What you are referring to is proper "parquetry" and the labour is generally costly as it requires more attention to detail and is more time consuming... you may be able to manage cost depending on your choice of timber (note parquetry now also comes in engineered timber which can be a bit less) but the labour will be costly regardless... my google search of "parquetry flooring Sydney" came up with a few results so hopefully you can find someone there after a few enquiries... good luck! :)

Our last house and our current house both had wood floors and lots of wood furniture. Using area rugs (I've got a weakness for oriental rugs) provides separation between the floors and the furniture. And if the walls are light, as in LesleyH's photo above, you will certainly not feel overwhelmed with wood. The only time there's an issue in my mind is when the walls are also wood clad - that can be a bit confronting and needs management.

If you were selling , are you sure you will recoup the extra $$$$ ? Get it wrong , and a potential buyer will walk and/or offer $50k less , whereas if you leave it as it is , they will know it needs replacing , offer $10k less , but you have gotten an offer ! Just me , but what I would do is rip up the fake tile lino in the foyer ( I assume it is lino -- it doesn't look to be 'proper' tiled ? ) , and do that in a darkish timber laminate -- slightly lighter than the front door , slightly darker than the stairs . Or go really dark -- almost a dark weathered grey or a similar dark brown to the drawer unit in the lounge -- the rest of the colourings will lighten it a bit , but it will all tie in . OR actually tile it , maybe a black or charcoal gloss marble or marble effect with lighter streaks through it ? The house and colourings look an older style , this continues that theme , but I feel white or beige tiles would look too bland . $2k max instead of $10k -- marble tiles may be more than $2k , but up to you .

To me it looks like the wood has been sanded back and finished with a tinted wax but I can’t discount the pictures being edited to remove the orange tone or showing up different on the screen. Are you sure the downstairs floor is hardwood? I would find a spot that you could do a few test sands and stain/wax tests.