@redryder I work from home most of the time and my wife works from home part of the time. Ripping out a ceramic floor is not a good option. How did they rip out the floor in a few hours? It took a previous contractor a week to rip out the kitchen floor. It was probably more complicated because I think they had to rip out 2 floors stacked on top of each other. .

@deegw The floors are not in great condition but more importantly, I do not like the look.

The click vinyl tiles are a bit thicker, so you also have to ensure you have clearance under any doors. If you put glue down vinyl you will have to ensure the current grout lines are smoothed out or eventually the grout lines will show thru on the vinyl.

See if you have a “dust free” tile removal service company in your area.

There were 4 people in the house and my husband and I stayed at the barn all day. The majority of the dust had settled by the time we returned to the house. (We also have a small apartment upstairs which I used to cook in for the time our kitchen was unusable.)

And I work from home, but we the kitchen was “enclosed” in floor to ceiling plastic for weeks.

The problem is your cabinets are cool toned grey and everything else counters, floor, backspash and paint color are warm toned. It clashes. The existing hardwood you have would be fine in color as it is neutral, but I would not install it over tile. Also your backsplash does not read white from those photos. Light cream / ivory but not white.

@Caroline Hamilton My contractor said we can float an engineered floor on the tile regardless of the dishwasher. He said they do a build up before intalling the counter

If you want to do hardwood, then you should get samples of all the shades you like and see what works. Is redoing the current hardwood in the plan or are you keeping that color?

I'd absolutely get rid of the tile and install hardwood floors that match your other dining room floors. You seem hell bent on not wanting to rip these out. (My greatest concern would be damage to the newly painted cabinets.) So find a new hardwood your contractor can place on top of these that matches your other hardwood. Have him install the appropriate thresh hold transitions so hopefully nobody trips on the height difference. Have him make dishwasher and other adjustments.

Once you are done, come back with pics and countertop samples for us to give you our suggestions. Your cabinets and hardware look great and you will have a lot of options. I'm sure your take on it will be differently informed by the room after new floors.

I'm a fan of using a 4-5" strip of your countertop material as your splash and then leaving the rest of the wall with no tile and painted the same color as your walls. Perhaps it is just the pictures, but that splash really does not look good with the cabinets. It doesn't look as neutral to me as it does to you.

@RedRyder I am very undecided on the color of the wood. The safe choice would be to get the same engineered natural white oak that I have in 2 rooms near the kitchen. I think getting samples would be a good idea. Before deciding on natural oak oak through out the house, I looked at lots of samples but just with the one that I was neutral and easy to decorate around

I actually like the pink counters with the gray cabinets. I do not like the floor and that would definitely be my first change. Though the backsplash is white, it looked like a tumbled stone with wide grout lines, so I would probably change that with a different white tile next.

@Val B My wife kind of likes the counter but does not like the floor. I really do not like either one of them. If I replace the floor, I would do the counters at the same time. The backsplash could be be better. The color is off white and it might be a little more creamish now that 20 years ago. White tile would look better. I could probably also probably have it painted. When you walk in the kitchen, the floor and the counter and much more noticeable than the backsplash.

@Kendrah I am just not interested in a rip out and partly for the reason you mentioned. I do not think the height difference will be a significant issue. We already have multiple height differences across rooms and by like a foot. It is just the way the house was built. When you walk into the kitchen, the backsplash is not very noticeable but the floor and counter are VERY noticeable. I think I have to address the more noticeable issues before addressing the backsplash.

I learned what a countertop buid up is today. All they do is put strips of wood on the top of the counter, to raise the height and then I assume raise the dishwasher to give it clearance

If you aren’t worried at all about aging in place or folks with mobility impairments visiting you, then by all means create a height difference in your floors. Also, I’ve torn out ceramic floors myself. That kitchen would take a morning, not two weeks.

would be good to think about how the newly raised counter and range surface/sides will interact

You need to decide if you want to continue the existing wood floor into the kitchen, get a different color wood for the kitchen that “works” with the rest of the house, or just replace your current tile with new tile.

In any of these decisions, ripping out the existing tile is part of the plan. Placing wood flooring over that tile - while doable - is not a good idea. Living with a couple of annoying days of noise and mess is worth doing your new kitchen the right way. And I believe it will help you to finalize your new floor decision when the current one is gone. It’s hard to envision a new color when the old one is still there.

I agree with Shawna - this is a one morning rip out job. Whoever say is it’s more, don’t hire that contractor.

@RedRyder There are many reasons NOT to rip out the floor. Most importantly, it is pretty easy to float a floor over tile without any mess. If I rip out the floor, I risk damaging the cabinets. Also, regardless of the time of the rip out, and you do not really know how long it will take until you are doing it, there could be unintended consequences like the condition of the subfloor. What if the subfloor is not level. This could effect the install. Then you might need a different contractor to fix the subfloor. Also, there will be dust everywhere - in the cabinets, in the closest, on couches, etc.

It's not easy to float a floor, it's easy to float a floor in a slapdash way.

The way you are describing how issues like the transitions, the appliances the counters, the leveling, etc are going to be addressed all sounds slapdash.

Also, it's one thing to have a step going from one room to the other, that's common. Two-inch transition humps between rooms are dangerous and ugly.

@deegw this is not my contractors first rodeo. He has heen a contractor his entire wirking life. he has a very high kevel of skil and i trust him. He also lives in my development. I have a 2 inch rise from a hallway to a bathroom. no one really noticea. Engineered wood is like 1/2 inch and the underlayment would be less. we are talking a maximum of 1 inch

If you have complete confidence in this guy and your choices, why are you coming here for advice?

@deegw that comment serms kind of rude to me. i posted mainly to get decorating ideas. is that okay?

