Completely off topic, with the exception of the deadline, I have just taken up the oak strip floor in the living room to replace the joists (about 28 sq M). The joists were laid on tiles and slate levellers on the ground and concrete laid around them. As there was no DPC they did the natural thing and mainly disappeared. The ones that did not disappear were trapezoid shape with the narrow bit at the top so they needed cutting out.
So along with relaying the floor I am fitting new skirting, architrave, coving and redecorating, all to be done before Christmas so any plans I had to make stuff are out of the window, again.
Sorry I cannot help with the materials but I would use whatever I have available and not worry too much about finish, what ever you do it will probably look great. I find I too worry about finish and materials and when I eventually just do it it usually looks OK and if it doesn't I treat it as a learning experience.
So I recommend the JFDI methodology
I looked it up to check that it was easy to find and was surprised to see it is becoming mainstream. It has worked for me for many years.