Honestly! how do you do multiple pics?
Here is the travertine with the riff oak sample from the island with a scrap of marble I had lying around. It wont be this marble, I would have cararra.
Really please don't try to talk me into wood floors. I've had them.
I first thought of dark slate but did not want to compete with the soapstone.
I have a pic somewhere of this stone floor in a kitchen I'll see if I can post.

I am not a fan of hardwood floors in a kitchen or bathroom or any other area that has a water source. We had some water damage to ours awhile ago, from a line that burst. The damage was limited, but it took months for the boards to uncup, but there is still a noticeable difference with that area of the floor. In our last home, our kitchen hardwoods got so scratched and chinked up from our family of 5. Unfortunately, DW loves having hardwoods in the kitchen.

I'd rather have porcelain tile in the kitchen. It is very durable and the only maintenance is to seal the grout every so often. There are a ton of color and texture choices with porcelain and there are even tiles that look like hardwood.

Travertine is beautiful but relatively soft, so it can get scratched up more easily. You also have to periodically reseal it, otherwise it can stain.

This post was edited by gpraceman on Fri, May 3, 13 at 12:48

We've had our share of hardwood floors and leaks. This is why I'm looking at this stone. Everything has its upkeep issues but so far I'm loving the color of this travertine
just not sure if it will blend or stand out in a bad way.
I wanted something stone but not dark.
Also not sure if the travertine works with my "farmhouse meets warehouse" design path. Thinking of installing herringbone pattern.
Yes, no, maybe?

You might be able to find a porcelain tile that give you a similar look as that travertine.

Anyways, you might want to do an experiment. Get some sample tiles and put them through abuse that they might see. Drop things on them, get a rock in your shoe and scrape it across the tile, and so on. See which holds up better.

Gpraceman good idea I have scraped this sample and it's pretty sturdy not sure about staining
Everything I've seen in porcelain is dark or too beige but I haven't gone out of my local area yet

A couple of the places that we went to select our granite slabs from also had lots of tile samples in their showroom. Maybe that might be the case in your area as well.

Kitchen flooring is really hard.

I would suggest that you look at marmoleum, luxury plank vinyl, or cork. Stone will be hard to maintain and even harder under foot, esp if you cook at all. Ceramic is easy to clean but still hard under foot. And say goodbye to any dropped dish.

We used amtico vinyl plank flooring in our house and love it. GF used cork flooring and is also happy.

amtico garcia stone in the kitchen, rosewood in the FR

GF's cork

Our vinyl planking was installed today. We have hardwood and laminate elsewhere throughout the house. Our new planks are Commercial grade, 10 year warranty, inexpensive, extremely durable, undamaged by water, softer than tile and hardwood, aren't glued down, little floor prep required. Absolutely LOVE it!!!

Annie I love the way you did your transition between the floor types.
I have porcelain tile now and really love it. As far as upkeep goes. My arthritis seems to grieve me no matter the flooring type ;) it's a good thing I spend as little time in the kitchen as possible...

Our cork is finally here, probably 10-14 days until install. Will post when done. We are using glue down tiles.

Kitchen flooring is a huge dilemma!
I have heard so many horror stories of using wood in the kitchen and bath, that I am leaning toward the wood-look porcelain tiles (that are absolutely gorgeous!).

Good luck and I look forward to seeing your posts!!

We contemplated going with the wood look tiles but we have oak going through the entire house except baths and back entry/mudroom, that I thought a stone/tile in something lighter gray might look better.
Does anyone have travertine in the kitchen and how do you like it?
And what about the one I picked? Should I keep looking or install it?

I have travertine. I've had it in about a year. No problems at all. I still love it!

And I even did some herringbone for you:

@Angie_DIY - I like your checkerboard of the light and dark travertine tiles.

ppben - I don't know about the upkeep of travertine, but I think your sample looks beautiful with the rest of your kitchen choices. I'm also trying to decide if I want tile, travertine, or wood, so I posted a question about travertine in the kitchen on the Decorating forum.

Here is a link that might be useful: Travertine in kitchen

Angie, your travertine is gorgeous! Did you lay it yourself?
Annie Deighnaugh, your floors are beautiful but probably glued down (?)
Tmunson, what brandname and color did you get of the loose vinyl planks and do you have a picture for us?

Thanks in advance,

Toine in CT

Angie - I love your floor and your black BS range!! I want it in my kitchen! DH rolls eyes on black... good to know about the upkeep on travertine. Yeah I LIKE the herringbone!

Msrose - Thanks for the link to the other thread. The granite and BS you've picked would be great with the travertine. Are your cabinets darker stained?
It seems the issues are more with the grout than anything else when it comes to travertine or regular tile.

I think maybe a dark gray grout with the silver travertine?
If I lay the stone in a running bond or herringbone I don't think it will look Tuscan. Just maybe too contemporary for the farmhouse?
I have a close-up of my color choices but the light is not good.
This shows the soapstone and a few wall paint choices. Soapstone will also be the BS and windowsills. I'm going with the Anastacia from Texiera it stays dark with one oil and is really hard.

gpraceman, dutchaccent, and ppbenn: Thank you so much for the kind words! Warms my heart.

Yes, I laid it myself, including electric heater and Ditra. My tiles are 6"x6", which I cut down from 12"x12" to give a more vintagey vibe. Here are a couple of links that describe the development:

http://ths.gardenweb.com/forums/load/kitchbath/msg121903224045.html?13

http://ths.gardenweb.com/forums/load/kitchbath/msg021817271392.html?1

ppben - My cabinets are inbetween a medium and dark stain. I started out thinking about a light travertine, but then I ran into issues with the grout also. I swore I'd never go with light grout again, so then I started thinking about darker travertine floors, so I could use a darker grout. Here's a floor I saw recently and I can't imagine it would look as good if it had darker grout.

thank you msrose that picture looks like the vein cut version of this travertine. It does look better with light grout. I'm ok with lighter grout I have it now and its held up ok with sealing.
I'm worried it will look too modern in my space as I wanted the 1913 farmhouse meets warehouse look. This travertine looks too elegant? Maybe.
I still like it tho

Be careful with travertine; too large of tile can crack as flooring, and it can also chip and stain (I saw a bottle of red wine get dropped on a travertine floor; chipped a tile and although instantly cleaned up, still stained.).

dutchaccent- The brand is Engage/Metrofloor. Not sure of the color name, will look it up... they come in heaps of colors. Not the best picture, and our kitchen is a disaster, but hopefully it gives you an idea. Oh, and the warranty is lifetime for residential and ten years for commercial.

tmunson - That's a vinyl floor?!? Really pretty. It doesn't glue down or self stick? I may have a place for that!
Here's a kitchen from the TileShop inspiration that features the travertine I'd like to use. The sample I have is a bit more slate-gray.
Do you think it will steal the show from the countertops? Which will be soapstone and carrara marble. Or all soapstone, oiled black.

It's interlocking vinyl planks. No glue or anything required. Kitchen floods, you can pull it up, dry the floor, and put it back down.

Nice looking floor....I think I saw it on tv this a.m....the non - glue down vinyl planks....

Mine is glued down and needs to be installed by a qualified installer to not void the warranty....

Note that both the "wood" and the "stone" in my floor is amtico vinyl.