From the point of view of how we manage our time, which is unrelentingly finite, I don't find oil a practical seal for the traffic and spills of the kitchen area, unless you enjoy constantly tending something, cleaning and re-oiling regularly. Timber floor finishes have changed a lot in recent years. Polyurethane gives timber a distinctly tan/orange colour. Water based seals are a bit more expensive but far more durable in low sheen than polyurethane, and doesn't add that orange tint. If you wet a piece of your timber you will see a similar effect to water-based seal - it intensifies the marks, grains, tones and colour differences somewhat - just like wetting a dry rock or shell intensifies the marks and colours briefly. You can experiment on a piece of your flooring first before making a decision. Good luck with the results - I too think your flooring has great potential.

I have two dogs and they both live and play inside. At one stage we had three. Our floors look no more worn than the day I oiled then 6 years ago. We will be selling in around a year and at that time I may rotary with a white pad (never need to sand again)but really there is no need. After 30 years of fixing timber issues, it breaks my heart to see such a beautiful substance treated with a toxic plastic bag. This is our puppy the other day with a sore foot.

Did you decide which timber to use. Carpet squares work well just make sure the over locked edge isn't too tight as it will cause the carpet to curl up, you can also use sisal the same way which you can take outside and hose down. With your table and chairs on timber it's all a bit timber and would be an idea to just keep the two carver chairs at the end of the table and introduce some other chairs to soften the setting, could also be better chairs for little ones to sit in.

Hi Jacki, firstly congratulations on your new home, what an exciting time for you! My recommendation would be to go with tiles because they are more durable. There are many different tile options for all sorts of budgets, usually the ceramic tiles are cheaper than porcelain, more prone to cracking though. The porcelain tiles are fired at a higher temperature so they're more durable. Then you have rectified tiles and pressed edge tiles. If you prefer the grout lines to be smaller go with a rectified tile, grout lines are around 1.5mm rectified, pressed edge grout lines are 3-5mm. I will warn you though, tilers do charge a little bit more to lay rectified tiles as it takes them longer to lay. The best finish in my opinion would be lapparto which is in between glossy and matt. Polished tiles are a pain to clean, you will always see footprints no matter how often you clean.