Next question: Which direction should the hardwood flooring be put down? I see that most recommend that the wood run perpendicular to the front door. The problem with that is that I will have a hallway where the boards run across the hall, making it look strange. Is this how it's customarily done? Thanks.

I don't know what your flooring or subflooring is, but for nail down installation, wood should be run perpendicular to the floor joists. For floating floors or floors on a slab, I typically run the floor the length of the room if I can. This can help a room feel larger.

It's going to be floated on a slab. Running it the length of the living room will mean that when it goes down the adjacent hallway, the boards will run across the hall instead of down the length of the hall. Will this make the hall look strange?

You can use a T molding at the intersection and change direction. Often floating floors specify using a T molding at doorways.

It won't look strange at all. Having a T mold in the middle of the hallway, will look worse IMHO

If you wanna be creative and are ok with a bigger waste factor, longer installation time, you can snap a line from one corner of the hall through the opposite corner into the living room and install it that way. It won't be a true 45 degree nor straight installation, but it will give you a cool look, without "shortening" the living, which is what people try to avoid when installing "perpendicular" to the door.

Thanks. I'll talk all of this over with my installer. I thought about running borders around the different rooms and changing direction inside of those, but I'm thinking it would be too busy and expensive and involve materials that I don't have.

Yes. It sounds nice before it's done but, especially on a floating floor, you won't like how will come out if you go the "border" route

I'm somewhat relieved by the reassurance that the hallway won't look strange with the boards running across the width of the hall rather than the length. I'll search the internet for photos to further reassure myself.

We've installed literally hundreds of units this way in new condo buildings. Sometimes, most of the times, you have no choice, if the unit is "T-shaped" you have to choose between the living or the hallway being installed "the long way".

And, just as somebody else was saying, I had units where we turned in the hallway, to keep them both going the long way, but those were unfinished, nailed down floors, which you can make look like a million dollars, during sanding and finishing. Not your case, here...