I would not recommend black floors - they will show everything - especially dust. I had dark brown floors (solid) and I hated them for 25 years. We have a yellow lab, and as soon as I put the vaccum away,I would see her hair all over the floor.

We just replaced them with a light porcelain tile looks like limestone, and even with the workmen coming, going, sawing, etc. they still look clean. I'm in love.

hhmm, good point. I'm not sure if it'll be enough to convince DH or not, but I'll mention it. thanks!

the other option is non-local grey slate that has some red and brown and green tones to it. it's still fairly dark but it has other colors in it that might help hide the dirt.

Include a floor level cubby w/ AC outlet for the Roomba robot vacuum. Have it keep the black slate clean. Everyone is happy.

yet another interesting idea, thanks :)
I'll be honest, I'm not a clean freak. I mean I clean don't get me wrong, but hair and some crumbs on the floor are not going to send me into a tailspin or anything. My space is not big so a quick run of the vacuum doesn't require a huge effort on my part.

We did black slate in the mudroom area because I thought it would be so forgiving with dirt, etc. (Really, a charcoal gray color.) I love the way it looks when it is clean, (perfect with the beadboard walls) but it shows every tiny smudge, crumb and dog hair. It would drive me crazy if we had also used it in the kitchen.

I'm definitely not a clean freak, either (can't be with two teens and a yellow lab) but this flooring does require daily attention.

I so do understand giving your DH a say on the floor. All these decisions can be over whelming and you have to be able to compromise. I have only seen one slate floor. It was in a Shaker style kitchen but it was green. It looked really nice. I agree with the above posters. Black would be very difficult to keep looking clean. Show DH this post and maybe he will pick a different color.

shanghaimom - Thanks for the picutre and the persepective
ellendi - That's sort of where I'm coming from, it's the only thing he really has a strong opinion about (he said he'd be happy with a slate floor and milk crates for a kitchen, so he hasn't set the bar too high, haha!)
They do offer a green slate (we didn't like it) and a grey slate that might have some of the lilac, brown, green colors in it. it's not nearly as multicolored as the indian harvest (?) multi-slate but it might be a bit more forgiving in the dirt dept.

I just had a friend put in black floors in her kitchen and looks spectacular (sometimes things are worth a little extra cleaning IMO).

I also love, love, love this Tommy Smythe kitchen - it is so warm and cozy and still airy.

{{!gwi}}

I am with your DH on this one! :-)

We have black slate in the foyer and a yellow lab plus a Sheltie. You'd think we'd have been smart enough to get a black lab.

Anyway, the dog hair can pile up but it's going to do that on any floor. We sweep up when it gets disgusting--like about every third day. The floors are very near indestructible. They're original to the house so at least 30 years old. A lot of scratches, if you get down & look for them. Being black, the scratches really don't show up. And we have sandy soil and long Wisconsin winters so lots of salt & sand gets tracked onto the floors. They clean up beautifully & easily. I have no plans to change them, ever.

laurainlincoln - thanks for the picture. I hadn't seen that one, it's gorgeous!

ci_lantro - you're so right, floors get dirty and dogs shed. either way I'm going to be sweeing/cleaning floors. if I see the dirt maybe I'll clean them a little more often :) What color grout do you have? I think I'd want a dark grout since I think that's really where the dirt would show more - light grout against dark slate would really show the traffic patterns I would think. How often do you seal it? do you use a high gloss or a matte? I think I want a matte sealer.

Chocolatebunny - that's goregous!! I really love that color and would prefer something like that. maybe we can get that for the bathroom when we redo that in a few years. Thanks for posting!

Calypsochick just posted her gorgeous finished kitchen. She has porcelain tiles that look like black slate (at least to me they do!).

Here is a link that might be useful: Calypsochick kitchen

Craftlady--The grout is the basic old gray. Actually, I like the contrast so not something I would change. It's not a huge area so I'm willing to get down and scrub grout once a year or so. (Keeping it sealed helps.)

I had this floor in my laundry room. I think it would be a nice kitchen floor if you wouldn't mind the uneven tiles. It didn't show dirt any worse than my wood floors.

Here is a link that might be useful:

We used a charcoal-black porcelain tile in our MB, w/ matching grout. It looks great! The only dust/debris that shows on the tile is anything very light-colored, which is then easily wiped up w/ a damp piece of tissue or paper towel.

As you can see from the link below, we're not quite done with our kitchen reno but the floor is in. It is 24"x24" Montauk Black slate. Actually, it's dark gray but will become significantly darker once it's sealed.

Being a sedementary rock, some slate tends to delaminate. This can result in surface flaking and sharp surface edges. So, be careful in the selection of your stone.

I got mine from ask4roca.com. It comes from Brasil and as a result isn't subject to surface flaking. Although I can't tell you why. It also wasn't too expensive, $3.79 Sq.Ft. plus shipping.

You might also look into porcelean tile made to look like slate. Some of it is beautiful although probably more expensive.

Here's the link

Here is a link that might be useful: Montauk Black Floor

Hi, there! We used a black/really dark charcoal gray porcelain floor tile for our floors, and used dark gray grout as well. I love my floors! I've always had dark colored floors, so I can't really say how much harder they are to clean. We used the VAULT porcelain floor tile from Ann Sacks in a color called Carbon. I also saw a very nice slate-like porcelain floor tile from Daltile that had a lot more texture/grooves/bumps. They also had more bluish-gray slate porcelain tiles if you're interested.

Here are more photos to our kitchen/floors: www.pinkroots.blogspot.com

A PO of our house put in slate floors in the kitchen, pantry, laundry room, powder room, interior hallway and foyer. They are a very dark gray, almost black, with lighter gray grout. They always look dirty, as every piece of lint, dust, etc. shows up against the black. Think about how black audio/video equipment seems to attract and show dust, like the tv screen.

The PO also sealed it, but most of the sealant is now washed/worn off, leaving a dull matte finish. I'd reseal them, but dog accidents or wet shoe puddle that are not cleaned up immediately will eat through the sealer and leave a dull blotch. I scrub the grout lines periodically with a small brass brush, but they still look dirty. Unfortunately, they run under my cabinets and cover a large expanse of the first floor, or they would have been gone long ago.

I'm considering biting the bullet and tearing them up, along with the plywood under them, to see if the original wood floors are salvageable, which I doubt. Anyway you slice it, it's going to be an expensive fix.

Maybe you should borrow or buy a few tiles in the color you're considering and put them down on the floor somewhere and observe for a while.