Thank you both, this is a 1930s house, the ceiling height as standard is 2.4 which is fairly generous. I'm worried not introducing a split level will mean that the adjoining part from the original house will be undefined as and will just become a walk through to the bigger kitchen diner area. A flush floor throughout does give flexibility though...! Thanks for your thoughts!

The right colours can help to sell a house, if you are not confidant then I would either leave it or paint it off white. Getting it wrong (such as painting north facing rooms cool grey) could leave it looking cold and unwelcoming. Whilst the poor maligned magnolia has been consigned to the back of the shelf, it did have one saving grace and that was that it was usually reflective and had some warmth. Hideous as it maybe is to us now, it made houses look 'homely' albeit now dated. Equally as bad in my opinion is the whole house 'grey' and by that I mean cold blue grey - worse than magnolia in the wrong setting.

HI Mark, just to clarify laminate is a man made product that looks like wood. It's much much cheaper than real hardwood (engineered flooring) but tends to be colder and the cheapest options have a number of well documented durability issues. Top quality laminates are ok but still a bit cold, sometime slippery and never too good for a kitchen. LVT is instead much more durable but I would stay away from the cheapest options ad they are normally made in China where there have been issues with Volatile Organic Compounds (VOC) in the lowest end of the market. TBH LVT was designed for high traffic commercial spaces and not closed small indoor spaces like family homes. There have been a lot of issues with LVT and its main components (Vinyl) relationship with the carcinogenic Dioxin. With both laminate and LVT you will require a very flat subfloor but this can be easily done with plywood sheeting which will also provide an extra layer of thermal insulation. For a better and definitely healthier option, you should look at real wood flooring. Again the lowest end of the market is most likely made in China but there are many options available out there from many reputable suppliers that I am sure you will find what's right for you.

Old house with solid floor with a significant bump in the middle. I want to lay wood laminate flooring but it needs levelling first. Use levelling compound or joists? The floor is very old, is not smooth and seems to be coated with some kind of bitumen.