a question for those who have oak floors

[Debris]

we have just bought unfinished oak planks to lay ourselves. Obviously will need to finish them with something for durability.Would you recommend a varnish (im thinking matte finish to stop children and border terriers skating all over the place ! ) Or is an oiled finish best ? It is going to be in our living room by the way.

We've had both although both shop bought rather than done ourselves.
I loved the oiled finish and we had a wax that we applied to it every so often. It felt warm underfoot and smelt great.
But,it was far,far less hardwearing than the varnished product. Maybe because it was in our hallway but it dented far easier and had lots of little knocks. Still prefer it though as the varnished one looked a little too much like laminate for my liking.
HTH

Ours is sealed to protect it. It looks matte, doesn't need waxing and can be wiped clean. My only gripe with it is that it sounds like laminate when you walk on it! But that might just be the underlay...?

DS has oiled oak flooring in his bedroom. We specifically chose that rather than oak with a laquered finish as we knew his floor would get lots of toys etc dropped on it, and would get dented. Dents on oiled oak looks rustic and ok, but dents on laquered oak look dreadful IMHO.