Haven't heard of Trish, but one thing is for sure, Tarkett isn't the same company as it was only five years ago. Gone is the great quality control. Distributors I talk with say the same. In fact I had a discussion with a Tarkett laminate regional rep and expressed my dissatifaction. He said let me guess you're having problems with finish flaking and pealing. He was right on. Product installation isn't a piece of cake either especially with their floating floors. I hear nothing good about the company's product line through many sources. It's a shame because they did manufacture a great product at one time. Good luck with whatever you chose.

Years ago when we first bought our house we had it as you are describing: an open family room/kitchen with vinyl in the kitchen and carpet in the FR. It did make the space feel smaller (esp. the kitchen) and when we changed the flooring we did Wilson Art everywhere and it really opened up the space. While many love tile in kitchens, it would never work for me because: it's too hard on the feet, things that fall will break more easily, it's cold (unless you put in the stuff to warm up the floor underneath), and grout is a hassle to clean. Just my two cents, but when choosing a floor, I think whoever spends the most time in the kitchen (cooking and/or cleaning it) should have the final say. If that is hubby, by all means try to make the tile work; but that is you and you don't want tile, then I think you need to plead your case a bit more as it's going to make you uphappy every time you work in this space. Since your question was for a pic with tile and hardwood, here is a pic of my entry where we put in a travertine floor: We do have a slight height difference where it transitions from hardwood to tile as they needed to float the floor to level it and support the stone. The only other option would've been to run plywood underneath the hardwood throughout the entire house. My kitchen is all hardwood with a couple of rugs underneath the sinks. It works great for us.

I was going to go with engineered hard wood--BR111, amendiom fooring. I LOVE it. It is beautiful. I went back and forth to the stone yard, etc., to make sure it was the one I truly wanted to go with my kitchen cabinets and granite. Then, I heard the final quote from Lowe's for my kitchen, dining and living room area and hallway, which desperately needs new flooring. I figured since I was redoing the kitchen I may as well....I also wanted to eventually do hardwoods in those rooms as they are all open to each other. I wanted to make sure the the hardwood would be the same dye lot, etc. I was going to go with the engineered hardwood in the kitchen, dining area, living room (it is all one big room) and the hallway area. The quote for the engineered hard wood, materials and labor was almost $10,000! That was a far cry from the $3700 Lowe's first quoted me (of course, not on paper). I could have just cried! Now I am too looking at laminate again. I have had wood laminate in the kitchen, (before the demo), and the bathrooms and laundry room. I have an Armstrong one that looks like tile--25 year warrenty. My CG hates laminate, but he won't live with it (I will be the one, not him) nor will he install it. His, in his house, was ruined by a water leak in his kitchen. He has forever sworn off the stuff. I have had my wood laminate for about 5 years. I have loved it! It is easy to clean and maintain. Still looks new. If there is a ding in it, it comes with a putty kit to fill in the ding. I have only had one ding, put in by the installer! I don't have small children nor pets, however, my neighbor has wood laminate in her entry way, dining and living room area. She loves it and has grandchildren and a rather large golden. It looks great and she loves the upkeep as it is very easy. I really, really wanted the engineered wood for resale value. Once you see the depth of real wood, it is hard to go back to a "picture" of wood. It just doesn't have the same depth. The installer who came out to measure my house stated to go middle of the road with the warrenty for engineered wood. Don't pay more for the 25 year one, go for the 15 year one. Said the finish was the same for engineered wood, only difference as the thickness of the wood. He stated in 15 years, I would probably be tired of it anyway and would want a change. Also, even the 25 year warrenty floors will show wear and tear after 15 years. (Don't you hate the "throw away" mentality? But I probably won't be living in this house in 15 years and will be in a skilled nursing facility by then) However, you can refinish the thicker engineered wood a couple of times if you want. So, I am looking at the Pergo and Armstrong wood laminate floors. For the Pergo floors for the 30 year wood laminate, it does have a thicker coating on it. I took a screw to the samples this morning to see how they scratched. I didn't press real hard, but no scratches--or at least none that I could see. I am looking at a medium tone walnut. I do know that when I have inadvertantly dropped things on my wood laminate in the kitchen in the past, (glass bottles of things like grapeseed oil) they didn't break. They would have on real tile and I would have had to worry about keeping the grout clean. Ugh! So, I am trying to soothe my broken heart with the laminate and will ask again why the engineered wood (same price as the laminate or cheaper) costs so much more to install. I know they do level the cement slab prior to install. My GC stated one of his wood floor people he uses, could install a distressed wood floor in my kitchen for about $500 total cost for material and labor. I just didn't like the "distressed" floor samples he had. I am very tired of the country look and am going for the transitional look instead. I have done country for the past 35 years. I need a change! I have a very small kitchen and the flooring size is about 9 X 8 feet. Lowe's price was $1600 for the cheaper (15 year warrenty) engineered wood (materials and labor)! I am not sure the person there knew what she was talking about. Stated the vinyl that came with the house, which is glued to the slab floor of the kitchen would have to come up for the wood floor to go down. Then she was stating it might have asbestos! I said, oh please, it is the same cheap stuff they happen to have as one of their samples at the store! I thought the last part in my head and didn't state that out loud. I don't know what haz mat thing she was thinking! I showed her the cheap vinal I had. I asked if Lowe's sold something that had asbestos in it. I still may have to go with carpet in the dining and living room from Lowe's. They are having a special right now and I am just broke from my remodel of the kitchen. I will find out the cost of the laminate this morning when I am over there in a few minutes. I am sad about the whole thing. I was so happy to have finally made up my mind on the engineered wood. It really was going to be very pretty.

We bought about 600 sq. ft. of flooring based on first seeing a physical set of boards, then reviewing the swatch online and the example installation on their site. What was delivered however was so filled with blemishes, that 50% of the boards we unpacked contained such obvious visual defects that we refused to have it installed. Both the supplier, ProSource GTA West, and the Kraus representative refused to take the order back without a 15% restocking charge. What they advertise does not match what they deliver so don't use people or companies that don't stand behind their products.