I don't think Brazilian cherry is "out". is it damaged? do you just dislike it?
ive never tried vinyl plank over wood. don't know what will happen to the wood beneath, but id be doubtful of a good outcome, later, if you change your mind...
I'd really rather have the cherry, if it were me. But, its not my home...it's yours.

I didn't design any of this. I didn't mind the cherry ( other than cleaning) except in the kitchen where it clashes with cabinets that i like. I tried to get large rugs to reduce the maintenance.

I've been going around in circles with ideas of painting the cabinets and changing the counters in white, which would look better with the cherry, but still alot of work and costs are more like $10,000 for proper spraying and quartz.

I'm not sure, and maybe one of the pros will chip in, but I think that, if you put vinyl over the wood, you risk ruining the wood beneath the vinyl. And let's face it, hardwood floors in reasonable shape are always going to be more valuable than vinyl. Especially grey imitation wood plank vinyl, which is already becoming dated in some places. Personally, I'd stick with real wood every time.

" Getting them refinished is an option, but realistically only ebony would work, if it worked."

Why would only ebony work? Have you talked to several wood floor refinishers and this is the conclusion that they all came to?

Have you taken into consideration that this is going to raise the flooring and will affect baseboards and opening and closing doors, etc.. And the extra expense you will incur to make these things work if you go this way?

And does the manufacturer of the vinyl approve this method of installment?

@ ted bixby - Ebony is the only stain dark enough to cover the red, and the result is dark brown. Costs more to refinish because the wood is very hard and takes more sanding. Also they have a titanium oxide finish which takes more sanding to remove. Also harder to take stain so sometimes only real specialists are able to get the floor to take the dark stain ( using water popping technique etc.). I doubt that many if any floor refinishers in my area Toronto have much experience at this. I'm afraid of spending $5000 to end up with a mess, and certainly not a current colour in any event. I can't stand the thought of black stain slopped all over my beautiful baseboards either.

I'm not sure if the top quality vinyl plank is a floating floor approved for use over existing wood. The one i looked at is, but i would only use the top quality so that remains to be seen.

Thanks for your help.

I'm no doubt prejudiced but I can't conceive of covering up cherry hardwood floors (or any hardwood floor) with gray plastic fake stuff - either as an economic decision or as an aesthetic decision. Your wood floors seem to be quite elegant looking - gray plastic floors not so much.

If the sole issue is the kitchen, why don't you replace the wood in the kitchen with some kind of porcelain tile - not wood facsimile of course but something that blends with the existing hardwood and the cabinets.

Great idea! Cover imported, expensive, wood floor with plastic. Plastic. With a fake wood finish.

Unbelievable.

Your home looks lovely. You've incorporated a lot of gray furniture and rugs and that is enough - gray. Please don't add gray floors too.

Cluedin - I don’t have experience with the vinyl planks over wood, but I just want to say that I share your thoughts on the Brazilian cherry. We had tons of it in our house when we moved in...considered staining it dark, but our contractor said the red would still show through. We ended up ripping it out and replacing it, but I understand disliking the red tones. They’re really hard to decorate around if they don’t match your aesthetic. Very overpowering. One thing to consider, can you use a matte finish on them instead of the somewhat glossy finish you have now? You might find them less noticeable and less red. From what my wood flooring guy told me, he is able to change flooring from glossy to matte very easily, just a quick cursory sanding and then a few hours of letting a water-based seal dry. Also, lots of area rugs could help.

I agree with Helen.

Braziian cherry is not out any more than white T shirts are out. It is a classic. What is fading very fast are the ugly unnatural gray plastic floors. And everything else that is gray overload. Bohemian color and pattern is one of the rising trends, and you won't find a bit of gray in that. It's a reaction against the drab and depressing.

Stop calling the floor color "red" and switch to "eggplant" or "burgundy" something more exotic and/or interesting, and maybe you won't hate them so much. They're beautiful hardwood. I like them much better than the kitchen cabinets. If you're in love with those, just change the kitchen floor and be done with it. Grey isn't at the top of my list anyway, but gray and burgundy/eggplant do work well together.

I dug up this link on the problems with laying vinyl over hardwood:

https://www.houzz.com/discussions/can-i-have-luxury-vinyl-tile-installed-over-existing-hardwood-floors-dsvw-vd~4731134?n=4

Have you considered painting cabinets white? Our floors have the same tones (we get tons of compliments on them) and taking out any of that red oak has helped them a lot.

here is one of my favorite Houzz Kitchen's

This is your house and if you want to take the easier and the cheaper way to address the floors that you aren't happy with, then do what makes you happy. But do so with the knowledge that problems could arise with the floor underneath as you are short cutting the proper installation, and that if you tire of the gray floor that it could cost you more to rip everything out if the cherry floor has been damaged, and that the vinyl isn't going to add any value to your property when you go to sell. Which you say won't matter but are you saying that someone would be willing to purchase your land for $1.5M without a house on it? If so, then even more so do what you want as long as you are realistic about what the consequences could be. At least consider carpeting for the bedrooms instead.

