Have you looked at laminates? We have wood laminate (which I honestly don't love b/c I want REAL hardwood-but it was already in the house so until we are ready to do the whole first floor with REAL wood we will stick with it as is). Laminate has many choices other then wood and is fairly budget friendly. My parents and my aunt just installed laminate floors in their kitchens-I like better then vinyl! My parents have a patterned floor and my aunt has a navy floor with a red border-it looks really impressive and different! I would take a look at some and see what you think! Or I am not sure on price-but cork floors are fun too-love that look!

Oh, I forgot to mention - I'm planning to paint the kitchen BM Grecian Green.

i was very unhappy with my old vinyl, so went with tile. i picked a pattern that picked up on the color of the hardwood and the guy who did my tile made a saddle stained to match the wood. very happy with results. (it's darker/less peachy irl than the picture)(i have white cabinets, also)

Thanks for the suggestion cpang - have not seen much of non-wood laminates.

If you're interested in engineered hardwood, check this out. At $2.49/foot I don't see how you can go wrong.

Here is a link that might be useful: Hartco engineered hardwood

It sounds like a nice room. Have you actually looked at slates? I'd give a shot at trying to match satisfactorily with that first.

Thanks for the suggestions. glad, your floors look nice. dian57, thanks for the link - I'll have to check that out.
rosie, I am considering slate still. I'm actually wondering if we can just rip out the slate we have in the foyer (it's old and chipped and I'm not crazy about the sizes/pattern) and re-tile the foyer, kitchen and half bath with new slate. I'm afraid of the price though! I am going to investigate.

Kind of strange to be called someone's "inspiration," especially considering all the problems we had/have. Thanks though. Anyway, we got our slate floor at stonelocator.com. The tile itself was very reasonable; install was very expensive, about three times the sq. ft. cost of the stone itself.

By the way, you might want to check out MaryLynneNC's kitchen, which was one of my inspirations and used laminate countertops. Really lovely and one on a budget, too.

Here is a link that might be useful: MaryLynneNC's Kitchen

Oh and, PS, I LOVE the look of hardwood, and had it in my previous house, including kitchen, but this time wanted indestructible, which is basically what you get with slate. (ItÂs rated for outdoor use.)

We had a very small leak from our fridge's water lineÂless than 24 hours and barely a puddleÂthat damaged our old hardwood forever (stained), which always bugged me. (We also had serious wear and tear under our dogÂs dish and the kitchen trash can.) Also, the hardwood we had, had a glossy finish and never looked clean, because EVERYTHING reflects off it. If you go with hardwood, go matte, for sure, and IÂd also suggest distressed, so little nicks/bumps wonÂt show so much. (We had lots of those too, after ten years in the old place.)

I probably still prefer the hardwood look, overall, but after a year with a total slate floor house (every room, minus playroom and home theater), I have to say clean-up is a snap. Wet mop once a week or so, broom sweep or dust vacuum when necessary and youÂre done. No shine to maintain/reapply, no staining, ever, and everything you spill wipes up lickety split. Even when itÂs dirty, it still looks pretty clean, thanks to natural nooks and crannies in the stone, minor color differences (or, conversely, it always looks dirty, depending on your perspective); all especially great with a toddler and pets. We did get black slate; solid color (or, at least, all gray), not the many variations you see with a lot of slate floors that have a great deal of rust and even red color in it. To me, that has a much more modern look, and probably not what youÂre going for based on the cottage kitchen look you seem to prefer. (As I do too.)

I havenÂt found it too cold, or hard on me feet, but we live somewhere relatively warm and I donÂt have back problems so ... Oh and, of course, they make a lot of ceramic tile that mimics slate pretty well.

Oh and, for budget redos, consider Ikea. They have stuff that looks pretty damn good and is very cost conscious. For example, they have white cottage-agy cabinets very cheap (or did when I was there a few years back) and butcher block counters that are almost cheaper than laminate.

-Susan W.

There are plenty of vinyl choices that mimic wood, slate, or tile, and are budget friendly. I think those would be the best choice for someone who may rip out the kitchen in 5 years time.

Boy,

Live wire oak is just one step ahead of me this morning. Just what she said! My sister and my Mom (in different cities) both picked the same vinyl floor, and I thought (in BOTH cases), that it was slate tile!

If you think you might be renovating and replacing, I wouldn't glue it down permanently all over. (That's a PITA to rip up)

Yes, I forgot to include MaryLynnNC in that list, but love that one too. Actually somewhat similar to my kitchen in that both are long and narrow and I'm also planning to have a long island like hers (moving some cabinets around). Thanks for the comments; they're helpful.

I love vinyl; it's just so easy to live with.

I'd vote for a light-medium stone look, similar to the tiles in the pic glad posted above. There are lots of choices, and I know from experience that Armstrong is GREAT w/ their warranty.

I like the slight grey in her tiles; I think it might look great w/ your slate floors.

So I think I'd go looking for what I could find in vinyl.

Ok, so I just checked in today and a few more votes for vinyl. If I can find something I like, that's probably the choice that makes the most sense for now. I think the problem I'm having is that I like the look of the light-medium stone look, like Talley_Sue mentioned, but... I have a half bath with white vanity, black granite top and a light-medium stone look laminate with some beige and gray tones, and I am really disappointed with the way it all looks together. It looks to me like something doesn't match (the counter ends up looking too dark or something). So I've struggled with this for the kitchen, because I know I want dark counters for sure. Argh. I'll find something eventually I suppose.

Raehelen, do you know which vinyl your sister and your Mom have? It might steer me in the right direction.

It's your kitchen and I would never steer someone away from what they want but I will note that, for resale, tile, even the least expensive version, is highly preferable to vinyl, which many people will reject out-of-hand. My friend, who is definitely on a tight budget, recently bought an older home and when she priced replacing the existing vinyl or tiling, the cost difference was minimal (less than $1,000). Just a thought, as it might be worth checking before you decide. Of course if YOU want vinyl and have no plans to sell than go for it. It's your house and you should love it.

-Susan W.

We have no plans to sell our house - ever! lol. The only reason I would get vinyl would be as a temporary solution until we did something more permanent with the kitchen. Not knocking vinyl necessarily - just not what I had in mind as a permanent thing for us. However, DH and I had a long talk about it today and decided that we would really like to do the kitchen, half bath, and foyer (all adjoining) in slate (the same kind you have, Susan), and since it's not exactly in the budget right now, we're going to put off the kitchen until '09 and do my daughter's bath this summer instead (easy facelift). I am thrilled with this solution - I feel like we've come to the right conclusion. Thanks again to everyone for all of their input.