The perfect floorboards?

(Image: Glen Proebstel via KHM)

I've had this picture tucked away in my files for a long, long time. Why? Because the next house we renovate or build these are the floorboards I'd like to grace my floors (i.e. the boards on the right hand side).  At present we have very, very dark brown floorboards and as much as I love them they are an absolute pain to keep clean - they show up every single little speck of dust and dirt.  Anyway, what has prompted me to post this pic now is that my girlfriend Alex and her husband are at present building a gorgeous home in the seaside suburb of Williamstown and she's currently making decisions about floorboards...so really I'm posting them for her.  You can click on the image for a better/closer view of the boards.

So dear blog readers, do you have any suggestions about colour/stain/width/cleanliness of particular types of floorboards? I'm sure this information would be a great help to my lovely friend Alex. Thanking you in anticipation of your wonderful, insightful suggestions.

Lee :)