Have you seen or explored bleached cherry floors?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lnBr8hOADeM

I was browsing through Houzz Australia and came across this photo of a house with jarrah floors (a bit similar in color to the Brazilian Cherry). I don't think it looks outdated at all.

I honestly think your floor looks better than the cabinets, so if I were to change anything, it would be the cabinets. I don't think I'd risk ruining the floors by putting vinyl on them.

Thank you for posting the link jmm because the answer is NO from a technical perspective. You will negate any warranty from the vinyl manufacturer as that is not an acceptable substrate to install it on.

Brazilian cherry was super popular several years ago, and even though it’s not the most popular floor now, I wouldn’t cover it with vinyl. Especially not gray vinyl. You’re about to jump on a trend (Gray) that is at the end of its peak. Talk to someone about stripping them and bleaching them and toning them with a green stain. Jacobean has some green in it. It’s dark, but I think it’s nice. It would be cheaper to swap out the gray area rugs for more traditional rugs that work with the floors.

Those floors are stunning and valuable. Please save them. Yes they clash with the rest of the decor and cabinets. Staining them black would help, but black floors are hard maintenance to look clean. If you are in a major city like Toronto, I can’t imagine you couldn’t find an expert to do it. If you do rip them out, please look into if they could be sold/salvaged and repurposed? People rip out granite, wood, etc. so often. We waste natural resources quite readily and not all are so easily recouped by the earth. I definitely would think long and hard about grey wood look flooring. A warm natural yellow-beige wood would add color and be more on trend if you are wanting what is current. I personally think chasing fads is a game no one wins or at least doesn’t win for very long.

I like the existing floors everywhere but the kitchen. I would change the floors in the kitchen and leave everything else alone.

This was a nice reno that kept similar floors. Might help you with future color selections.
https://www.houzz.com/magazine/photo-gallery-wall-stars-in-a-stylish-new-family-room-stsetivw-vs~117324007

white built ins will really brighten everything up

Green walls or built ins will make the red of the floors seem even redder since they are complementary colors. Also, I think the gray rugs call more attention to the red floors. I don’t think you have to go with white, but if your aesthetic is more modern, it would probably work.

Here’s a photo of Brazilian cherry floors with a red rug.

You've posted 2 glimpses of your kitchen and because of the lighting, it's hard to tell the true color of your cabinets. Perhaps if you post more photos of your kitchen we can help you better.

Are you planning to replace the countertops or will be keeping them?

I think you should figure out a whole plan before deciding on what to paint what color.

Here are some different cabinet colors with Brazilian cherry floors. How do you feel about the flooring when you look at these photos?

I pulled the following 2 as it reminded me of your walls but perhaps a bit darker

Can you post a photo that shows the whole kitchen? And is the plan to keep the counter?

I would pick the quartz you want first I found that a lot of the white quartz counters look fake (ie the veining looks man made) the little more busier quartz had some nice patterns (but then I felt I should just do Corian so I went for quartzite). Your kitchen isn't huge I think all white would make it feel larger then if you want a pop of color get a countertop that has some pattern.

If you have the sort of budget that lets you follow flooring trends, then make a change. Your pictures show very handsome floors.

I am not a lover of brazilian cherry but to cover a wood floor in great shape with vinyl really makes no sense. IMO that floor looks great in every space except the kitchen so I wpi;d put my money into having the cabinets painted

I think your floors are beautiful. I wouldn’t worry about chasing trends.

Here are some color schemes to go with your floors. Red, white, navy is interesting. Personally, I love the look of white cabinets for the kitchen. I would eliminate green from your color scheme as it makes the red look redder, as someone has already pointed out.

Also, red, white and black would look sophisticated and elegant.

Most of my home is Brazilian cherry. We’re going to stain black walnut, which pulls the red and will make them dark brown.gray will clash more with your existing cabinets.

Angela, do you have a photo of what your floors look like after staining them?

My entire house is Brazilian cherry and we want to remove a wall and create an open concept kitchen and I have no idea how to match my Brazilian cherry flooring to a new kitchen floor since I really don’t want hardwood floor in my kitchen. The struggle is real!

Standing in my kitchen now. Even with 4 kids, dogs water bowl and all my cooking the floors are fine. I also appreciate standing on a softer floor for the floor I spend most of my time on. I would just carry it through.

The wall where the refrigerator is will be removed and what’s beyond it is all Kahr’s Brazilian cherry. The entire 2,300 square foot house is except bathrooms and kitchen

I agree, just put the hardwood in the kitchen. If you don't it will look choppy to have a different kitchen floor and hardwood all around it.

I face the same - and have decided that I will have rugs near the sink, refrigerator and cooking area, when I install my hardwood in the kitchen.

I think I’ll do the same. I would have liked the water resistant vinyl in grayish but too hard to keep u with trends and the floor cost us $20,000 15 years ago and reason we went with engineered hardwood was the pergo at the time looked so fake. The vinyl plank has come along way. The cherry is so hard to keep clean and we cook a ton but with everything going white (walls, cabinets and light countertops I think the dark floor will be fine.