^ Yes. The easy fix for that kitchen is painting a color on the walls and adding some kind of accent throw rug and colored shades/curtains/levolor blinds. Or could paint the beams and one wall if they wanted to keep some white.

13:08 - it's too bad there isn't more wall space showing, because they could do a dramatic color on the walls and have it not look so sterile. I did a Tiffany blue in my kitchen that had white cabinets, black granite and steel gray floors, and it helped a lot. My other choice was a warm reddish orange.

Another perfect example of what not to put on your floors. This kitchen could have been gorgeous but instead it looks cold and sterile:

When i put tile in my own open kitchen I made a mistake and used textured, shaded tile that always looked dirty and used white (!) grout. When i bought my second home the open kitchen was done in oak cabinets that match the hardwood floor of the rest of the area, but the kitchen floor is dark slate with black grout that goes with the dark granite counter. It's a great look - very attractive. Love it. Do need throw rugs b/c the floor is so hard.

We've always had hardwood in the kitchen. We had hardwoods in the kitchen growing up- never had a problem. I really dislike the look of tile. I'd rather have to replace hardwood if there were a flood than have to look and stand on tile every day.

i love how a wood floor in the kitchen looks, but a tile floor is more practical for us. There are so many spills and messes and gross things that land on our tile and I would be stressed w/ having hard wood - I'd always feel like I would ruin it.

I think some people will always like tile and if they don't they can replace it w/ hardwood, OP.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:So what happens when a dishwasher breaks and dumps water all over hw floor? Isn't gonna get damaged?

How is tile going to protect your subfloor? Same issue.

+1

I really dislike tile floors - it wouldn't necessarily be a deal breaker in terms of looking for a new house, but I would definitely replace it with hardwood. I've had it for 12 years with 2 messy kids - it's wearing fine - not any harder to clean up than tile and no water damage. The floors could use refinishing after 12 years of abuse but no more so than the other parts of the house where we have hardwood floors. The only place we have tile is the bathrooms and that's showing it's age too - so not sure it's really any better. I think most buyers are expecting hardwood.

I would only go hardwood. But then again if I spill something I tend to wipe it up quickly.

I've done both in new kitchens. I did tile in a kitchen to screen porch expansion. Was great with babies, kitchen stools and dogs. I got a warm tile and mocha grout, so the dirt didn't show. I realllllly wanted radiant but it was too expensive. It is hard on the legs (I wore sneakers on baking days!) and it was cold in the winter, frankly. Also, the shattering thing- but we had so much granite that shattering was bound to happen.

In an open kitchen (screen porch had already been expanded and was hard wood) we put in hard wood to match. White kitchen. Much warmer and easier on the feet, but damn, sooooo dull and scratched where the kitchen stools are and water spots, etc. are very noticeable.

So, there are pros and cons to each. Both of my kitchens were lovely.

There are some really nice floor tiles out there. However, it is tricky to incorporate kitchen floor tile in a very open floor plan.
Most people prefer wood for the continuity.
You may want to hire a designer to make sure you get a nice finished look if
you want to mix different floors in an open floor plan.

We have had hardwood in our kitchen for almost 20 years and a dog or two for 15 years. No water issues at all. I can't think of anyone who has had a dishwasher leak.

I can't stand tile kitchens - the tile is hard and cleaning the grout sucks. Marmoleum is a good option too.

The only water issue we've had was a leaky toilet in our powder room caused a small discoloration in the hardwood floor. But it's just a very small area that is difficult to see.

We also have an old bathroom with hardwood floors and it's been fine. Against code now so you can't do it anymore.

We are redoing our kitchen now and is considered tile, but decided to go with a water resistant Pergo that matches our hardwood decently. I think vacuuming and mopping in a kitchen is enough work - I can't imagine worrying about grout lines, no matter how close set the tiles are. In the back of my mind, I'd always be thinking about the gross stuff multiplying in the grout.

Anonymous wrote:We recently replaced hardwood floors and had the option to get rid of the tile in the bathroom and kitchen and do hardwood instead. I chose to leave them tiled. We have constant water and food spills from kids and pets and I think I would just end up being overly anxious having hardwood in a very used/wet space in the house. I have white cabinets and grey tile. It looks lovely.

Does anyone do hardwood in the bathroom?? I don't think I've ever even seen this. We get water on our bathroom floor pretty much every time the kids take a bath. Kitchens are a different story. I can't remember the last time we had standing liquid on our kitchen floor.

I will probably always go with tile in my kitchens. There is such a wide range of nice porcelain tiles now; I find hardwoods lovely in rooms for entertaining, but kitchens seem to call for tile.