Assembling a wood floor out of shorts, few questions about layout. Herringbone?
 

Alright, the time has come to do my floor in my kitchen/dining room. I purchased a large quantity of brazillian cherry shorts to do the floor. I already installed it in my foyer (4x8) as to get a little bit of practice. That all went down perfectly fine, and looks nice.

I am considering doing a "herringbone inlay" look in my dining room. Something like this ; http://www.fmhardwoodflooring.com/up...58012_orig.jpg but maybe less herringbone and more wood around the edges. I am mainly trying to create a focal point.

All my shorts are the same length, and I am using full 3/4 solid wood.

Being as I am not an experienced hardwood flooring installer, does this strike anyone as a terrible idea??

Also, on these 12" pieces.. to avoid breaking off the tongue, is it acceptable to put a single staple in the middle of the piece? I found getting too close to the ends = busted tongues sometimes because this stuff is so brittle.

Thanks guys.

Evan