I had a similar problem, couldn't match the existing 70 year old oak floor in either color or appearance (age vs. new) so decided to stick with oak but went with a darker (yet complimentary) color in the adjoining room. I brought home samples in the color range that I had in mind until I found the ones that just looked the best with the existing floor and my planned wall colors.

I nearly went with cork, though, have you thought about that? I definitely would for a family room. It comes in all sorts of colors and textures and there are some really good prices out there right now. I talked to a guy whose parents have had cork flooring for nearly 50 years and it has held up very well, he said.

Thanks for the reply. I did consider cork but we have young kids (potty training) and am concerned about accidents. Surprisingly our wood tolerated potty training with our first pretty well. I just had the designer at our house it it just really confused me. I'm leaning towards the less than perfect match....wish we had the money to just tear it all up.