OP Are you installing engineered wood floors or tongue in groove hardwood floors? If you are doing engineered wood, they can only be refinished maybe once. I would get a neutral color that you can live with for a long time.

If they are hardwood floors which can be stained and refinished repeatedly, do what you like. I know it sounds a good stain color is "provincial." It is a medium tone and looks good when all types of cabinets and furniture

Choose something that fits the style of the home. Don't put white floors in a traditional colonial or old fashioned medium oak in a contemporary. They need to match the house.

What does your house look like and what other hard surfaces are already in the house?

6" plank, dark stain.

Not trendy as said above, that is a laugh.

Don't get those hand scraped (by a machine) engineered floors. Don't get the dark. They show so much dirt and pet hair.

Would you replace the existing floors too? I wouldn't have two different wood floors on the same level.

So I'd match if you are keeping the existing. Otherwise maybe do a very light stain (or none) on white oak.

White washed can look cool, but it probably will feel outdated sooner than other options.

Very pale (almost white) wood floors can look great. I'm not sure what type of wood it is though.
Maybe a very light colored maple.

Thanks, all very helpful advice.
We have medium right now but I don't like it too much. It seems neither here nor there.
Super dark looks very striking but I worry that it will look bad in our house as my kids are on the messy side and
they love to have friends over - imagine lots of boys in the house and also endless trekking through the house after or before
sports activities.

Has anyone seen super light (almost white) wood floors with a bleached look? I saw this in a house once and thought it looked pretty nice.
I'm not sure how they got that look though.

Dark is definitely trendy. But gets whatever you like. We have 3 inch boards and I think it is a good width - not too thin but not planky.

I would go with a medium finish. It's never really "in style", but it also never really goes out of style. Avoid dark stain because it shows all the dirt and any wear is far more pronounced. I would also avoid wide plank and very narrow plank as they will come and go with other trends. Personally, I like a finish that is not high gloss. Kids and pets scratch the glossy finishes too easily.

The PP suggested dark oak as being timeless. Oak is timeless, but not dark oak. Medium or Medium Dark is probably the most used finish.

I actually think the light woods look more dated. We have a medium shade but wish we'd gone darker.

Look at beautiful old houses that look timeless and choose one of those colors.

Likely dark oak is the most timeless, followed by maple and dark or medium walnut.

What type of hardwood floor could be installed that it no too trendy? The dark cherry and other dark woods look like they will be dated in a few years. Oak? Maple?

Dark colored is beautiful, we had them but they look dirty very quickly as easily. Now we always get a light colored.

what do you have in the house already?

Any thoughts on what kind of wood floors to install in our new upcoming addition (kitchen and family room)?
Is wide plank the way to go?
Light colored wood to make it a light and airy feel (there are a lot of windows and sunlight).
I like very dark stained floors also but I worry they are not a good combination with kids and pets.