We have an open floor plan and had the exact same dilemma when we were building. We ended up doing tile in the kitchen, and wood in the dinette and living room. It turned out okay, but if I did it all over again, I would put the wood floor everywhere. I don't like the look of having two different floors in such an open space. I wish it was all continuous.

We had the same dilemma and ended up putting tile everywhere on the main level.

I'd hardwood everywhere. I'm over the opinion that kitchens must be tile or linoleum is a very dated concept. Hardwood looks great in the kitchen.

I agree that it looks great everywhere. But I get nervous about a dishwasher leak or something that messes up the hardwood. We are definitely considering all hardwood at this point because we can't think of a good way to do the tile

When I moved into my home many years ago I had 4 boys under four. I went with tile in kitchen, adjoining eat in space and foyer to the kitchen. Now a days the look to get is hardwood through out which is lovely. But my tile has held up to kids and four dogs, and doesn't need to be refinished like my LR does right now which I keep putting off! You might want to consider faux wood tile which my sister just had put down in her new build. She is thrilled with it.

Unless your climate is extremely warm and humid, full of termites, I would say stick to one surface / hardwood. I would also add it is much nicer underfoot in a kitchen and far less backbreaking when standing for prolonged periods. A good finish on it, regular sweeping and vacuuming, will keep it top notch for a long time. And not "breaking" flooring materials visually smooths and enlarges space. Defining spaces within your open plan is easily accomplished with area rugs.

I love the hardwood, REAL hardwood, over the entire space idea. It would look just

wonderful, and no break-up of space. The above example is a very contemporary kitchen, but gives you a good idea of how your kitchen floor could look.

Mia, the tile we picked is actually very close to #3 in your picture! Just trying to figure out where to place it

I love the look of that kitchen! We just prefer the utility of tile in the kitchen. Our last house had hardwood in the kitchen, in like 5 years it held up fairly well but in-between boards got a bit grimey and we had one close call with a leaky dishwasher. Also nicks/dents from dropped pots and pans.

If you are bound/determined for tile..........put it everywhere, and don't break it up

I agree, don't break up the space, all tile.

I work in a space that is all tile and by the end of a 6 hr. shift my legs and feet are killing me so I hardwood all the way.

I vote for hardwood all over. I have a 20 year-old hardwood floor in my kitchen and it still looks good. I do use a rug by the sink and dishwasher.

We just redid our kitchen to make an open concept kitchen, living room & dining room. I wanted tile in the kitchen for the same reason - clean up, spills, etc. but we went for extending the existing hardwood through to the kitchen so not to break up the space and I'm glad we did.

We do have tile in the entryway and what I'd recommend is to use the schluter strips as a transition if you mix - they are fabulous.

Given that you've chosen a wood look tile, I would just put it everywhere, rather than putting real wood next to a wood look tile.

We may just end up going all hardwood. We live in Maine so the all tile seems like it would be cold in the winters, I don't think we want to do all tile. I was hoping for a nice clean way to break the tile at the island, but it just doesn't seem like an option.

The hardwood will definitely be warmer than tile. We figure we'll get a small throw rug to put in front of the sink and dishwasher to catch water drops that get flung around by washing dishes.

This exact question was asked of me earlier today. Here is a photo that shows how we transitioned the slate to travertine/carpet in the living room of this home. You can use a pattern to (as seen by the 2nd photo of front door) to drift into the next flooring in a soft transition. But the flooring materials need to have context to the project and to the next room.