Question regarding direction of wood planks

Any advice would be appreciated! Thanks.

Long way down the galley, with the transition piece sized exactly to end in line with the mouldings. Does not look strange at all.

I prefer consistent direction. Looks absolutely fine to have them run short way in kitchen. I had exact same dilemma. Opted for all one direction. Kitchen looks great. I preferred to not deal with the transition issue. I don't think the change of direction at the transition point looks very good.

from you apartment, which way is Mecca?

i tend to agree with kyle. we have a "classic 6" and the two, very long, hallways we have presented the same dilemma. so in the hallways, the wood is lenghtwise and in the adjacent room they are are widthwise and though it is "fine" it's not perfect. If I could do one thing over it would be to make all the wood "flow."

it would look like this? http://ths.gardenweb.com/forums/load/decor/msg0322550715145.html

2nd picture

One thing to think about is whether the transition is like that picture - two contiguous spaces with no "framing" provided by a doorway. In that case, I agree with KW and Eliz. Keep the flooring one way.

But in my case, I have a longish hallway, with a small room off that hallway, with a door, and it looks great to me. The transition piece is just one piece in the doorway. The other difference that makes it less jarring is plank width & color. I have 5" oak planks, stained dark brown (not opaque).

wish I could post a pic

Thank you all for the great advice. My kitchen is really small, not nearly as large as the picture uwsmom posted, so I think I will opt to keep the planks going in the same direction as the rest of the apartment. Thanks again for the input.

maybe like this? pic 3
http://www.champagneflooring.com/about/

Fwiw, I don't like the change of direction. Don't like what is shown in the pix at all. In the end, it all matters little as once you move in you will never look at it again in all probability. But as a general rule, run wood all one way, all one type, all one color. Take poetic license with the general rule if you like, but realize you are breaking the "rules" and have a good reason for it.

Agree with Kylewest again.

In 95% of our floor installs we go long ways throughout. I like the finish result better then any change

Why wood in kitchen. Liquids are just a headache. Not worth it imo

Wood wouldn't be my first choice if there were children around. But for two adults who are relatively neat and go easy on an apartment, wood is fine in the kitchen. There aren't that many pots of water that get dropped on the floor. Some drips don't really matter. My kitchen at the weekend house is about 25 years old and the wood has only been refinished once; it's fine. In the city it is 2.5 years old and looks great. If you drop something very heavy you could dent the wood, but the alternative of dropping it on stone or marble and chipping the material isn't much better. Wood is relatively softer on the feet, too. I cook a lot and am very happy with it.

The last floor i had in my kitchen was marble, I had to run out and buy chef's clogs. Very hard on the feet. The only problems you really can have is if there is a flood in your kitchen.

I like wood in the kitchen. When you cook, you get a little bit of oil mist on the floor. With, say, black granite, cleaning that up to a perfect streak-free shine is a big pain. With wood, a much lesser level of cleaning is in fine as a bit of residual oil is probably good for the wood (and it certainly doesn't show, which is my main concern).