taeel--Yes the dark floors require more upkeep as the dust & dirt shows easily. If you're going with a laminate or prefinished, they are usually harder to scratch than traditional stained on site hardwoods. My recommendation no matter which floor you choose is to invest in a SwifferVac. I absolutely love mine. The vacuum helps it pick up more dirt/dust + larger debris (like Froot Loops & Goldfish). A quick zoom around the house & I'm done. It's even fun for the kids to use--my 7 yr old son is always asking to do the floors. Hope this helps!

mydreamhome - yup, you have the right idea! Though for us it's Cheerios and pieces of scratching post. I have a feeling that's what I'm going to do.

Absolutely.

If you are not a Swiffer twice a day type person and seeing dust and footprints bothers you then you will HATE your floors. Low maintenance they aren't.

"I'm not a "sweep every day" kind of gal and this is a household with 2 kids and 2 cats."

LISTEN to yourself here. Your lifestyle is not compatible with dark floors. You'll just make yourself miserable over the smudges and smears, not to mention the fact that 5 minutes after you've dust mopped them, they look like they need it again if you have pets.

I have dark floors and am not a twice a day swifferer. I have 2 large dogs and their paw prints when it is muddy are the biggest issue for me. I have a doormat inside and one outside, but they still get past them dirty sometimes. My dogs are both black, so the fur balls tend to hide on the dark floor. We probably swiffer 2-3 times a week average using the one with the vacuum for the fur. It's easier than cleaning the tile before.

Dark floor show light 'dirt.'

Light floor show dark 'dirt.'

Floors in the middle hide things better.

We had dark oak floors in our last house. Oak floors original to the house. Cross between a mahagony and walnut color. I don't recall it showing dust a lot. We were not swiffering all the time. I just don't have that kind of time anyway. I do recall some scratches showing from carelessness dragging furniture. They had left some of the stain with us and we used that to cover it up. We have light floors now. We get a lot of light and I think it shows dirt. I don't find it any easier than the darker floor. I am actually going to refinish our floors and I am 98% sure I am going to go darker. I just think darker floors add more character to these newer/more modern homes that have been built since the 80s ... but that is my personal bias.