Hallway and living/dining area same flooring?

I wanted something "soft" under my feet, like wood. Tiles will not come into the living/sleeping area or kitchen. We had renovated in the kitchen and about a 120x100cm area of the floor was then "bare." The same wooden floor was not available and the sun also contributed to the color change. Because our countertop at the island extends down to the floor on the side, we tiled next to it in an almost identical shade. I avoid the area, but I also don’t wear shoes in the house. It is hard.

Our wooden floor shows signs of use, it doesn’t bother me, my place is for living, not for looking at. But it is engineered parquet, the grandchildren haven’t destroyed anything yet, we just do drop things sometimes or a piece of furniture gets pushed around improperly (without a pad). There’s no dog, only a cat.

The floor that Nick described is certainly the most comfortable to walk on (similar to cork, pleasant). It just doesn’t appeal to me visually.

I just had the idea to use tiles with a wood look instead of vinyl. The floor will be pleasantly warm anyway because of the underfloor heating. I don't think the idea is bad somehow. Especially considering that you might bring groceries into the kitchen with shoes on downstairs or eventually have a dog running around. Tiles would be easier to maintain, I believe.

We chose vinyl for all the non-tiled areas. Tiles in the hallway, utility room, bathroom, and toilet. I am very satisfied with the vinyl floor after two months. You have to like the feel of it. I like how easy to maintain the vinyl is and how warm it feels. We have underfloor heating but, as is common nowadays, with a low feed temperature. I often play on the floor in my one-year-old’s room, and you can sit quite comfortably there. The vinyl is soft and feels "skin-warm" thanks to the underfloor heating. It forgives a lot; so far, I see no damage caused by my child, who bangs on it with everything he finds. And it is resistant to water and dirt. Half-chewed food spat onto it, water drops, milk drops – you can wipe it all off wet and it leaves no marks. I haven’t seen any scratches yet either. We have wood-look tiles in the bathroom, and I don’t like them as much as the vinyl. Even with matching grout color, you can still see that they are tiles. So, for the bathroom, I think it’s absolutely perfect, but I wouldn’t want that in the living room.

So we have an open living/dining area with kitchen, which is why we now want everything to have a uniform flooring. Upstairs in the bedrooms and hallway there will be vinyl, but downstairs it will now be completely tiles. Simply because we find it easier to maintain, we have an aquarium (if something spills, the tiled floor is more forgiving) and eventually a puppy will move in. In the chill area you can also put down a rug if necessary, but we are quite satisfied with the solution.