Not sure about your combination. Have you seen it on display or in someone's kitchen? I have oak floors and white cabinets. I love the look and feel of them. (I am usually barefoot.) However, this remodel was done with both daughters in college and we no longer have a dog :(
I have to say they are just as easy in upkeep as the oak floors in the other rooms. I will be interested to see if families with young children and pets feel the same way.

I have rustic white oak with nearly natural cherry. Make sure that the two wood tones you are considering look good together. Most people prefer either a lot of contrast between the two, or in the same color family but not matching, so I would check that the reds in the cherry and the red oak don't throw each other off. If you go with cabinets and flooring in similar colors it looks like a lotta wood -- I have this and like it, but not everyone does.

I have two teens and a dog and I'm not a clean freak. Sand and grit are the big enemies so we take our shoes off at the door. I use one of those big yarn custodian sweepers or vacuum nearly every day for dog hair and crumbs, and I spot clean spills, however I rarely get down and wash my floor. You can check with the floor manufacturer or your floor finisher for info on damp mopping because different finishes have different requirements or limitations.

I have this combo. It's white oak, though, not stained at all. And the cabs do have a light stain.

OHHHH...your floor and cabinets look GREAT! What is your countertop? We have something picked out that looks similar. Seeing your pic makes me feel a little more confident. Someone else mentioned white oak also. I'm going to look at samples of that. Thanks for your post.

I agree with enoi - that's lovely marcydc!
What color do you have on the walls?

What fun I had today looking at ALL your pictures! Retro pink bathroom was awesome. I can understand taking it out but it appeared to be in perfect condition....the beautiful tile work was something to behold....likewise the kitchen....straight out of Leave it to Beaver almost. Thanks for sharing....it made my afternoon in rainy Illinois. I'd love to see even more before and afters!

I love, love, love wood floors. I would do it again in
a heart beat. Love them.

Now the combination? Sure that will be stunning.
Just in case you are worried... Here are some images
and you can see you are right on track to a gorgeous
kitchen.
~boxerpups (who loves her wood kitchen floors)

Spring Wood Builders

Decorpad Marble and Cherry

Barbara Bright Designs Cherry Shaker

Timberlake Kitchens

Jennifer Gilmer Washington DC Kitchen Designs

The only real problems I can think of with wood floors in the kitchen are if either (1) there's a frequently used exterior door into the kitchen--if you live in a snowy climate, snow will get tracked in so you just have to be attentive to that; or (2) your dishwasher has a catastrophic leak. If you get one of the higher-end dishwashers with heavy duty leak protection (Asko and Bosch come to mind), that shouldn't be an issue.

We're probably going to do wood floors too, BTW.

I love the idea of wood floors in a kitchen, but after seeing how our sons abuse our oak floors throughout, I'd never consider them in a kitchen for our family.

I've had various wood floors in our kitchens: dark plank maple; lightly-stained oak; rustic hickory (which we just finished installing); etc. One of our homes had not one but two direct entrances (to the back deck and to the garage). The current home has an entrance to a heavily-used party deck. There have also been an assortment of teenagers, friends, and cats on these floors. So it's been important to place good, heavy rugs by the doors, as well as boot trays in winter.

I love the comfort and luxuriousness of wood under my feet in the kitchen; can't imagine anything else. Also, the upkeep has been easy - usually just a quick "once-over" with a microfiber mop every day or two, depending on usage, then a light wash with a special cleaner every month. (I'm sure with a different floor, such as a smooth, shiny cherry, the upkeep might be more laboured.)

I agree with some others: Take a look at white oak against the cherry; you may like the contrast better. Enjoy your new kitchen!

We put wood floors in our kitchen 4 years ago. Love, Love, Love them. Sweep once or twice a week; go over with a damp mop. Use pine sol & rinse once a month when mud starts tracking in. (I do dry with a towel so it doesn't streak.)

Use double mats--one outside the door, one inside. We will have wood in our new build's kitchen.

Thanks!
Granite is Golden Crema. It may be the same as a golden delicatus too. I also saw it called Crema Romanzo. All these places have different names.

Paint color is BM Barely Beige.

The old pink/green/black bathroom wasn't in great shape. It was missing cold water in the shower due to corrosion and so we just had to turn down the water heater to a bearable temp. It was also missing electrical outlets! We only had an outlet way up on the light fixture above the sink that we had an extension cord hanging out of (which kept falling out due to gravity) Many of the tiles had also been replaced with something slightly lighter in color. And the shower was dark and not quite big enough for a full grown adult to turn around, let alone shave legs!

Kitchen had similar problems - too few outlets. The range had to be lit with a candle lighter and my kids (11 and 13) like to cook and it just scared me. Pilot lights were always going out and finally I just turned them off. It is down in the basement - we'll keep it as our second oven since I really couldn't fit a double in anywhere nicely.

Red vs. white is kind of funny. We have hardwood throughout and i wanted to have the same. I got like 4 bids. 2 guys said it was red and 2 guys said it was white. I was about ready to pull out my hair. I finally went with the guy who brought me unfinished samples of both. Honestly, they looked the same to me. So I just believed him when he said it was white on the floor :)

Hopefully I can get finished pictures up soon. Still need sink plumbing, a refrigerator panel, and then the decorative stuff like window coverings.

