I think in this situation it's more the view than the color. The view from the dark house is spectacular..

Definitely glass and stainless steel for the TV unit, some round glass and stainless side tables rather than a coffee table in the middle and then invest in some colourful non-stripey cushions! The floor will look fab as a feature in the room but in winter it may need the warm feel of a plain coloured shaggy rug in front of your lounge.

Thanks for the feedback all... Here are some samples and it just shows how important to see them in the actual environment. Looks a little too dark even with a lot of light the longer plank is embelton brand and the other two are colonial quickstep. The two darker boards are already showing the hand prints. The embelton board (Belmont dark) was slightly cheaper albeit they had a special on that coloured board, so it should come in around $32 Sqm for the different colours. I'm almost sold on embelton as the look and feel is more advanced to the colonial. I'd love to go with real timber but this isn't my dream house, plus I have concerns that it would be truly appreciated based on the area I live. I'm aiming for a hybrid coastal look and just finished the walls in antique hamptons, so re painting in the short term isn't desired. In the pics the Belfort dark looks fantastic c but maybe I aim for La Mancha or maple in the embelton range

They look a lot like ours did when we sanded them back 10 years ago. We used a semi gloss coat (not sure of brand, but think ours was clear colour). The photo makes them more orange than they really are.They are very easy to maintain (vacuum once per week and light mop every so often). We have them throughout our house and love them.