Have ceramic tile but they are cold yer round.....from Southern Alberta Canada

I chose Armstrong vinyl that looks like stone. Love it!

I am lucky enough to have hardwood in my kitchen love it, was already in the house when we bought.

I have laminate in my kitchen and love it!!

I had tile - it was too hard & cold on my feet! And if you dropped anything it was smashed! Have wood now & love it!
Terry in NY

We did ceramic two yrs ago in our kitchen and I LOVE it. We live on a farm and get lots of sand and grit that is brought in onour shoes. It cleans up so nicely.

We have hardwood in our entire house except the bedrooms (carpet) and baths & laundry (ceramic tile). If you cook a lot and stand a lot in your kitchen the wood will be easier on your feet than ceramic tile. In my quilting studio/guest house I have stained concrete. I made the mistake of doing it myself and had nothing but trouble, not the least of which was killing my back. I've been on pain meds since March and will probably need surgery. I didn't know I had underlying degenerative disc disease when I did the floor.

We have stained concrete and like it. We are in the country and have a dog. Easy, real easy to clean and just not worry about it. Three colors - light and dark brown and a touch of blue. Some places look like aged leather. We didn't have experience with it or know anyone who has. Did check out a couple of wineries and asked about the maintenance. Roomba vac, steam it (too large of an area otherwise) and that's it. Nothing else.

After the permanent staining, we put three coates (only 2 are recommended) of sealer. It does shine beautifully, but, if you do this, OFTEN change the roller as you roll the sealer on. As it soaks up the sealer, it leaves little lint (almost like hair) in the sealer. It becomes permanent.

Also, you have to change your attitude about stained cement. Unlike tile or hardwood, it is imperfect. Cement usually has crackes, any dust or lint is permanent. And I think we will want to restain at some point. Oh, and the sealer scratches easily. I really don't like that.

But it is the cheapest. And if we want to change it someday, that is easy too.

Would we do it over again? With a dog, grandkids and country living, yes I would.

Laminate. Only two bedrooms in our house have carpet. The entire rest is laminate.

I could never have tile or concrete in my kitchen. I have Correlle dishes, and if I drop one on those two, it would explode. I am quite happy with my easy care vinyl, although I hate the color - white with little blue squares. I want to change it to the newer wood grain laminate when I get rich again.

I love my laminate also, but as with most things, there is so much difference in quality. We went with a Dupont 30 year waterproof and I am quite happy with the wear.

I just love your kitchen so very neat and pretty and yellow counter tops i would love to have them

We now have ceramic tiles (and the grout areas are sealed with a special liquid sealer and nothing penetrates it. ) The wood is beautiful but not practical in badroom or kitchen. Been there and done that!

We have porcelain tile and love it. Things don't seem to shatter as you would think. It hasn't been harmed so far, when I drop something hard on it. Love the clean up, damp mop and done.

Did my research & here's what I found-Laminate floors look like someone took the paneling from the 70's & laid it on the floor, also it "clicks" when you walk on it.
Tile floors-PRO=good in areas that has a sandy soil, or is subject to a lot of grit, like a farm or a beach house. It also stands up well to animal nails and "accidents" it is also great around watery enviroments. Kids & swimming pools.
CON-Good tiles are expensive, cheap tiles crack too easily and you can see the clay foundation underneath. The weight of a stove or fridge can crack the tile. If you decide to change the "look" of your floor, tile is expensive and hard to remove. Even though the tile is easy to clean the grout is not. The grout needs to be sealed once a year and some times it pops out & areas need to be re-grouted & if you dont do the whole floor it looks patchy.
Hint--if you go the tile/grout route audition the grout color by using a colored paper or fabric (from you stash!) behind the tile to see the effect. With the smaller tiles the grout color (white, black, gray) can make a huge difference in overall look of the floor.
It changes the accousts of the room it's LOUD.
You can't move chairs easily over it, they dont slide well.
It can be very slippery, unless they have a lot of texture and then they are harder to clean.
Say goodbye to your favorite bowl or that great bottle of wine should you drop them.That wine will then stain your grout.
Keep aspirin in the kitchen for your aching feet, knees and back, also some warm slippers for that cold slippery floor.

