I like #4 best. It is simple (and yet dramatic) without being busy.
Then: 1, 3, 2

I think you may want to try either cork or Marmoleum for the flooring. You would have a less hard surface since your other floors are hard, and it could be a color choice that blends with your zen monochromatic look.
The porcelain tile looks pretty in the pic, but if you want wood, then get wood.

If you are going for a monochromatic look I would do the same pattern as the one of the existing floors, and not introduce a third. Multiple floor patterns moves away from Zen monochromatic--right now if I had to classify the floors as anything, I would call them Neoclassical. They are beautiful but not what I think of as zen, really:)

If you wanted a more resilient floor surface, the black floor pattern could probably be reproduced in Amtico, which has small accent strips available. The lobby floor could probably be simulated with Marmoleum.

Or I would use one of the colors/materials of one of the existing floors and complete it without any accent.

To me, the most zen would be a color field tile without accent or pop. Pop is dramatic, beautiful, but decided not in line with my concept of zen. I would opt for a gray-ish taupe large format (12x24 maybe?) or even the grayish wood look tile laid simply with out any additions or accents.

I like option 5, the wood-look porcelain tile. The coordinated-same materials-separate pattern-color reversal thing that's going on in your foyer & LR/DR will just get muddied up if you go with a different material/different color tile-look tile. The wood-look tile looks nice with the LR/DR tile and will read as a cohesive overall look precisely because it's different vs the jarring effect of the tile-look tile being almost the same medium, but different material.

Although your existing tile is nice I’m wondering if you would be happier in the end with replacing all the flooring to something that fits your vision. I’m thinking that the extra detailing in #2, 3 and 4 will make the room look too long and narrow. Also, the two different floorings could make a small open plan condo look a bit choppy.
A compromise would be to do the flooring in kitchen in one color that would blend closely with the existing floor.
I have been in your situation before with trying to utilize some of what’s there, sometimes it works out but other times after putting in sooo much work and money I was not happy in the end and wished I would have just done it all while I was at it.

Everyone…..thank you so much for taking the time to give input on my flooring dilemma.

I read your comments to DH and he was impressed with the thoughtful input provided by the members of this forum.

Palimpsest…he was totally with you on your comments which has me now rethinking what my floor is going to be. DH doesn’t say much and has only made two comments about my kitchen reno, so for him to react to your input says volumes.

Yes, the floor in the LR/DR and the foyer is ‘neoclassical’ in look and not at all zen-ish but it is something that has to stay so I was trying to work around or with it as the case may be. I was trying to allow the kitchen to be its own space but still within the confines of my existing floor design.

I’m now more inclined to go with travertine tiles in the kitchen in a larger size, still set close together if possible. Since there are only two of us in the house and mainly me in the kitchen, then the floor should be somewhat easier to maintain. If I understand the last suggestion at the end of your comment, a simple, square tile should suffice in lieu of replicating the foyer pattern.

If I mis-understood, would you mind elaborating?
~*~

JTerriLynn.... I have a lot more to do to the condo so the existing floor will not be replaced. That money will be used on another project as our condo has not been updated in way-too long. Following your suggestion which was very close to what Palimpsest said has now set me on a new design direction. Sometimes it’s nice to have consensus. : )

Thanks again everyone!

Pepper

~ Now off to find the best floor sealant. : )

It is normal when renovating to have to contend with the "relative shabbiness" of the surrounding areas that don't get rebuilt. One strategy to get around this problem is to make the newly-renovated space look a bit "older" by choosing materials that go well with the surrounding areas.

I had similar dilemmas to yours: not-to-be-changed floors, in two spaces having direct visual access to the kitchen space, in an urban high rise condo apartment. My floors were not like yours. The overall look sought after was "the smallest number of color changes, the smallest number of tile patterns, and in general, whatever works, is urban, is zen-simple, as much as possible." The kitchen was to be in a light, monochromatic color palate using cream colors, frosted glass, light ash wood, stainless steel. The floor was to be rectified edge tiles, laid edge-to-edge using very minimal grout, even though the nearby tiles were not rectified with minimal grout. We repeated the same pattern as the adjacent tile pattern. We upgraded the tile quality and tile laying expertise. Our grout was epoxy: caveats apply but we knew how to work with it so for us this was not a challenge. Our kitchen floor is a totally different color but that is OK: to us, it means you are in a different room.

