What a beautiful slab of stone! Would you consider stone instead of porcelain for your kitchen floor? I think they have a warmth that is really nice in a kitchen.

Might you consider cement tiles? There are so many pretty examples, I had a hard time stopping myself from posting a dozen!

Thank you "The Cook's Kitchen" My gut is telling me the same, but I just love the glam finish of the polished. I guess I'll have to find something else that dresses up the kitchen. Thank you

I would continue the wood flooring into the kitchen and let that gorgeous stone be the star of your kitchen. If you go for a different flooring it will IMO take away from the rest of the kitchen and that stone.

Agree that polished is an accident waiting to happen too.

Lastly, where is your fridge? Is it the object next to your ovens? If so, might I suggest you post your floor plan for some layout help from the gurus here because your island will become a barrier between your sink and your fridge.

Hi Rita,

What stone do you mean? The dark grey tile in the first photo? I was wondering if the kitchen would look cold or if the dark grey against the dark oak floors would go well together. Those cement tiles are pretty, but I was hoping for a more formal look. Those seem very busy in a big kitchen space - no? The Houzz kitchens I love are:

Hello cpartist -- Thank you for your opinion. I originally planned on wood in the kitchen but have been talked out of it because of the practicality. I have kids and dogs and a big family who'll scratch and spill there. The photos above show the layout and the fridge has the grey panel with mirror on it across from the island. I agree about the island barrier, so I incorporated a refrigerator drawer next to the microwave. Do you think that would be OK? Can you see it? Any advice?? Thank so much.

I had a polished porcelain tile in the kitchen, laundry room, and bathrooms, and the floors were not slippery. What the issue was was that after mopping them, I had to then dry them with a towel. If I did not dry them, there were streaks everywhere. I no longer have the polished porcelain; I have porcelain with a travertine look matte finish. I love them.

The first stone is Belgian Blue Stone. I think it would look very nice with your beautiful counters. The limestone tiles underneath could look nice as well- I think a lighter color tile is easier to keep clean looking.

I am not a cement tile person myself, however they are popular and I thought it was worth considering just in case you liked them.

Your kitchen is going to be gorgeous. I love white cabinets, glass fronts, quartzite and globe pendants.

Polished
anything is much to slippery for a kitchen. A kitchen first of all
needs to be able to function safely. Your floor needs a COF of .5 or
greater so that when you do get those drips and spills on your floor,
you don't find yourself down there with them. And with a broken hip.

This was my first reaction as well.

Polished floors are beautiful.

But.

As a class - A klutz, I'd recommend DON'T DO IT. Kitchen floors do get wet. All the beauty in the world won't save you - or a guest - from a spill, and there's a lot of attractive textured tile out there that won't have you cursing your regrets.

Thank you all so much! I guess I'll return all my polished samples and decide between wood like the rest of the house or a tile that doesn't make the kitchen look cold. Any suggestions for a color tile that is warm without looking like patio floors (Concrete or stone)?

If your main reason for not doing the same wood as the rest of the house is it might get ruined, I don't think you need to worry so much about that. We have had wood for years, and our kitchen is well used. We've also had multiple construction projects with all kinds of people traipsing through with all kinds of equipment and never a problem. In the 20 some years we had the original wood floor, it was refinished once, just a few yrs ago. We replaced it with our remodel strictly because it was laid over other floors and the floor was too high and had to come out.

Yes, Sue - that is the only reason. I know some people say they've never had a problem, but in my old house, my wood floors were so banged up - especially under the chairs in dining room. Since these posts, I am leaning now towards the wood floors. Is there a finish that is better at protecting the wood than another. I am also using radiant heat under them. Thanks again

I've had wood floors in my kitchen for years - in this house for 14 years. I have dogs, grandchildren, and it's the way out to the back garden. It takes anything I can throw at it! I do use high gloss polyurethane on all my hardwood floors. It wears far better than a satin finish. Yes, it looks very shiny at first but mellows quite quickly.

Thank you, Anglophilia. Is it possible to use high gloss in kitchen and entry foyer area, and the satin finish in the living room and den areas?

I think it looks best if all the wood floors are the same.

Mjammjam, I think you should go ahead and get wood floors throughout the house. I fought that idea for ages and then finally decided to for once in my life go with the flow and not complicate things. I am pretty sure there are ways of polishing the floors that wear better than others. In the end, I did not remodel my house and bought a new one instead, so I don't know what the answer is- something about oil I seem to remember??

Be sure to put felt under any chair legs. Keep the kitchen floor swept up every day, just run a Swiffer or microfiber around the floor at the end of the day, so no grit gets turned into sand paper and I think you'll be fine (that's the plan for my new house too.) Worse comes to worst, my husband says buffing out the kitchen floor every few years should not be too expensive or hard to DIY (DH wanted wood, I wanted stone.)

I really, really love your kitchen. White kitchens with glass fronts and gorgeous stone make me ridiculously happy!

Thank you, Rita! I am speaking with my contractor later to continue with wood floors. I can't thank you all enough for your help. I am also on another post talking about my frameless cabinets. Thinking now about changing to framed. More to learn and change.......

• So what did you end up with?

I went with wood floors and am glad I did. All the nice homes have real wood floors and not the tile that looks like wood. Don't get me wrong - my dogs' nails have made scratches everywhere. But when I look at other people's homes, their floors look like this too. I keep area rugs in every room. I dropped a jar of Rao's sauce from my refrigerator and it didn't break or shatter all over the floor as it would have on the tile.