Wood floors-CON-Wood does'nt go well with STANDING water, griddy soil, doggie nails, animal "accidents", little boys with hammers or big boys with golf shoes. The finish wears off in high traffic areas and if the finish is too high the floor can be slippery Those of us of a certain age worry about those things. Wood also takes a little more care to clean, not too much water please.
PRO-Most of the above cons can be fixed by a good sanding and if you dont like the color of the floor can be changed by a can of stain. If you're worried about water,remember most houses are built of wood and they stand up to rain quite well.
Yes, you will lose your wine glass to a wood floor, but the bottle at least has a fighting chance.
Your ears won't hurt from the noise, you're back wont complain about the muscle shock and your feet won't bark because they're cold.
Cement floors--Walk around Costco or Sam's Club for an hour and then decide.

I now this was way too long, but if your sewing machine keeps your husband awake at midnight what else is there to do?

I love the look of tile and wood but the simple fact is tile floors are dangerous to small kids and elderly people. The reasons I say this is because they are very slippery when wet and we all know that small kids and elderly folks seem to always drop things and elderly people often trip as well and this could cause greater broken parts.

About 5 years ago I redid my kitchen from scratch (myself) and I had to do the research on all the different flooring out there so I could make a choice as well. Wood and wood laminate flooring are also really nice but the truth is if they get wet you are going to have to replace parts of it. Concrete I think is about the same as the tiles, to hard a surface if one has elderly people around that can fall on it. So after all the ideas that I found, the best thing is still a vinyl laminate and that is what I went with. They have some now that looks like the tile or the wood so you can still get the look without having to worry about the safety hazards that come with the other flooring's. Yes Vinyl is slippery when wet but it's a softer landing and the liquid can't soak through it so it's not going to have to be replaced as often.

While we built our house, we rented a house with ceramic tiles on the floor. I will NEVER have ceramic tiles on a floor that I walk on constantly. (I am in the kitchen a whole lot...love to cook and can't stand a messy kitchen).
First of all, the ceramic is COLD....my kids used to come out into the kitchen and sit in front of the heat vent to get dressed in the morning (if the heat hand been turned down at night). They did this with our vinyl floor house---not with ceramic tile!!
Secondly, by the end of the day my legs ached SO----SO badly....ceramic is not forgiving....
We had planned on putting ceramic tiles in our new kitchen...NOT after renting this house---no way! We now have 3/4 inch oak floors and love them!! They clean up nicely but do expand and contract with the seasons.
I do have porcelain tiles in bathrooms, the laundry and back hall---very easy for clean up,,,but never in my kitchen.
I have had my wooden kitchen floors for 20 years and never had a damaged area. We had them finished with the same polyurethane stuff that they use on basketball courts at schools. (it is time to refinish the floors but it has been 20 years---nothing lasts forever.)

When you have the wood refinished....ask them to use the finish that they use on the basketball courts at schools...ours is a satin finish, not high gloss. After 20 years the kitchen needs refinishing, but the dining room and foyer are still beautiful.. We were advised that if we had dogs, that we would need to refinish our floors every 3 years. If we did not have animals running in the house, then refinish the floors every 5 years. It's been 20 years and it is time to refinish!! Our floors are real oak so they can be sanded down many times. The Pergo floors can only be sanded done once.

Ceramic tiles but they are hard on your back when standing for long periods. I have throw rugs and padded decorative cushions in front of cooktop, refrigerator and sink. They catch most of the spills. Grout gets a steam cleaning when needed.

We have ceramic tile in Kitchen, living room, both bathrooms and laundry rooms. All 4 bedrooms are carpeted.
We have dogs and the tile is soooooo much easier to care for. And living the the hot desert the tile is so cool in the summer.

We have white tile in our kitchen with cream grout, love it!!!! Even after 10 years it still looks like new.

I have had both.....Wood is my favorite.....I would never have ceramic tile again....