Here is a link that might be useful: my remodel blog

I have natural finish oak flooring in my new kitchen. It has been very easy for upkeep - sweeping every few days, mopping once a week or so. I've already dropped stuff on it, and although it dents, you can't see them. In fact, I dropped a pyrex casserole dish lid, and it landed so hard it shattered. It put a dent in the floor that is not very noticeable, but I think it would have cracked a tile if we had a tile floor, the lid was so heavy. A couple of caveats = we usually have shoes off in the house so are not putting a lot of shoe wear and tear on the floor. The big concern is water, we have a mat by the back door, and a water leak sensor under the fridge (after having it leak once on us -- it ruined the floor directly under the fridge and those few boards had to be replaced).

We put 3 1/4 inch oak floors throughout when we built our house in 1993. After raising two boys, cat and two dogs we refinished them 3 years ago. They look totally fabulous again and I still love them.

IMO nothing is easier to keep clean. Had vinyl in our last house and hated it, much harder to clean.

I don't care for oak flooring all that much in the kitchen. Always seemed just a touch to busy. However, I do love wide plank heart pine, chestnut or hickory. The salvaged wide planks of hickory and chestnut add a warmth and character that just seem to be missing from most of the oak floors I see.

I have just installed natural oak flooring in the kitchen, but I went with a mixture of red and white (mostly red) even though the rest of the house was white oak. I did not use any stain, and it looks amazing after applying two coats of Bona Amberseal sealer and then Traffic finish - it looks like a hand-rubbed oil finish. I will post a picture later. I will be installing natural cherry cabinets without stain, and probably use the Amberseal again because it really brings out the natural color of the wood. I think I am going for a dark green granite, maybe Uba Tuba, or Verde Butterfly. I haven't seen any pictures of a similar kitchen, but I am confident that the rich (reddish/pinkish) wood tones and the green granite will work.

Crafterbeth- This is interesting, since I've wanted to put hardwood floors in my kitchen, but have worried about upkeep. We live on a farm and between family and friends, there's always someone forgetting to take shoes off, etc.

I was thinking vinyl might be a better idea (that looks like wood). Do you really think wood floors are easier to maintain?

Enoi- Great thread! :)

We have red oak floors with cherry shaker cabs with no stain. I debated a long time over white vs red oak. White oak grain is slightly different as viewed from the ends and does have a slight green undertone. I think the main thing to be careful of is the grain. Oak grain can vary quite a bit by grade and can look quite busy and "oaky". We put in red oak rift cut boards which have less of the "oak" swirling. We also used 3" boards to cut down on the patterning. People will often ask what type of wood it is as it does not look like traditional oak flooring. Try to find a complete floor done in the width board you are considering - you can't judge by a handfull of boards.
As far as care - no shoes in the house - yeah, well I'm the only one that follows that rule. Vacuum or swifter daily - slightly damp cloth clean up as needed.

I thought I posted another reply but it seems to have disappeared!

Yes it truly is so easy to care for! As lucypwd said, I mop once per day/damn cloth as needed and occassionaly a full cleaning but only occassionaly!

Our oak is 3 1/4 inches, red oak. I've had nothing but compliments on this floor since we installed in 1993. And it is dented in places but because of the grain and color variations you would have to get right down to the floor to find any scratches or dents.

we just got finished with ours. we had red oak in the rest of the house, so we put red oak in the kitchen and then refinished all of it dark (ebony minwax)

I can't comment on the wear yet, but we have a 2 year old, one on the way, and a large siberian husky. we love it so far and it looks awesome.

My old kitchen was oak like the rest of the house is, it was an overlay of an old pine floor which was original (totally destroyed if anyone is wondering why I didn't try and save it), I had it refinished in 1999 and it still looked in good shape before the remodel. I've got hickory coming in now, hickory is ridiculously hard and will not show dog scratches and chair scratches that much. In my opinion some people may be putting cork and other stuff in right now but wood will always have a lasting value.

We are looking at doing a medium cherry shaker cabinet with red oak floors. I am wondering what sort of finish to put on to keep the floors from darkening or yellowing as they age. What finish are people happy with? Something like Bona Traffic or an oil based stain?

We are looking at doing a medium cherry shaker cabinet with red oak floors. I am wondering what sort of finish to put on to keep the floors from darkening or yellowing as they age. What finish are people happy with? Something like Bona Traffic or an oil based stain?

Love my wood floors! I have medium cherry shaker cabs, with a natural hickory floor. I love the combination. The wood floor is so easy to care for, and the color variations of the hickory make it hard to see any scratches, dog hair, etc. It's a rustic look, that is not for everyone, but I like it. My three month old dishwasher had a flood, fortunately caught it quick, and we just soaked it up with towels. The floor is fine, wish the dishwasher was....

In previous homes I've had hardwood, vinyl and ceramic tile in my kitchens. When we built our current home last summer we went with hardwood. I give it high marks for looks and comfort and so far maintenance has been pretty easy as well.My first kitchen was in a turn of the century dutch colonial and we refinished the original oak floors that were hidden under layers of linoleum. I absolutely loved the way they turned out but we also accepted the inevitable dings and nicks as part of the "character" of the home. In our new home we went with prefinished floors which are much more durable.So far we haven't had so much as a scratch but since it is a new house, I'm still pretty protective.Almost everyone takes off their shoes when entering our home. My hardwood floors do show crumbs, etc. but I had one of those handy electric dust pans installed in the baseboard, I just flick the crumbs in the general vicinity of the pan and they're gone. I would highly recommend them. I wish we'd had them when our pets were still alive.