Help pick my new floor

[sharding]

As I posted yesterday, we're looking at putting in a wood floor in much of our house to replace the current carpet. We're basically down to two color choices (we're considering some alternate brands/materials, but the colors would be as close to these as possible). They're very similar, but there are some differences. If you have any preference, which of these do you prefer (given that you don't have the context of our house, and color reproduction on the web is always iffy)?

http://cdn.sharding.org/20100816-IMG_1885-web.jpg

We also considered some dramatically different looks, but this general look seems to fit best with the rest of our house.

I had some assistance, but he wasn't very helpful.

[Rand Rover]

To me, the difference is so slight that you wouldn't be able to tell which one you got after it's installed.

[Mr. Accident]

Going by the photo, the one on the right looks much better. Unless you're going for a worn in look, then go for the left.

[sharding]

Overthinking decisions with little or no practical consequence is my forte.

[Hello Again]

I like the slightly lighter color (the one on the left). The darker flooring is, the more it shows dirt, and I don't care for the high-contrast grain on the right.

[SeaDragonTattoo]

I like the Caribou. It's richer.

[Pai325]

The Caribou seems redder. Will it be in your kitchen? What color are your cabinets? Both are nice.

[Turble]

The one on the left looks more like an old floor. The one on the right looks more like a new floor trying to look more like an old floor.

[RainGrowsBrite]

The one of the left looks cheap to me. The one on the right is much prettier.

[Caffeine.addict]

They look pretty similar to me. What does the room you are putting them in look like?

[sharding]

They are very similar. I'm not surprised to see the split opinion, since we keep going back and forth ourselves. I posted these a few other places as well. In one place, it's 100% in favor of the right side. The rest are somewhat split, with the right side coming in a bit ahead.

I don't have pics of the rooms handy right now. It will be the entry way, living room and dining room area, butting up against a reddish (kind of terra cotta look) tile in the kitchen and carpet on the stairs (carpet color TBD). It's basically all one room with very high (roughly 18') ceilings, with mostly white walls and one dark green accent wall with a fireplace. It has a skylight and a wall of windows, so it gets a fair amount of light, but not constant sunlight.

I do think a lighter option would make the room look bigger. Here are the four options we started with, but it's a cell phone pics, so the color reproduction isn't very good: http://pica.bz/j5 The problem with the lighter option is that it just doesn't fit in with any of the wood in the rest of the house. It looks bad up against the wood doors to the bedroom, for example, and incongruous with the cabinets in the kitchen, neither of which we want to replace. Obviously it doesn't need to match those things (and none of these options do), but it also needs to not look like it belongs in a completely different house.

[TruCelt]

It looks to me like a before and after picture. the one on the left looks like a lovely wood floor which needs waxing. The one on the right looks like the same floor after proper maintenance.

I vote for the darker, richer, one ont he right.

[Snickers]

Yeah, you want the darker one on the right - it's just richer.

I can see why the help wasn't helpful; it's in his nature to be enigmatic. Cute, tho.

[Cat Whisperer]

The help is obviously picking the flooring on the left, but I question his taste. I think the right one is richer, too, and will look very good with green and terra cotta.

[sharding]

The sides are actually swapped in the kitty picture, so by laying on the left, he's picking the one on the right. Right? And who's on first?

[carnut]

Definitely prefer the one on the right with the darker tone and the funkier grain. It will be awesome with the green.

[Ruby]

Originally Posted by TruCelt

It looks to me like a before and after picture. the one on the left looks like a lovely wood floor which needs waxing. The one on the right looks like the same floor after proper maintenance.

I vote for the darker, richer, one ont he right.

I hate "me too" posts, but me too!

[Crafter_Man]

Right.

[Crafter_Man]

Oh, and is that an engineered (laminate) hardwood floor, or solid?

[Add99]

You stole my cat.