I have had both.....Wood is my favorite.....I would never have ceramic tile again....

There is a product called Allure, sold by Home Depot that is vinyl, but looks so much like stone or wood it is really uncanny. It comes in strips so it is really easy to install, cushiony so it is forgiving. If it gets damaged, you only have to replace the damaged strips. I put it in the kitchen and dining room; the rest of the house is hardwood. Great product.

my kitchen is almost exactly your kitchen in reverse with white countertops. i love it. we painted that strip of wall between the cabinets cobalt blue and got medium blue tiles. we got around the grout problem with grey grout.

edit: we had wood in the last house and spent time and money refinishing the floor every 2 - 3 years. no more wood in my kitchens. and no more waxing kitchen floors, either.

have tile in the kitchen/dining area. Quite unforgiving but contractor says I will only have to change it in 50 years. Works for me. Corelle dishes don't break and I'm the only one allowed to touch my crystal so it won't get broke.

Family room is hardwood, replaced carpet 2 years ago. Love it! Looking to replace the carpet in the formal living room and office to the same wood.

Foyer and hallway are "builder grade" tile. It's OK but not "classy". Someday I'll replace it, but I have a feeling it will last forever too.

I love the tile, it is cold but the dogs like to lay on it in the summer to cool off. Radiant flooring would be great if you can afford it and the floor is ripped up.

I want to do cork. Have read and heard it holds up wonderfully...

There is so much to know about all the different floorings and the varying quality from product to product. Also, the installer you get is a real important part of it, too. Cheap tile is no comparison to good quality tile. Our SIL is a tilelayer and you would not believe how some floors and showers are constructed! They will rot and be a terrible mess down the road if not properly installed. I say this because the heartache of a big expensive mistake is terrible and it happens a lot. I have lots of tile and love it, but it has it drawbacks, too. I especially notice that I can't go barefoot on it or stand without throw rugs under my feet at sinks,ect., because it is really hard! But when I was young it might not have mattered.

i have those tiles in my bedroom in washed oak color... they are the best. look of wood without the care.

tiles all the time, wood in kitchens is impractical and can be unhygenic.

be carefull with laminant..My daughter had it put into new salon. We were not there when they installed it. The next day, I found all this green felt like powder all over the walls and everywhere else...It took me a week to vacuum it. The installers sawed all the wood inside the newly painted salon...The room had a cloud of dust from this....Two weeks later my eyes and face burned and after many visits to so many drs. and many months of intense burning finding nothing wrong... I later found a warning on side of the box that warned to use certain eye cover, face mask and certain vacuum that it is toxic...My eyes and face skin absorbed it and it attacted my nerves system...I was in bed with ice packs on my face for 3 months...that was back in 06 and I am still having trouble with burning...Now I am very sensitive to formaldyde, nitrates, and paraben in makup....I would never get lamanet floors in my house.......P.S. the drs. do not know anything about chemical sensitivity. My new eye dr. gave me information of a dr. that delt with it and had the test....and found the problem that this toxic compound left me with....I think if the lazy installers would of cut all the pieces outside, I wouldn't have this problem....I'' stick to tile.

ceramics
 

you can find information about ceramics in here:
קרמיקה
http://www.meir-hamair.co.il

We put down luxury tile and love it. It cleans easily and looks good. In fact, we put it in my craft room, our bedroom and the kitchen. We have engineered wood flooring in the rest of the house and love that too, but didn't want it around water in the kitchen.

We have unglazed (guarry) tile in half of our first floor and I LOVE it!!! We put it in with gray/tan grout and after 30+ years it still looks great. None of them has cracked, either. I'm sure we would have had to refinish wood several times by now. We have a farm and bring all sorts of "stuff"....LOL! I'm a clean freak and I find this super easy to clean. Dirt/grit cannot damage this whereas grit on hardwood will wear the finish away and then work on the wood itself.

This floor wil last a lifetime. My parents put the same floor in their large family kitchen and after raising 5 kids it still looks good and they have passed on.

