Thanks to nickybaruch I am now considering doing the floor (which is now sanded back ready for finishing off) with white liming with a slight tint colour in it. Some say you have to be very careful when liming. Is this a problem? I would have thought it would be just like putting on a stain? Anyway doing it that way we would still see the grain of the timber floor which would be lighter than the dark cedar it was before and keeping the pine lined ceiling with the cedar coloured beams will blend in well I think with the lighter timber floor and the white walls we now have. What do you think?

Most timber stains will look good but I would go for a mid brown stain. Look at kitchen photos here on house - search white kitchen with timber floors. I just checked myself - when you enter white kitchen and timber floor- the majority of photos have medium tone (35000 images ) and only 15000 images or for dark timber and even less for light tone timber.

I’d go with timber or cork. Cork is great in a kitchen. Easy on your feet and joints and things are much less likely to break if you drop them. Especially as you age, tiles cause fatigue if you are standing in the kitchen for too long. Cork is now available in lots of different colours and styles including charcoals and greys that might compliment your slate. It’s not all 80s orange. Of course timber can look great too. Just make sure it’s ok for kitchen use.

One step at a time. Do painting as planned then sit back and look. You might decide the fresh timber is a great complement to the grey.