SFGate

peetsoo I personally would opt for tile in the hallway rather than the bamboo.

lovliny I think your flooring should be consistent throughout the house and would continue the hickory flooring in the hallway, entry, etc. You can always use runners in those areas that receive extra wear to protect them.

Vivian Rase Use the same hickory throughout for continuity. Todays woods are extremely durable, especially hickory

peetsoo Ideally I agree with lovliny - where I live we have wicked winters so we are always tracking in snow and road salt so opted not to go with wood in the entry ways (runners would not do the trick here) - if I lived where this was not an issue I likely would have carried the hardwood throughout - I suppose it depends on your particlular needs and preferences. I'm not sure I would mix two different woods however......

mker thanks for all the imput. We do live were there is snow and salt. :( We already have 900 sq feet with just the kitchen and living room. Not sure the budget will allow for the hallway. Perhaps tile would be the answer.

A Kitchen That Works LLC Use the hickory throughout combined with a 3'x3' tile 'rug' at each entry.

lovliny If, because of budget reasons you decide to tile the hallway, then I would match the tile color to the hickory floor color so that there is no jarring difference between the different materials.

mtlman What about tile that matches the wood in the kitchen? They have ones that look like like each wood. Here is the one i just picked up for the kitchen

peetsoo We opted to go with a tile that contrasts the wood but has the wood tones in it - not the best photo as the flash makes the grout look lighter than it actually is but will give you an idea. I'm sure it may not be to everyone's tastes but we love it and it keeps the mucky stuff we track in off of the wood .......good luck with whatever you decide :)

mker Good ideas, thanks everyone.

Vivian Rase @mker...hope you find something that works. Living in florida we don't have the problem of snow and salt. I always feel like floors should be the same throughout....It gives a very clean, sleek feel to a home. I don't consider floors decorative as much as utilitarian and would still consider the hickory throughout. If it were me I'd by some extra flooring and if and when the snow damaged the boards in the hall I'd just replace them. It's not really that expensive and when considering aesthetics it can be worth it. You can see in the picture above with the tile adjacent to wood that it really breaks up continuity.

mker We are already at 900 sq ft for the kitchen/living area only. Not sure how much more will fit in the budget at this time. We are replacing the whole kitchen, granite, lighting, apppliance, etc. Trying to save somewhere.
Already over budget.

Vivian Rase oh, those all too familiar words....."over budget"