I like tile in a kitchen. It's a workhorse. No worries about spills, drips, water, or whatever doing any damage. May get a chip if you drop something heavy, but in close to 20 years in other houses with tile that never happened to me. What may be outdated is the format of the tile, like 12" x 12"; larger is more current. There are some beautiful tiles that I think stand the test of time, like slate for example.

I have hardwood in the kitchen of this current house; it was here when I moved in and makes sense here because of the way my kitchen and eating area are laid out, but if I were starting from scratch I'd figure out a way to do tile instead. I'm constantly bending over to wipe up drips and splatters (I'm careful, but it happens -- and DH is not careful, he makes a mess in the kitchen). Yea I'd still clean the tile obviously, but I wouldn't be so concerned about it. Neither of us has spilled a pot of boiling water or grease on the floor yet, I dread the day that might ever happen -- tile would laugh that off...hardwood not so much.

"Is that a trend or here to stay."

Haha I lived in an old apartment building 30 years ago, that was built in the late 1940s. It had oak floors throughout including in the tiny kitchen. They looked great, felt great. I would never in a million years consider wood floors in a kitchen "a trend".

There are several cons of tile floors. One is that they are hard surfaces which might make your legs and back ache when you have to stand on them for a while to cook a meal and to clean up afterward. Another is that they are cold if you live in a cold climate (that could be a pro if you live in a hot climate). Another is that the grout gets dirty - I don't care how much you seal the grout, or how it's the newer grout that supposedly does not stain - the grout will get grungy after a while. Another is that if you drop a dish or a plate on a tile floor, it will surely break. If you drop a dish or plate on a wood floor, it may or may not break, I've had many things drop on the wood floor over the years that have not broken, but a few have - it depends on the fragility of the item and how hard the fall is. But with a tile floor it will break regardless.

Cons of a wood floor are that they can scratch. We don't wear shoes inside, so have not had much problem with scratches, even with cats and dogs nails. I put those felt pads on the table pedestal and on the chair legs, which work great. While the felt pads do attract some dust and pet hair, so what, I have to vacuum around there anyway.

One thing frequently brought up is if you have water from a leak or from a bad window. People think tile is better for that, but in my experience I do not agree. If the tile underlayment gets wet, it buckles, and your floor is done. However, I have had water come in the window once and the oak floor got wet and I thought it was ruined. But I waited a week or two for it to dry out, and it did, and looked fine.

Oh yea...forgot about the scratches with the wood (how could I?). No matter how careful you are, it's inevitable sooner or later.

@porkchop_z5b_MI - a lot of that depends on the quality of the wood and the quality of its finish. My home has 30-year-old oak floors; they were here with the house when we moved in. I have to peer and the sun has to be shining right on them to see any scratches and there are very few, even at 30 years old, and we have pets with nails too. We do not wear shoes inside which makes a difference. But also they are good quality oak floors, with a good quality finish.

In a previous kitchen, I dropped a pot on the tile floor, and just one tile got a crack running across it. That one tile with the crack was much more visible than any scratches my wood floor has that I can barely see. Also, I couldn't replace the one tile with the crack running across it, and had to look at that crack for a few years.

^^ Opposite for me. I never cracked a tile but have hardwood scratches. They're not terrible and not really noticeable unless the light is at just the right angle on a sunny day, but they're there. No shoes in the house. As with anything, YMMV.

I think wood in the kitchen is the choice if your kitchen is open to the rest of the home.

I remodeled and prior to the remodel my kitchen floors were tile and the rest of the floors on either side were wood.

I replaced with wood and it just looks less jarring visually so for me it's a competely aesthetic choice. FWIW I have marble tile in my bathrooms which are next to the wood floors in my bedroom and also the hall and those don't seem to be an aesthetic issue because the bathroom is its own visual space anyway.

I was also concerned about the maintenance of wood floors because I had lived with wood floors all my life and they definitely were not as bullet proof as tile. However, the new finishes seem to be much more durable than my older wood floors - I even had floors that had to be waxed periodically and those really had no protective finish.

My floors are factory finished and the finish itself was well reviewed so I don't know if that factors into it in terms of a factory finish being more durable than a site finish.

Things seem to wipe up easily and even a slight puddle that accumulated overnight when someone left a freezer bag out overnight didn't leave a mark. However I don't know if I would want a wood floor if things were exceptionally messy as I have lived in situations where I needed to scrub kitchen floors because stuff just got stuck on the floors.

Absolutely tile in the kitchen - less wear (i.e. more durable) and easier to clean. If you want the look of wood, go for ceramic tiles that look like wood planks. Personally, that would be my choice in an entire home, frankly.

If you cook a lot…tile!

Another option is laminate. I had Pergo laminate flooring installed in my kitchen and laundry/bathroom near my kitchen, about 12 years ago, and it still looks great! I've dropped things on the flooring, it doesn't ding or scratch. Nothing sticks to it either. Cleanup is with diluted vinegar. Everyone thinks it's real oak hardwood. I liked it so much, that when I had my kitchen renovated a few years ago, I kept my Pergo laminate flooring.

and there are tiles that imitate wood ....

You can't use wood tiles or wood laminate if your kitchen is next to areas that have real wood flooring becaue it will look awful.

If you have an open floor plan with wood floors and you don't want to keep the same wood flooring in the kitchen you would need to go with flooring that didn't resemble wood but complemented it.

They are both ( wood and tile) true classics. Currently it does seem that wood is way more favored.

That said, I have tile in mine and love living with it. I don't love the tile I have,(we did not put it in) but I couldn't see replacing it.

Again though, to be fair I think most people would favor wood nowadays. Check back in 8 years and the pendulum may be swinging to tile. Tile is definitely way more durable and easy to clean.

@mkw08 We have hardwood throughout our first floor except in our mudroom which we updated with a larger format tile. Removing tile is a messy job.

I love having hardwood in the kitchen. Put it in 29 years ago when we built this house and we have only refinished it once when we did a first floor remodel four years ago. Also had it in our previous house for six years before that. Use a product like Bona Traffic for extreme durability and cleanability. We were easily able to change the color of our floors for a more current look.

In 2020 we added hardwood to our second floor and were able to match our first floor wood and stain exactly. Try doing that 29 years later with tile.

Tile styles, colors and sizes can easily date your home. Think of piano key backsplash tile or Tuscan look tile that was the thing a few years back.

For longevity I'd choose wood all day every day.

The OP @mkw08 has not returned since her single post 10 days ago. She has left the building.

I appreciate all the comments. Still researching the pros and cons and a lot of your points make great sense. So many flooring options..

I had hardwood in my last home, i also had a leak from my dishwasher. I wouldnt do it again, I have porcelain wood floors.

If you house is small and your kitchen is open to other rooms it would be my advice to continue the same flooring throughout. If you kitchen isn't open to other room then using tile makes sense depending, of course, on the style of your interiors. Would suggest caution in selecting a tile for a kitchen though. Many tiles are just plain ugly. Would select a tile for it's durability, of course, as well as color and style. Would also suggest looking at the coefficient of friction. You need a tile that has some "grip" to it to prevent slips. Good luck!