Many on this board will tell you it absolutely has to be hardwood. I say do what you want. I have hardwood in my kitchen, was here when I bought the house. Does it look beautiful? Yes. Would I put hardwood in a kitchen, given a choice? No. Why not? Because I am constantly wiping up every little drip and spill lest any moisture damage the floor and constantly making sure there isn't debris on the floor that's going to get ground in and damage the finish. A kitchen is a high-use area, and IMO tile or linoleum/marmoleum are better choices than hardwood. But, this is just one person's opinion.

I have just the opposite opinion. The hardwood in my kitchen is my favorite flooring, ever. I've had tile, sheet vinyl, laminate, but none are as beautiful and easy to care for as the hardwood. I use Bona spray cleaner with their mop and it cleans and dries quickly with no residue or stickiness. I have a dog and grandkids who visit and the floor looks great. The secret to a great hardwood floor is a very good installer and finisher. With a quality wood and finish it should last a very long time, and can be refinished when needed.

Thank you both. The above is a perfect example of polarized opinions on this topic.

I’ve had hardwood in my last two kitchens. If you want tile have that whole end of the house tile (slate, brick, whatever)

I was dead set on tile in our kitchen remodel because I was so afraid of having hardwood in a kitchen (wet feet from garage, dog drool, dropped ice cubes, spills etc). But several people on this forum reminded me that hardwood has been used in kitchens for ages. And while it’s better to have one floor throughout, you have to decide what works best with your family. Your kitchen will function just the same with tile or hardwood. I’ve seen pics of recent remodels and tile was used and I start second guessing our hardwood decision (our hardwood is scheduled for install end of the month). I jokingly told my husband today that if we hate the hardwood we can just tear it out and install tile lol. He was previously against hardwood and now he’s excited about it. Good luck with your decision. There really is no right or wrong answer.

Oh, and I much prefer the clean, uniform look of the same (wood) flooring throughout a home…except for bathrooms, and the laundry/mudroom.

What is the style of the house? Just based on the plan, you’d have to run tile through the entire open “great room” which most folks wouldn’t want to do. in general, you can do whatever you want, but different flooring works best when rooms are truly separate vs one big space. The whole ”one floor to rule them all” is really based on making smaller spaces more cohesive in order to feel larger.

This is our 4th house with wood floors throughout the house, including kitchen. Tile in bathrooms, laundry and mudroom. Current house is the first house with engineered wood floors and I am really happy with the quality and durability after our first year in the house. Kids are out of the house now, for the most part, but I have 3 dogs. No issues with water drips, dog drool or dog vomit ... though I do try to clean the last one as quickly as possible!

Wood all day. Kid messes can be dealt with quickly with a stick vacuum or a Bona mop. But the scrubbing you will have to do on tile grout .... Ugh. Definitely all wood for the kitchen & family room. I do wish though that we had a tile or slate entry floor. If you live in a wet or snowy area, that's a place where a tile floor can really lower your maintenance stress. And it's a really logical point for a flooring contrast--doesn't disrupt flow the way a floor change in a large kitchen area does.

We have always had wood in many homes. Kids, coming in from pool dripping wet, dogs running, drooling, kids running everywhere, dragging toys along too. Would I do it again, absolutely. Last house had hickory throughout, new buyers loved the scratches cause fhey had dogs and kids=no worries about damaging the floors.

Tile colours can go out of style and very hard to change. Hardwood=sand and refinish!

I’ve had hardwood flooring in my kitchen (and throughout the house) for 35+ years, and would not want anything else. I raised two kids and several pets; no issues. It cleans up so easily, and is easy on the joints-and the eyes.

Aside from aesthetic reasons already mentioned, tile is a no-go for me outside of bathrooms because of grout and coldness. Also the hardness on my feet and back and glasses breaking when they hit the floor.

Hardwood. I wouldn’t want anything else. Had hardwood in previous kitchen and have in current kitchen and no issues at all. Well ok one issue in current house. I dropped a hot iron on the wood floor in my kitchen. Its got a dent and a little bit of melted poly. But no issues with water drips. Tile is too hard.