--

From your first picture I may have been able to figure out that your LR floor pattern is diagonal. In the second photo I see a marble sill separating the entry floor and the kitchen floor. Not sure if I see doors at the ends of the sill. From your floor plans I gather you have walls around the kitchen and open doorways to the two floor areas you have mentioned. I don't know where your sliding glass wall leads to. A concrete balcony? Is it tiled or can it be tiled?

Before I see more pictures of the floors surrounding the kitchen, I can offer a few ideas: we used a marble sill to create a visual break at one of the two doorways in our place. Everything about this sill was custom made including the angle of the bevel. It was made extra wide, just because. Breccia Sardo marble, which is creamy with rosy accents. It is a big eye-break. It's not puny and "merely" functional. It cuts the one space from the other space.

Our floor itself appears white from a distance, but up close you can see it is grayer than the almost-white quartz countertop and return (side) panel. Kitchens always need more light than other rooms (they are workspaces, after all) so making our kitchen a light colored space was a good choice for us. Your floors have strong accent pieces in them, which you are going to underplay (under-accentuate) in the kitchen floor, if you copy or imitate one of the patterns of the other floors.

hth

Davidro1....

You are correct in that the LR/DR black granite tiles are set on the diagonal. The foyer terrazzo tiles are set 'square' to the front door.

The kitchen entryway from the foyer is flanked by louvered double doors which I plan to remove along with the door trim. I plan to open up the entryway to the ceiling. The current transition is awful as I think it sits up too high and when I hit it with my foot (which I tend to do a lot), it is reminder that I don't like it. I plan to make the transition flush with both floors.

As I mentioned in my original post, I was going to use a strip (two+ inches wide) of AB granite to serve as a visual transition in the Foyer/Kitchen entryway. Since I am now going to use a terrazzo tile, I don't think I need to repeat this transition in the other entryway.

The Breakfast space (which is contiguous to the task area) is closed off by a swinging door (that is never used). I plan to remove this also and open up to the ceiling.

The sliding glass doors (as shown in my mockups) open up to a balcony which is no longer a functioning space. We moved the doors outward bringing the space indoors gaining almost five feet. The remaining balcony 'space' is about 18 inches deep....just enough space for a few small pots of herbs.

I went to three granite/tile places today looking at terrazzo tile. My one positive accomplishment....I think I am going with an 18" square, rectified tile. I had thought to use a 12" size but after adjusting my thinking and visual perspective, I think the larger tile will work - unless someone is willing to tell me otherwise and explain the supporting design principle. The color will be a lighter, less busy pattern similar to ArizonaTiles 'Torreon Stone'

My design vision doesn't see to be too far off from yours. I have tentatively selected maple with stain/wash/glaze/whatever to create this sort of look. I realize I might have to change my wood species to achieve it.:

The granite selection seems to be a moving target right now. I had originally selected Imperial White which is a very tight, fine grained 'granite' (and I use that term with much chagrin). It was the closest granite that I could find that had a somewhat even look of engineered quartz. I wanted a stone that was not very busy and fairly even in color which EQ provided - but I didn't like the looks of after five years of use. After thinking that this stone 'was the one', I learned via the world-wide-web that this material is actually an Orthogneiss which means it needs lots and lots (did I say lots?) of pampering. After finding this out I've done two things....1) lots of reading about sealers and 2) started looking at Bianco Romano...which I'm not really keen on the garnet accents but at least they are fairly small on the slabs that I'm considering.

Imperial White not-granite slab (picture color is not accurate, only posting to show the look):

Backsplash, I don't know if you saw my comment on another posting, but I credit your Clippings of reminding me that I had a solid glass backsplash in my Inspiration folder. My only conundrum is whether to paint the back ala Palimpsest or frost it and place it over a painted wall. The drawback with the frosted-over-the-painted-wall version, is if I ever want to change the kitchen paint, then this one portion will present a challenge...which I have a whole other thought tangent regarding paint colors. *sigh*

There are other small design elements that I plan to add which I won't bother you with in this post unless you express an interest.

Thanks for taking the time to read this and for taking the time to reply to my post!

Pepper