Are you replacing the flooring in the dining room also? Having the same flooring throughout the first floor is what looks best. You can get a large area rug for the area with the sofa and then avoid getting a traffic pattern worn in from the hallway to the slider. If a standard sized area rug doesn't work for the space, look at remnants in a carpet store and have them cut to a perfect size for you. I have done this many times.

I think the wall to wall carpet dates your space. I'd get wood floors throughout the entire first floor. You can get a very large area rug that is just as plush as wall to wall, or as Kandrewspa said, get a large remnant and have them bind the edges.

Wood flooring is a PIA. It shows every speck of dust & dirt. It scratches, especially if you have a dog? Water spots. Carpet dampens sound and is easier to care for than wood. If you drop anything on a wood floor...dents.

If you have pets and/or children, go with tile. There are amazing wood plank style tiles that give the warmth of wood and the easy cleaning of tile.

Wood or tile don’t show dirt any worse than carpet if you get material that has a matt finish.

I would do the engineered wood throughout the first floor. It's a more cohesive look and contrary to some of the comments, I find wood flooring very easy to care for, even in a kitchen. I've had laminate, vinyl, and tile, and wood is my favorite by far. The floors in most of my home are over 90 years old and look just as good as the kitchen floor installed 9 years ago. The beauty of wood is that you can refinish it to look brand new. If you get engineered wood, go for one with a top layer that can be refinished if necessary.

I also like wood floors for at least your living and dining rooms. Nice spaces! Rugs will really cozy it up. You can use an entry rug at the door for wet feet. When you take pictures of your space, turn on every light so colors are more easily seen.

Another vote for wood, including the kitchen. Even the moderate grade engineered wood in my kitchen has done great over 14 years. Yes, it has some dings and scratches but that’s living. I’d get the best wood I could afford and use large bound carpet pieces in living room for warmth.

What's under the carpet now?

Most people here hate carpet and their answer will always be the same, irrespective of the details of your project. It's ideology to them. (Dated!!!!! Horrors!!!!) But if you like it, enjoy the softness underfoot, ignore the pressure. There is a lot of unattractive real wood substitutes out there so budget matters and the cost of replacing carpet with a quality area rug can be significant if you don't want the thin $400 stuff sold online. Finding a single area rug you like for the space you now have carpeted would be quite the challenge.

On the other had, if you do flooring and end up regretting the loss of the carpet, you can always get carpet installed.

Before you make a decision, take away the rug under your dining room table and live with the bare floors for awhile.

You say you want to ''open up the space'' without elaborating what that means so hard to advise beyond yay-boo carpet, yay-boo wood.

I've lived with all kinds of kitchen flooring and I would only pick wood if it truly enhanced the overall design, and I would give up caring about the durability and go for the eventual "character" wood floors acquire in a kitchen.

One type of flooring throughout is my choice. It gives the house cohesion. And area rugs can define a space and give you softness underfoot. I think the way your carpet is laid is also very dated.

I have had wood floors in every one of my houses and it’s not hard to take care of. It’s warmer than tile and looks richer than LVP, which is a good choice for some people. LVP has certainly come a long way. But wood is classic and still looks best.

I am for all the same flooring and honestly carpet I understand is nice under foot so get a nice large area rug for the LR and all the same enguneered floor everywhere. I do not agree carpet is easier to care for ever. They need shampooing and if a spill occurs it will never completelly come out of the carpet , at least with a rug you can have it cleaned right. I have renovated too many homes for clients where pulling up the wall towall carpet almost required a hazmat suit. I think standing on tile floors is hard on knees, backs and feet so i keep tile to the bathroom floors.I have 3 huge dogs and wood floors for me would have not been a choice .But I would never do wall to wall carpet not even in bedrooms.

I also vote for the same flooring throughout. Find a rug for your door area and one for under your sofa. You don't need tile.

The hickory you are considering is a pretty floor but I'm not sure it works with your kitchen cabinets, your trim, your furniture, or the style of your home. It's light and rustic looking.

Absolutely wood throughout. Area rugs are just as cozy.

I dislike wall to wall carpet because eventually it gets dirty. No amount of professional cleaning brings it back. But maybe if it's cleaned very often? That wouldn't be my life style.

Area rugs are easy to replace.

Wood or even LVP over any first floor carpet--unless you have a strong reason (i.e any age related or disability related reasons not to install hard surfaces). You can buy a rug pad to make any area rug softer.

I'm bias, wood floors through out.

I have been ecstatic with my LVP for over 20 years.. but really just want to comment on your color choice.. our LVP is that color and it is sooo nice to have a light color like this.., it brightens up your home.. and doesn’t absorb the light or darken your home on rainy or dreary days… we do have area rugs to define living spaces in our open floor plan but also to add a comfy warmth to our home.. another thing to consider is how wood floors can fade unevenly if exposed to direct sunlight… especially noticeable in dark colored floors

We have hardwood throughout, kitchen, living area, 2 bedrooms, and entry. No problem, although we are a retired couple, with a small dog, no children. We do live in an area with winter snow, slush, and rain. We have a heavy duty inside entry carpet for the winters, in that area the hardwood is still perfect after 10 years with us, and a total of 23 years since orignal installation. I love my hardwood. So easy to just vacuum, wipe over with a damp mop every couple of weeks, and Mrs Murphy wood oil soap and water again with a damp mop every month, with the odd spot wipe up in between.

