another photo, this is under the skylight

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In the second photo I like the top one better but either should look fine. I assume the bottom one is cherry. That one looked like it had more of a red tone to it. Maybe you could find a maple that matches the cabinets in the kitchen?

Personally birch nor cherry are considered "dated". The one thing that i feel gets dated is the 3 plank style. Its not my personal favorite. Although they look nice i get the impression that its dated whenever i see them. But its just my opinion. Take it for what its worth.

Also cherry can give a sense of warmth but can kind of make the room feel smaller while the birch can open a room feel large.

Here's another photo of the laminate with the kitchen. A cherry (2 plank) which matches the cabinets in the kitchen, the birch (3 plank) and a cherry single plank. I like the color of birch but don't really care for the 3 piece plank, the cherry seems to match the cabinets but I'm worried about finding a wall color that will look decent with the flooring and i don't want to make the room to dark. Thanks for the feedback so far.

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pic of the laminate in living room. the fireplace is going to be demolished :), got to figure what to do with that too.

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Clipfert - Tomorrow I am closing on a 1900 sq ft ranch on a slab, foreclosure, post flood, no flooring. I want to float my floors and have been back and forth between engineered hardwood and laminate and I have two medium size terrorist dogs who damage my current hardwood floors so I am going for laminate.

My main requirement, as someone mentioned above, is single plank flooring. No matter what, you will get some expanson and contractions just like hardwood. You will see the seam every 3 plank on three plank and it will really look like laminate. The single plank fakes hardwood a little better.

Question for you. What is your kitchen floor? I want to do something different in the kitchen and it is hard to tell but looks like you might have "floated" something in there.

It is 16" porcelain tile. I did not want laminate in the kitchen or laundry room (my husband tried but i wouldn't budge). I am happy with it. It has been laid in a brick pattern. We have dropped some heavy stuff on it and so far it has held up wonderfully, my only complaint is the grout. When we laid it the contractor recommended mixing a sealant in with the grout (to prevent grout staining). It didn't work. We actually bought enough tile to tile our dining room too and will be laying that down in addition to the laminate when we begin remodeling our living area.

Thanks, ceramic or porcelain is too cold for me to go over a slab in Michigan. Looking to float something tile like in a laminate type thickness in my kitchen.