Recommendations on orientation of laminate flooring planks?

[Summersbc]

We are installing laminate flooring in our house and are considering how best to orient the flooring planks. The flooring will be installed in the Living Room, Dining Room, hallway and 3 bedrooms. There will be transitions placed at the doorways to each bedroom off the hallway, but the Living Room/Dining Room/Hallway area will be one continuous lay.

In terms of which way to orient the flooring planks, we have seen conflicting recommendations. We've read that, generally speaking, the planks should be aligned along the long axis of the room. We've also seen advice that the planks should be placed parallel to light coming in through windows. Lastly, some say that planking should run down the long axis of the hallway.

Given the floorplan as laid out above, how should we proceed? Should we lay the planks in a north/south direction, as that is the long axis of the Living Room/Dining Room area (and natural light will also enter from the north and south)? If so, as the flooring runs into the east/west hallway, it will run perpendicular to the hallway's long axis, which I fear could make the hallway appear short and stubby and give it a "boardwalk" effect when looking down its length. Should we instead orient that entire area east/west instead?

Also, once we establish a plank orientation for the main Living Room/Dining Room/Hallway area, should the bedrooms conform to that orientation as well, or should each of the bedrooms be decided individually based upon its individual merits?

 

[highup]

That's a hard call. I'd look strongly at laying the planks the long way in the hall............ that said, the living room/dining room would look best running the length. hmmmmmm.
The main 2 rooms (LR/DR) in my opinion would look best running East to West Definitely worth weighing all the options before proceeding.
If push came to shove, my first instinct says lay planks North and South meaning run it all the direction of the hallway.
Are you set on the exact material and pattern? If not, could the hallway and living room/dining room be of a different pattern than the bedrooms? Maybe just the dining room with a different pattern........ maybe slate/stone there and wood everywhere else?
I'm thinking stone/tile patterns mixed with the wood plank look. Same material choice, and same manufacturer, just different patterns so the height remains the same.

 

[jemhunter]

I am also planning to laminate my second floor which has a long hallway and 3 rooms. I was wondering what are the trade off of having contiguous over the whole floor vs having each room done separately>

 

[Incognito]

I'd run it the long ways down the hall and all the contiguous rooms not divided by a transition molding. Doesn't matter what you do in the independent rooms. I'd probably turn them for effect.