I prefer linoleum, but if you want to go with wood, you are better off with wood-look laminate. The kitchen has water on the floor all the time, and it stains the wood. One person I know yelled at her kid for dripping water on the floor (in the kitchen) because it would wreck the floor. Now, it seems obvious that it is not a good choice for a place with water, doesn't it?

Ceramic, while nice, is death to dropped plates and glasses. Linoleum for home use (I mean the tiled stuff you put in yourself) is poor quality compared to what was available in the distant past. Maybe they've improved it now, but we put it in 8 years ago and it was crap in 2 years and this was Armstrong brand, so certainly a company that's been around a long time. I think it pays to talk to a professional who has worked with flooring for years to find out what to stay away from, because the sales people are NO HELP AT ALL! I have never done stained concrete, but this link shows a bunch of beautiful examples!

The kitchen in the house we've had for the past 10 years has the vinyl square tile on the floor (several have had to be replaced for various reasons - mostly due to the house settling) and white ceramic tile on the counter. The grout between the ceramic tiles is always dirty, bleach scrub notwithstanding. The rest of the house is hardwood floors, even under the carpet (which I absolutely hate and have started tearing out). Love the hardwood, even though it does need a bit more TLC than I've given it so far.
Our cabin has laminate floors throughout and they are wonderfully easy to take care of.

For kitchen flooring I would prefer ceramic tiles and limestone tiles. These tiles are good for both kitchen and bathroom flooring because these tiles are hygienic and long lasting.

I'm having wood-look sheet vinyl installed in my. Kitchen next week. The new vinyls look lifelike. We have dogs that enter the house through the kitchen so I am always cleaning the floors. Water is always an issue in a kitchen. I need and wnt quick clen options. Love my Swiffer!

They make vinyl wood look planks that install like laminate. I've been known to drop to my knees to see it closer and verify if wood vs laminate. It is awesome looking and I would love to rip out our carpet ad have it installed throughout the house. I first saw it in a quilt shop and was immediately smitten.
Sandy

I grew up with wood floors and wouldn't have them. I put a dark tile in my kitchen and love it.

Not sure if you're still shopping or not but here's my 2 cents. I have ceramic in my kitchen and love it. Tiles are 6 sided and motteled brownish. Dark brown grout. Floor is over 20 yrs. old. We have large dogs and a DH that is in/out constantly. Lots of dirt/stones outside. Floor still looks like new. Tile shop did recommend sealing grout with 10 (yes 10) coats of sealer. We've had several litters of puppies with some heavy duty cleaning going on then and never had a problem. Had new dishwasher leak several times, no worries. Would do it again in a heartbeat. I don't really notice a back/leg problem even working in there for long periods. Don't really notice that the floor is particularly cold and we don't have alot of heat in that room (baseboard hw heat and only a small undercabinet section of heat in that room). We also just replaced our dining room carpet with the Allure wood-look vinyl. Love that as well. It's a dark walnut color and has some 'distress' marks built into it. The Allure comes in 2 versions. One (more expensive) has a life-time water warranty. The other (less expensive) has a 20 year water warranty. It's a 'floating' flooring system, so no glue, nails, etc. DH installed in in a day for a 10 x 15 room. Younger dog is afraid of it but older dog doesn't care. More expensive version is also a little thicker than less expensive one. When it's time to replace the carpeting in the LR, I'll go for the Allure in here as well. Do need to get an area rug for the DR as it's a little 'echoey' and would have to do the same in the LR prolly. But you can't tell that floor is not wood. Clean up is with a water-dampened mop or dry mop. We have vinyl sheet flooring in upstairs bath. Had that in previous kitchen and due to outside elements and lifestyle was toast in about a year. Upstairs its fine as most of the offending elements are already off your feet by then. It's 20 years old as well. Except for color fade, it's just peachy. It is Armstrong brand. The cost of it and the cost of our ceramic was the same per sq. ft. at the time. My only advice would be to consider your lifestyle and the outside elements you have to deal with before deciding which product works best for you. As well as cost, obviously. Good luck!

FYI The Allure can also be installed over existing flooring provided it's stable. Friends installed it over their existing ceramic and love it.