I don't think I would divide the space at all. It will have a much better flow if you keep the flooring consistent. Either would work, all tile or all wood is my thought.

agree w/Pam - continuous flooring in that space would be best -

I have a space very much like yours. We debated the same thing. The kitchen and hallway were tiled and the family room was carpet kind of on an angle. We are in the middle of a remodle and made the floor all hardwood and am soooo glad we did. It makes the space look so much bigger. My girlfriend did the same with a wood like laminate and it looks lovely as well. no matter what material you decide making it all the same will really make everthing flow.

I know the same floor throughout would be best but we arrived at this arrangement by first trying ...

PLAN A:Remove old tile floor in kitchen and replace with hardwood to match existing. After some discussion with KD and GC decided this was not practical, and too expensive. The only door to the backyard is the one in the kitchen so with kids and the dog constantly going in and out both summer and winter we decided tile was a better option.

PLAN B: Remove wood floor in Family room and tile in both kitchen and front hall and replace all with new tile floor. Leave the wood floor in the dining room and front door (which would be refinished at some later time). Again, after much discussion DH does not want tile in the family room. He feels it will be too cold in the winter (we live in Canada) and does not like the look at all. I suggested radiant floor heating to solve the cold issue, but he won't budge. He says the next step after a tile floor in the family room is plastic on the coach. (LOL)

Which leaves PLAN C: Replace the tile floor in the kitchen and front hall with new darker tile and refinish wood floor in a similar tone, probably a medium to dark brown. I am hoping that keeping the colour similar will minimize the impact of the joint.

My concern was really the stools at the island. How far back should the joint be so they don't bump into it all the time? The cabinets will be in a shaker style and I am also concerned that the arc will look odd with all the other straight lines in the room. BTW there is a gas fireplace in the wall between the 2 windows (which I just realized is not on the plan).

Thanks for the input.

I can't get my photobucket to work. I was trying to show you my kitchen where the floor meets.
We have wood on the family room side, and tile on the kitchen side. It actually changes mid way through the island, so that there is wood under the stools on the seating side. It was not done with a curve, but with just a line that I drew out.

The key is how you butt them up together. We did it without a trim piece so it is a very clean transition. The wood was scribed exactly to the line that I drew. The tile was cut to go within a 1/4 inch of the wood. There is a sanded calk that looks like grout between the two floors. There is enough room for the wood to expand and contract, and the trim piece was not necessary. For me, that trim piece when it is sticking up really catches the eye. When it is not there, the floors just blend one to another.

Our tile floor is slightly higher than the wood, but it was still done with a very clean transition just by angling the transition tile down to meet the wood.

I prefer tile in the kitchen and did this all by choice. The family room is very large and we did not need the look of all one floor. It did come together very well because the tile is dark and so is the wood. Also, the island is covering a few yards of floor where they "meet", which lessens the impact of the transition of floors.

I agree with DH on tile in family room being too cold(I live in the midwest and my tile floors are very cold !) and also agree with KD and GC about expense and practicality of hardwood in your situation. I think plan C sounds great but with chinchette"s idea about the transition.

lululemon, not sure if you've resolved this, but would be interested to hear if you have.

We struggled with a similar issue, though for us the area under consideration was a smaller "nook" that is ~ 5 1/2' x. 11'. We have hardwood throughout, except for this sunken nook space, which is to be raised 14.5 inches and levelled with the kitchen floor. So, the question was: try to match existing wood floors in kitchen, or redo all the wood floors in this space, or keep existing wood floors in kitchen and do tile in nook?

Went with last option, tipping point being installation of in-floor heating, about which I can't tell you how excited I am, given our cold Canadian winters! And the cat doesn't know how happy he's about to be. It's not that expensive, either, in case that option isn't totally off the table.

The transition will happen just under the last bank of drawers, about six inches or so, and will be demarcated by a transition strip of solid hardwood, which is already there. I like this slight "creep" into the main kitchen space, but in truth it was mandated by existing end of wood floor.

As this hasn't happened yet, I don't have pictures to show you. We haven't picked the tiles yet, either -- this weekend.