak flooring.

And thanks to mark_rachel, Patricia Colwell, and Chess for the advice to stay away from LL/Bellawood. That confirms my suspicions too, we'll look for a local supplier (any Boston-area recommendations are greatly appreciated).

Herringbones are special orders from any suppliers. It will take at least 4 weeks. You can contact Chris at Wood Pro in Stoughton, Ma.

Thanks, I will look him up!