I put in tile for kitchen and laundry/back hallway. kitchen has large format rectified warm gray French limestone, rectified, with matching grout in lines so slim you would never have to scrub or deal with them in any way besides standard mopping. I am so glad we did that, and heres why. 4 big athletic, busy kids (most young adults now), and we are the house all the friends hang out in. We have 4 dogs, and at one point, it was 5. Kids and dogs swim, even in winter, and it is a battle to keep them somewhat dry when coming in the house…The dogs’ water bowls are in the kitchen, too. Plus ice cubes sometimes end up on the floor and no one, including me, is fastidious. Your decision might come down to that decision factor alone.

Is the tile cold? Sure, but I live in SoCal and don't care much about that.

Is it hard on joints? Idk, havent noticed and Im late 50s. Guess I could get a cushion mat if need be.

Im not going to change my habits and obsess about spills more than I already do.

And, btw, in case you are worried about ”flow” of the flooring, I wouldnt. We had fab installers who ensured smooth transitions with no ugly transition strip in between. It looks great. There are many ways to decorate to tie rooms together and make a house flow, and flooring is only one of them.

I've had hardwood in most of my kitchens and so prefer it over tile. It is easier to clean, easier on my back, and I've just never gotten tired of it. Plus, it doesn't crack. I have had large dogs and we can be pretty messy and tough on a floor and wood has never given me any problems.

With your layout one flooring type is needed for kitchen and family room, so i think wood is the best option. of course i think wood is the best option for the kitchen anyway - unless you live somewhere very hot tile is too cold and hard. like someone above my kid and spouse do not clean up spills. there is a bit of staining at edge by dishwasher but otherwise looks great 7 years later. it’s small enough that i doubt anyone else has noticed it.

I am also in the "love wood in the kitchen" camp. In our current house, there is tile in the kitchen, and I MISS my hardwood flooring every day!!!

Just went from tile to hardwood in kitchen. Wood looks better, shows less dirt, and is easier to maintain.

In 2009 we moved into our into home on 2 acres in Colorado w then- 5 kids then age 12yo boy, 11yo girl, 18mo twin boys, 6mo girl.. it had 12x 12 fake travertine tile 1/2 &” new” contractor grade carpet- on 1,200ft main level tons of mud but lots of family fun!. In 1.5 yrs tile& carpet esp were trashed $ we didn’t have our 2-20# dogs yet. 2011 we replaced almost all main level w/ hand scrapped hickory hard wood med/dark brown-(satin finish. I wouldn’t do that bc when we refinish it I think the “hand scrapped will go away). I wouldn’t do tile-even though they have wood look alikes. We are very very hard on floors. Kids are now 21, 20, 14/14, 12, rollerblading, hoverboards, skateboards, things thrown, dropped, dogs, you name it. Hardly shows, water - not much issues - even by sink or the ice maker and my kids are too lazy to pick up ice. I do mop up mud/ stones as in can but loosing battle in winter on 2 acres w/ 5 kids. Mopping only 1-2 x a week at best- only muddiest of times. We have engineered pergo- grey- in main level bathroom- just because old vinyl- I didn’t want to deal w/ 3 boys pee and hard wood. If o had to do it again- I would go with prob do the same or do highest grade pergo since it is cheaper -but the hard wood/ we can re- finish -it will look like brand new-w/o much cost. But even now- when I take time to seriously mop or use our mopping machine (the best!) - our floors still look greqt-considering the very hard wear and tear of 7 people 2 dogs- now 13 chickens on 2 acres- plus-friends multiple wheeled items all these years!

We are two weeks from doing hardwood for our kitchen, and this was good to read! We will be lacing in red oak and it will be site finished, with the adjacent dining area refinished all at once (and then with plans for next year to refinish the living room side to match up, finish wise - there are only two 30" doorways where the floors meet and it's not in the budget to do it all now.)