Rustic Look: natural hickory. Contemporary: White Oak with a mid-tone stain (no reds...browns/cool tones only). Modern: white/gray washed Ash/Oak with plenty of stainless steel/chrome.

Personally I would prefer to see a large format porcelain "limestone look" tile here. The creams and light yellows in limestone would look VERY good with this counter top. It would make for a nice transitional kitchen floor.

Or a wire brushed wide plank finished with Rubio castle brown. Here's a job we finished last week on parquet that's castle brown...

Wood floors can last decades, so chose something you like, but also as versatile as possible. The ordinary natural oak floor has been around over a hundred years. Not always trending, but more timeless - easier on the environment as it can be refinished several times.

I know you said wood but cork is a great kitchen floor too and can be done in planks similar to a wood look...

I would definitely go with a fairly light floor with those cabinets and granite. My kitchen finishes will be very close to yours and this cork floor is what I am using.

This depends on your personal style. Visit a floor shop and look at samples. Any good store will let you borrow the samples to compare with your cabinets and counter. Otherwise, take your door and counter with you.

I would definitely choose something with contrast...not light like a natural maple, but thinking along the lines of a clearer or lightly stained hickory would look great.

Thank you all for the feedback! After reviewing the budget it looks like we are going to have to go with laminate wood floors, I am leaning towards this elm laminate to accent the light and dark tones while staying away from red and orange tones. What is everyone's opinion on laminate floors? And the pros and cons to installing them as floating or glued down?

@swhitman7 laminate will absolutely not hold up in a kitchen. Save up until you can afford wood floors or cork. Cork is usually in the same price range as a laminate. Contact @cancork for pricing.

Please do not use laminate. It is not approved for kitchens. We've seen (flooring professionals) laminates that need replacing in the kitchen after 3-7 years. Three years is "common" and 7 years is "almost always".

If you MUST have laminate, please buy enough to finish your kitchen TWICE. That way you can achieve the use of the WHOLE FLOOR for 15 years. When the kitchen floor starts to have trouble (and it will), you can salvage your home's flooring by removing JUST THE KITCHEN and replacing the floor with your laminate that you have had in STORAGE for all those years.

Take a look at what it would cost to buy the entire home + kitchen x 2 (could add as much as 300sf onto the purchase). Now look at what that total budget would buy in a more appropriate floor...such as a vinyl plank.

If you add 300sf MORE to your purchase (to cover the kitchen twice) that can be as much as $1K more to the flooring budget. Please, please, please look at something other than laminate in the kitchen.

They have vinyl planks that look great for your kitchen we have laminate in our rooms all but the kitchen and it is large tile if you can't afford to tile the kitchen as someone else said save up the laminate will not hold up to the traffic or any! Water. It will buckle

VInyl plank works great in kitchens, because it is water-proof. Here are some options from the Modin Collection, which has the thickest wear-layer on the market, side by side. There are a bunch of directions you could go with this, depending on what you want to bring out (the grey or the brown):

You can order samples here:

http://www.flooret.com/modin-vinyl-plank-flooring/