I will say hardwood floors 23 years ago were a whole different animal…I lived on them back then… they were so much better… but still .. even with the best wood … at least a yearly chore of serious maintenance..hefty machines for cleaning, sanding..and waxing.. we’re required to keep them in top shape… over time

Most people these days …don’t have time or desire to damp mop … or soap and water…every two weeks… or soap and oil …every month🤷🏻‍♀️… the odd spot wipe up is more probably enough… with the busy lifestyles of today

Ditto foods!

debra

I have to make an additional statement. I have lived with hard wood floors throughout my home for 38 years. We redid them when we moved in. All these years I merely vacuum and/or easily damp mop with a washable mop head and that’s it! There’s been no need for any kind of yearly maintenance. Not sure what kind of floor btydrvn had, but my oak floors have never needed that.

I will say I was foolish to put maple in the kitchen. I did not realize it was a soft wood like pine. Lesson learned. Won’t do that again. ☺️

debra

The spell check changed my comment Ditto doods!

debra

You do not need to mop wood floors all the time. In fact, too much water will result in “cupping” which is a slight curling of the edges. Dry mopping is fine. I’ve had 3 houses with regular wood floors and currently have engineered - even in the kitchen. They are beautiful and more comfortable than tile for me.

In our area, hardwoods are preferred and increase the value of a property.

Whoever said to use Murphy's Oil Soap on wood floors--DON'T!!!

It's one of the worst things to do:

https://rshardwoodfloors.com/murphys-oil-soap-vs-bona/

https://www.plushardwoodflooring.com/hardwood-flooring-blog/2017/12/1/the-yess-and-nos-of-cleaning-your-hardwood-floors

Bona wood floor cleaner is the best I've found. It goes on easily, dries very quickly, doesn't need rinsing, leaves no residue, and has no scent. I don't know what's in it, but it's perfect!

You say you want to ”lighten” the space. The first thing I thought when I saw your pictures was that your rooms were indeed dark. Is it possible that you really have more of a lighting problem than a flooring problem?

@fraker agreed we need to do soemthing with lighting also plan to install new chandelier in dining room and add pendant lights over peninsula in kitchen thank you!

@deegw what color wood do you think would be better we have samples of this and like it a lot although cabinets are more traditional i would say my decorating style is coastal or transitional

@btydrvn what is the thpe of LVP you have? we couldnt find any we liked

ajumbel - If you have a sample and you like how the floor color looks in your space and your light, that's great. Based on your photo, I would go a little darker (not much) but you did mention the floors looked darker in person.

We have “Cortec” they had different quality levels way back when we had ours installed..we picked the high end one…BUT…I just checked and what we got has doubled in price..🙈…with our experience I would still get Cortec…but really don’t know what is out there today that may compare…

I’ve had hardwood floors throughout my home (except the bathrooms) for over three decades and find them extremely easy to care for. I’m not sure what kind of wood flooring requires major machinery, waxing, oiling, sanding, etc.; I’ve had my kitchen floors refinished twice since 1987, and the other rooms have never needed anything like that.

I will put in a good word for Method cleaning products. I love their wood floor cleaner. Does a good job and smells heavenly! It’s only used every other week, sometimes less.

debra

Choose your engineered hardwood carefully. The one you showed has a 2mm layer of hickory. Hickory can have a broad range of tone when sap and heart wood are mixed. 2mm thickness means minimal refinishing. It means the core layers must be dense enough to prevent denting when something is dropped. Your source is not very straightforward with specs. No mention of the source of the flooring. A popular product is European Oak. They have listings. The info is even more sparse. I would look for other sources for your flooring.

Carpet could be a good floor covering. Almost no one has the correct steam based carpet cleaner to maintain quality carpetting. A vacuum is not enough.

I vote a quality solid or engineered wood floor throughout. No fake one can get close to the comfort and long-term value.

It wouldn't hurt to ask a real estate friend or look at listings to see what types of floors are common in your area and in your price range. People here tend to have really strong feelings about "fake" and "real" floors.

Just my opinion... The return on investment things are always bogus so don't bother considering them. If you look at the methodology is just silly and there is little real data behind them, so ignore it. Also, the OP's wood floors appear to be in great shape so there is little chance of getting a full return on investment even if the OP were selling tomorrow.

If I were redoing the flooring in my house, I would always opt for a consistent flooring throughout the house. There is nothing wrong with carpet, even though it is not popular here, it is a great option for a comfortable living space and yours appears to be in good condition. I certainly wouldn't replace the carpet if you were not already investing in new flooring throughout.

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I am certainly not a designer, however, looking at your pictures, I suspect there are better ways to lighten the first floor than replacing flooring throughout.

1. Paint the casings and moldings white.

2. Paint the brick fireplace, and lower the mantle from the top of the brick to the face of the brick. Remove all the tall stuff from your mantle to add perceived height to your ceiling.

3. Lower the artwork and remove the track lighting, which will also give the ceiling some height.

@Amy J would you consider a heated stone floor in your currently carpeted area? Stone seems better suited to an area that has to cope with both wet boots at the door and possible sparks from the fireplace. I love the look of stone and wood next to each other. But maybe you hate it. There's all kinds from rough to smooth, high gloss to no gloss. With caramel wood, and traditional or transitional styling, a near-white marble floor looks stunning and would "lighten up the place" big time. Check the COF rating of course. Consider white marble flooring in your kitchen as well and in other places in your first floor where hard flooring is appropriate, like the area in the foreground of one of your pictures.

Your fireplace has more refined character than a typical brick fireplace. And your wood trim throughout provides a nice organic element. Instead of creating a white-out in your home, consider leaving those elements to create interesting contrast and depth of character.