Go to www.bhg.com. It is a great siteto explain the pro and con of each flooring.

I also love Www.houzz.com. It is a shelter site. You can search thousands of photos of whatever you are looking for. Example: laminate flooring. Thousands of photos will populate . I used this site to start an Ideabook saving the photos of ideas that i love. When we redo our bathroom....i plan on showing the contracter my ideas for inspiration.

There are articles on Houzz. I love this site!

Sandy

Cork in the kitchen is the best IMHO. It's waterproof, easy to install, doesn't get as cold as ceramic, slightly squishy underfoot. There are a lot of different patterns out there now. It's easy to install. Also, it's renewable and will eventually biodegrade, unlike vinyl.

We do also however, we have tile in the kitchen and bathrooms. I love the laminate in my sewing room!

I have high end wood tongue and groove oak in my entire house (except the bath, of course) and I love its resilience. A quick damp mop with Fabuloso is all it needs to clean up. Spills are not an issue as it has several coats of clear varnish (factory finish). If you love the look of a wood floor, treat yourself to the best you can afford.

We put down 18" tile throughout our family room, kitchen/utility, all the hallways and bathrooms. Excellent for clean up. Like it in the winter, too, as its a quick mop clean up, and we wear slippers in the house anyway. I wouldn't do laminate in the kitchen -- you will regret it the first time you spill water, and it doesn't wear well there. We put a high end laminate flooring that looks like aged wood in our bedrooms, living room and dining room, and love it there. The plus is we put down area rugs under sofa's, a runner down the hallway and throw rugs in the bathrooms (those wash easily!). It cushions, adds color and those are easily cleaned, too. We won't ever do carpeting again -- pulled up carpet that was 38 years old from this house when we bought it, and it cured us from ever wanting wall to wall carpet again!

We built a new home 2 years ago and used vinyl plank. It is wonderful and no noise when you walk on it like with the laminated or tile. Just added on to the house for a quilting room and used the same vinyl plank. Love it.

I had the laminate that looks like tile installed in my kitchen last spring. I am very careful about water, however. I moved the cats water bowl to the bathroom to be sure that there was no long term exposure to water. But I do mop it and have had no trouble with it whatsoever. Looks brand new, still, and I have three cats eating on it several times a day, along with a husband who never takes his shoes off when he comes in. Seems pretty durable!

I agree with fayzer. We do have cork flooring in our kitchen and it's great. I especially like the 'cush' under my feet AND it's environmentally friendly!

We just put Allure plank flooring in our kitchen, DR and down the hall. It took a little getting used to stepping out of the bedroom onto the hall floor(had been carpeted) but I really like it. It is a very nice looking floor. We have laminate in the entry area. I also like that but it's a little more particular. It needs to be wiped up immediately if water is dripped/spilled on it. It's a big decision. Good luck!

I had high end ($4 sf) in my living room. Renter had cat. Had to rip out expensive flooring because it got wet (and very stinky).

No matter how expensive, if you spill water on a laminate floor and don't wipe it up immediately, you will have damage. Plus, if you don't leave 1/4" expansion around the edge, it might buckle up at the seam.