I have carpeting in the bedrooms and in an open living/dining area.

The rest of the floors (kitchen, hallways and bathrooms, laundry etc. are tiled.)

My first thought was to simply replace the carpeting with more tiles, but since there is no way I can match the existing tile, I want something else that would look good next to the tile. It would also look odd having a new style of tile in the master bedroom with another tile on the bathroom floor and then a third tile in the master shower.

It could be all ripped out and done over to make everything match with a new tile, but that's getting into way too large and expensive of a project.

I haven't got any quotes for adding tile, but it's probably more than I want to spend.

I also remember when I had the tile installed the first time, that it made a huge mess and I needed a cleaning crew to clean everything from walls and cabinets to windows to get rid of all the grout dust.

What can carpeting in bedrooms and the livingroom/dining area be replaced with that is less expensive than installing tile, but more durable than laminate that will get scratched gouged by furniture?

I assume hardwood would be easier and faster to install replacing carpeting than tile would be, but wood is also too easy to damage.

I will have a contractor install whatever I get, so ease/quickness of installation to save on labor costs is more important than the cost of materials.