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! :)

If it's a concrete slab construction the plan/specification should allow for your different flooring types. For example if you're having real wooden floor boards on battens over concrete throughout then the finished height will need to align with finished height of tiles (for example) in the bathroom and laundry. The slab would be poured higher or lower in the tiled areas to achieve a level finished surface throughout. What this really means is that it's best to know & specify your flooring for each area & discuss it with your builder before construction commences. If it's all one level then it can be overcome by screeding to raise the level of tiled areas to match the height of the wooden flooring. However if your wooden flooring is direct stick, therefore finishing lower than tile you may end up with a small tile edge. In this case a metal strip is used along & under the edge of the tile at the junction to protect the edge of the tile. It is possible to have polished concrete & wood floors finishing level however you need to make decisions before commencement ie. floorboards on battens, engineered flooring, or laminated flooring, as they would all have different finishing heights.

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.

What are the disadvantages of wooden flooring?