I can only give you my experience. I've lived for over 20yrs on real hardwood floors. And every time I stand on any kind of laminated plank it looks and feels like cheap plastic. There is just no comparison to actual wood flooring. Timber absorbs vibration, feels pleasant underfoot either barefoot or shoed. It looks real, because it is. Timber planks are 20mm thick, laminate ones are 5mm. Laminate flooring looks like a printed piece of plastic because, well it's very similar except for the top 2mm of veneer stuck to it. It may fool us in brochures and magazines but I've never once been fooled by laminate in person. They can give it all the fancy names they want like 'engineered' but at the end of the day it's all the same stuff. Laminated veneers on cheap plywood. But not one person on the planet has ever fooled that it's a real floorboard. Does timber scratch? Absolutely. So don't put a piano finish on it then. Stick with satin and matte finishes. It shows up the marks a lot less. Does timber dent? Absolutely. But those dents become part of the character of the home over time. I recently lived in a home with floorboards over 100yrs old. They had dents everywhere and yet those boards just looked lived on, they didn't look terrible. Does timber suffer water damage? Yes of course. But before you worry about it, go and check out the thousands of 100yrs old hardwood homes sitting on flood plains in this country. Every single one of them has been underwater more than once in it's lifetime. The original boards are there, strong and unfazed. Unless you plan to flood your home for weeks on end the occassional spill and overflow won't damage the timber at all. I'm a quality over quantity type of person so of course I'm going to rate going with the lifetime option over the rip it out every 5yrs option. If I had the money for hardwood I would not even consider plastic planks.

Hello again, Definitely not too warm. I am not entirely sure what paint colour you are thinking of but as pointed out - easier to adjust paint rather than the other way around. If the tiles were really grey and the walls were that tone as well, it would be a very flat, souless look - the slight touch of warmth in the tiles is a good thing and honestly being so neutral your options are huge with colour of walls, particularly if you are intending to use this tile throughout. May I suggest you choose a paint colour and then use different depths of the same colour depending on sunlight, dark corners, more impact in certain areas etc to create the interest. Be wary when you have such a neutral, albeit very tasteful tile, it may be wise to adjust the paint in this way to lift the level of interest. Take a look at the following colours - Resene House White and Resene Concrete as starters - very unobtrusive. You could always go for a hit of charcoal in areas too. Avoid any "feature" walls - do the whole room - nothing wrong with strong, dark colour, even in small rooms - think powder room or laundry if you are not brave enough to do an entire, larger room. I am also assuming you will be introducing plenty of white trim on skirting boards etc - for what it is worth, my go to white is nearly always Resene Alabaster. Loving the sound of the carrara - such a classic. Hope that helps :)

I am researching this also so interested in replies.

thanks siriuskey, The timber ceiling that u can see is only in the enclosed outdoor area. Inside the house it is standard plaster ceiling. Here are pics of the living area, it is one huge open room that has lounges and at one end is the dining area, its very hard to define the 2 separate areas!... i have wondered about moving the table to an area we have off the kitchen and putting in a gas fireplace with a mantle where the table is pictured now.. im also looking for ideas for the window treatment if any one has any!!