Deere, Michael asked about countertops.

Sorry that should have said, Deegw, Michael asked about countertops.

I didn't intend to be rude, I think it's a valid question. You asked for advice about floors and counters but have disagreed with almost every piece of advice.

Virtually no one paints cabinets and then decides to make significant changes to the rest of the kitchen. It makes you appear to be a novice at this which is why people are taking the time to specifically point out why some of your other choices are problematic.

I hope it all works out for you.

@motupeg read the first comment, the OP asked for help with the floors and counters.

I agree with @deegw - and there are SO many tale of woe on this forum that start with "my contractor was an expert and said he could do it..." but truly If you want to float a floor over tile and deal with raised counters, thresholds, compromised toe kicks etc. then for sure you should do it - it's your house after all

For context: many people on here have bought houses and then have had to deal with shortcuts like this - so we're likely sensitive to trying to prevent it on the front end.

but 1. everyone does things differently and 2. it takes thick skin to get free advice on the internet

The OP wanted advice on changing the counters and floors. IMO this is going down the road of a remuddle if not done properly. The cabinets are cool toned, the floor, counter, backsplash, paint and blinds are warm toned. IMO do it right, by ripping out the floors or it risks looking like a cheap flip. And it's not that I don't have sympathy for the OP, because I do. It's one of the reasons in every property we have ever owned I have never touched one element to change without considering the whole.

@deegw It does not matter if you intended to be rude or not. When you ask why are posting here, it implies that I should not be posting here because you are an idiot. I moderate several pages and I never say to some why are you looking for advice? Most of the people who comment on my groups are new to my industry and sometimes ask the simplest of questions. I offer help without judging them and being critical. Almost all of these people are novices and I do not treat them any differently from more knowledgeable people.

If you read my second paragraph, I am looking for decorating ideas. I was not really looking for proper methods of construction.

Michael came here for suggestions and advice. Now it is his decision how he wants to proceed. His ultimate decision may not be what others think, but he has to feel what is right for himself and his family.

I love the current color pallet, floor and counter included. If you are unable to decide on a direction, I’d consider simply making everything cohesive with art and other accessories.

@ffpalms I can live with it for now but I would rather have wood floors, which just looks more modern, I do not think grey with a salmonish color is terrible but just not the look I want.

Are you intending to change the backsplash or paint the walls? The look is not terrible now, but if you want it different who is to challenge you. I would choose dark wood and then if you are NOT going to paint or change the backsplash maybe something with a dark green veining since your paint looks sage to my computer. Your gray is pretty and nuetral and as someone upthread said leans cool. Blues and greens would look best imo.

Green veining

I agree in that I do not think the overall look is terrible but I would like a change. The floors and granite were installed when I was less concerned about fashion and decorating. They are legacy choices and I would like to change them to get a more modern look. I am not sure about the darkness of the floor. I would have a totally different and darker wood installed or get the same exact floor in the kitchen that I have in other rooms. I do not think the kitchen has to look like other rooms even though they are attached. A friend of mine who went to FIT ( The Fashion Institute of Technology in NYC) has a different look in every room and it looks great).

The color of the stain is rather tricky here. It needs to complement the new cabinet color AND play nicely with the existing wood floors. I happen to think a medium-dark stain will work. But I’m not in your house.

I had a genius floor guy who always brought the stains to the house and we figured out what worked best IN THE SPACE. We often ended up mixing stains to get just the right shade. Will your floor contractor do this? It’s the best way to get the right stain.

Gosh, I actually love your saltillo floor tiles! I see lots of gray in them and i think they would look great with the gray cabinets and a blackish counter.

I would definitely remove the tiles despite the expense and mess removing causes. i would not install hardwood floors in a kitchen because a water leak would be a major problem.

Some options are waterproof vinyl planks, natural stone, or ceramic. I agree that budget flippers usually stack one floor product over another. But this is to save money and quality workmanship is not a priority.

Floating the new floor over the existing tile will definitely increase your transition heights between rooms. As it is now it looks like you have nice even transitions, which I would want to keep. Unless you really hate the tile or there is damage to it, I would consider keeping it and maybe changing out the window treatments and the pale green wall color to something that compliments the cabinets and floor. If the tile is a no-go I would echo other's recommendations to remove the tile and start fresh.

Boy things get heated in these forums! You definitely need a thick skin when asking for decorating advice…

I know you don’t care for the floors, but I agree with another commenter that they are very nice looking. They may not be so in fashion now, but to me they are a classic. And they do look nice with both the wood floors in adjoining rooms and the cabinet color.

Maybe a nice charcoal countertop and a backsplash change would look so good that you would be fine leaving the existing floors. I really do think this could look very good.

@mollykeeton Which is more controversial: politics or decorating? i am not sure.

Lol Michael

@Michael - It depends which websites you like!

Even though no one plans on moving a dish washer sometimes a repair is needed either to the dishwaher of the water lines. if the dishwasher is locked in by addiing one floor over another it can be a real headach. Also it is possible that the dishwasher will one day need replacement as all appliances only have a finite lifespan.

Does anyone know a way the easiest way to respond to someone? Sometimes, typing their name works and sometimes it does not.

I’ve read that typing an @ before the name works, but it doesn’t work on my ipad, so I assume it only works on a computer.

Use the @followed by the person’s name/number. That person will get email and a link back to you.

@ffpalms It does not always work on a laptop. I think that is because it only works if the name you see in comments in the actual user name. It works with your name but not with Flo Mangan. The issue might also be related to the space in someone's name.

Have you considered changing the backsplash with a white or soft green color variation? And a white granted with a touch of gold sprinkled in it?

Who painted your cabinets? They are beautiful!

@homeisferriday Lavinia. she is a painter in Bucks County, PA