We installed Cryntel Italia Travertine tiles in our kitchen a year ago and could not be happier. The self-stick tiles look amazingly like real stone and go down easily. We have a LOT of traffic in and out of the kitchen--kids, dogs, cats--and the tile has held up beautifully with no visible scratches or wear. It does such a good job of hiding dirt and animal fur that I sweep every day because I know I need to---not because the floor looks dirty. We did a total kitchen remodel, including solid maple cabinets and Santa Cecilia granite countertops. We looked at all kinds of floor coverings, including the dura-ceramic, which by comparison was a LOT more expensive and harder to install as a DIY project. We bought the Cryntel tiles at Lowe's for $1.08 sq. ft. and our friends and family members are amazed at the quality vs. cost. If you do install this tile and do it yourself, we found it best to cut the tiles with a power hand held saber saw with a very fine tooth blade. These tiles are just too tough to score with a knife. Again, we are very pleased!!

I happened upon this post because I'm looking for more Dura Ceramic ideas for a new area. We installed this product during a kitchen remodel primarily due to the fact a slight roll in the floor of this old house could not be leveled fully. Ceramic tile wasn't an option because of that and wood would have been equally challenging. With a hairdryer, the product heated up enough to flex slightly during the install/gluing - a perfect solution to this issue. The room is approx. 14x21. It has received heavy use. My only issues - one chair foot had a rough spot - the surface is scratched from moving the chair under the table, etc, before I noticed. Solved with chair foot pads. A glass bowl dropped from a cabinet above a fridge. It broke the surface of the tile. Hint: don't drop dishes from 7 feet. A steam mop was left sitting on the tile while hot; it dulled the surface. Follow steam mop instructions. Otherwise, it's been a great product and we're almost 10 years in.

It does seem like the first 3 tiles have way too much movement and pattern on their own for a granite kitchen. The mockup really draws the eye to the floor. but you would never really try to "match" your counters and floors except in color families (warm, golds, cool grays etc)--otherwiseyour cabs will look like the filling in a cookie sandwich! And it doesn't look particularly cottage-y. I would hope to try to wait until counters are in....That will help you really see what the granite does and how or why you will want to set it off. It might suggest a whole new approach. And you'll get a better feel for how the kitchen plays off the adjacent wood floors. The granite and counters look like they will be beautiful--no regrets there--so cut yourself some slack and let the other pieces fall into place. Or at least, I would never be able to pick from these photos, so maybe that's why I am thinking, slow down!

Thanks for the great idea and pictures, Beth. It seems like the marmoleum might have too cold of a feel, particularly in the middle of winter here in Boston. I could look up some more examples, but I’m not completely sure if I like the look in our kitchen. Thanks for bringing a new idea to our attention though! Mamacita, the salesperson felt that real porcelain tiles would not be a good move because of settling, but he also said that the floor would need to be reinforced which would mean that our tenant’s kitchen below ours would need to have their ceiling pulled apart to make those modifications. Chess, good luck with your project as well! There seem to be some pretty nice, durable options on the market right now. I love the look of hardwood, but like you said, water is a concern and it’s going to get too much abuse in our kitchen I think. It’s funny you bring up paint because we were just looking at different colors on the Benjamin Moore website last night. We last painted our kitchen in 2011, but it tends to need a refresh a little more than other rooms. Jhmarie, looks-wise I would love to run that hardwood into the kitchen, but I just don’t know how it would hold up in our house. A more durable alternative would probably be a more sensible option for us, unfortunately.. I tend to agree about faux wood at this point. At first we were keying on it, but we’ve since come to the realization that it just doesn’t look right next to real wood. At this point we’re looking at exactly what you pointed out (Luxury Vinyl Tile). Cancork Floor Inc., as I mentioned in my original post, that floor has been a disaster from the very beginning. It was literally tearing the first year we had it, and it has been nothing but trouble in the ensuing years. I by no means expect a floor to look the same from year one to year 20, but it's been terrible.. I appreciate the suggestion for porcelain tile. We love it, but unfortunately we can’t do it due to the reasons in paragraph two. We found that we sort of favored the rectangular tiles a little bit over the squares. We pulled two samples last night. Not completely sure about them. It's so difficult to visualize without seeing a large application of it. Any thoughts on these two, or any suggestions on what you feel might work would be appreciated. The Two Samples: ________________________________________________________________ DuraCeramic Carrara White http://www.congoleum.com/product-detail/?sku=DCR01 (Picture from their website)_______________________________________________________________ Mannington Adura Max Rectangles – Cascade Sea Mist http://www.mannington.com/Residential/AduraMax/AduraMaxRectangles/Cascade/MAR111 (Picture from their website)