Open living area with kitchen: Which flooring materials?

Brushed oak and naturally oiled in a rental apartment? Never ever! You will never be happy again. I would switch to vinyl or laminate or continuous tiles (with underfloor heating).

We have such a floor in our rental apartment ;) It is more resistant than I thought, but still not very durable. Water stains must be removed immediately (!), otherwise you have no chance. In the kitchen, you can clearly see tracks and so on, although we are really picky. It gets a lot of traffic and we cook every day. Who is planned as the tenant? With children, I would find that a horror, which is why we are not installing this floor in the house, even though we find it really beautiful and especially warm underfoot. We are now switching to vinyl as long as the little one is small; alternatively, we would have chosen tiles in wood look with underfloor heating. But I also don’t like normal tiles and even less transitions (in our own home).

In the kitchen you can clearly see traffic marks etc. even though we are really picky. It is just used a lot and we cook every day.

Is yours oiled or lacquered?

Oiled: you see stains from grease, water, coffee, tea, etc. if not wiped immediately (we have it like that in the kitchen and, yes, you can see signs of use, but it’s okay for us – and we don’t have children or dogs)

Varnished: water, etc. can be wiped off well, but every scratch stays (dog claws really leave nice marks!). Personally, I find the scratches on a varnished parquet more ugly than the signs of use on an oiled parquet.

I would never install either one in a rental apartment. You never know how tenants will treat your things. Sometimes it’s unbelievable. It’s not theirs, so no consideration is given. Therefore, I would tend to vinyl. I find the feel more pleasant than laminate, it is also resistant in the kitchen area and clearly cheaper than a real wood floor. And you will always have tenants who tell you: well, after 10 years it’s time for a new floor anyway, don’t get upset if there are scratches or other damages.
And they are right in that there really are approximate standards for bathrooms, floors, etc. in rental apartments. This means: if you had a tenant living there for 13 years and they behaved like a pigsty, you won’t be able to complain that the toilet is black with dirt and the shower wall is completely scaled. After 10 years, a bathroom renovation is acceptable in terms of tenant protection.
Therefore: low-maintenance and durable floors and bathroom fittings and not necessarily in the high price range.

Unless it is a very exclusive apartment. Then you usually have a somewhat different clientele.

I can only tell you from my perspective as a tenant of an apartment with parquet flooring that I, as a landlord, would never install parquet. I took great care of the floor, since it is not my property, and still it has numerous scratches from things I would have never considered. For example, I laid a rug under the dining table to protect the floor from the chairs—only to then find out that the seam of the rug left an imprint on the floor.

I understand you. In my place, the hallway and the kitchen area in the living room are tiled. And currently, it is apparently fashionable to equip almost all rooms with parquet. Especially in modern floor plans with open kitchens, almost everything is equipped with parquet. I cannot imagine that this will work well in the long run.