I don't have any photos for you, but I really love hardwoods in the kitchen. I feel like they are easier on your back and legs, and so much prettier. If you're going with a dark stain on the cabinets, I'd just make sure that there is contrast between the cabs and the floor. You don't want dark cabinets and dark floors - maybe do the floors in a medium or lighter shade.

Our cabinets are dark (to me), cherry with a port stain, and our hardwood floor is 3" maple with stained with Cabot gunstock. We have hardwood throughout the house, but the rest of it is 2 1/2" oak with a natural stain. For all the money we are pouring into the kitchen addition (with office, powder room and laundry room), we wanted it to stand out. We love the look! We are not finished with our renovation, but here is a photo (the dark, reflective area in the upper left is our Kenmore Elite FD with a black mirror finish).

I don't have a good picture yet of my cabs with floor uncovered yet! I'll have to take one tomorrow when I am at the house and post then. We have Java stained walnut cabs and Cumaru (natural).

I love hardwoods in the kitchen. I've done them in all my houses. I've had one plumbing incident with the standalone icemaker in the island, but even with that I'd do hardwoods again.

My current kitchen (decorating in progress)- dark cherry stained cabinets ("Truffle") and red oak floors stained in English Chestnut.

{{!gwi}}

Our floors are laminate, not real wood, but it'll still give you an idea as to looks.

I have Ikea Tidaholm black-brown cabinets, and my oak floor was refinished and stained Minwax Golden Oak. Apparently I am the only person on GW who still likes golden oak floors. I like how the dark lines between the floor boards (courtesy of that lovely Bruce bevel, which has been minimized with the refinishing) tie in with my dark cabinets.

My cabinets are greenish, black milk paint & the floor is original 150 year old heartpine (technically a softwood) which was sanded, oiled, & waxed.

(sorry for the hijack!)

morton5 - you are not alone :) Even though ours is laminate, we have Traditional golden oak in our entry and living room. Later this year we will have it down the hall and in all our bedrooms.

We will probably choose Santos Mahogany for the kitchen because our cabinets were just painted white and the Oak is not enough contrast. But the rest of our house is Oak!

maggiek20 - I don't think you can go wrong with hardwood in the kitchen. I can't wait! Good Luck!

On Contrar Morton5!!! We too have the Bruce Oak w/beveled edges (Known as Plano Marsh @ HD), throughout our whole first level, except in the dining and kitchen area. There we have dark brazillian walnut because we have honey oak cabs still in our kitchen. We too love how the bevels define the floor. Whether it's floor or cabinets, that medium to lighter toned oak looks amazing with the darker stains.

Not sure how dark is dark but here's mine.

{{!gwi}}

Cabinets: Valley Custom Doors Cherrywood with a brandy stain and chocolate glaze (http://www.valleycustomdoor.com/)

Floors: Victoria Floors Antique Collection Coique Chocolate, 7" wide planks (http://www.victoriafloors.com/ingles/home.html)

Jodi-

As promised, got new pictures today - everything is still very dusty, but you get the idea!

java stained walnut cabs and Cumaru (brazilian teak) natural finish

Marybeth1, I just love your hardwood flooring grain and coloring and sheen! What did you use on your kitchen floor that is so gorgeous? Is it Maple? What width did you use?

Karen_lynne, I love your Maple floors and I love that Cabot Gunstock stain you used! I need engineered so I may not be able to find that stain. The 3" width looks nice. What brand floor did you use so I can check their Maple Floors. I really love the look of stained Maple floors I am finding out. Thanks for sharing.

Tobacco stained cherry cabs and natural American cherry (locally harvested and milled!) floors.

{{gwi:1579645}}

lynn2006, thank you! My floors are QS white oak. Site finished with a lt. brown stain floor guy called it nutmeg, with poly satin finish 3inch width. I love it! Very low maitenence. I wanted just enough stain to bring out the unique grain pattern of the QS Oak.

Marybeth1, Thanks for letting me know. I wonder if I can find an engineered version of Quartersawn White Oak floors with a Nutmeg stain? I really love the look a lot. I wish I did not have a concrete sub-floor.

Do you have any close-up pictures? Your hardwood floors are so rich looking and beautiful.

Only a few more weeks I hope until I must make a decision and get started on my floors.

lynn2006, Hope this helps.

MaryBeth1, Thank you for posting a picture so soon. The Quartersawn White Oak floors are very nice and I heard they are are more stable than plain sawn wood. I would love more pics if you can, especially of the final floor close up. I am having such a stressful morning at work.

lynn2006, you asked about the brand of my maple floors. They were installed by a local flooring company and I don't know the brand, but they surely are beautiful. It feels like satin to walk on them in bare feet!