We have our kitchen down to the studs and I'm trying to decide on flooring. It will have (dark-ish) grey cabinets, white with grey streaked marble counter tops, stainless appliances, and I'm considering a white subway tile backsplash (but that's flexible).

My dilemma: the kitchen (and dining) floor slab is 1.5" higher than the slab of the rest of the house (in which we are keeping the original oak hardwood floor). I'd like to do laminte wood-look flooring in the kitchen, but I'm worried that might look odd up against the real wood floor. At the least I would have the wood grain run the opposite direction in the kitchen and dining from the rest of the house.

Any advice?

I've also seen hexagonal white tile floor and slate tile floor on Houzz photos that look good. Photos ideas would be much appreciated!