Dear Alex,

First, thanks so much the link to your inspiration kitchen. I love the kitchen (it immediately became my new inspiration kitchen as well!) And thanks for introducing me to the houseandhome website. It a beautifully done website that I'm sure I'll return to again and again.

I look forward to others giving their more informed advice (than mine) on your flooring suggestions. We have the original hardwood in our 1928 kitchen and I think it adds to the period-look of our kitchen. You'll find dozens and dozens of examples of kitchens posted on garden web of similar "Victorian feel" to early 20th-century kitchens with wood floors. We put a lot of wear on our floors (but no seriously high heels) and I think the patina the floors take on only adds to their character.

But the tile is also a great look and certainly feels more "european," if you want the Parisian bistro look similar to your inspiration kitchen. Some people find tile a little hard on the joints as they age. If you are spending hours standing in the kitchen, depending on your age, this might be something to consider. On the other hand, there is nothing more satisfying than the solidity of a tile floor and the ability to give it a good scrub. I will say that having lived for six years in a 1980s-style kitchen with a white tile floor when I had two small children, I would not do white tile again (I love to clean, but I don't want to mop twice a day!)

Either choice would look great in a victorian/vintage kitchen with white painted cabinets. We look forward to seeing pictures of your kitchen -- sounds like it will be gorgeous!

Alex,

Perhaps your post didn't get enough hits because of the title? Not "grabby enough"? Maybe you need a title like "Wife freaking out over dream kitchen".

I'm bumping this because it seems that the folks on the kitchen forum would love to offer advice on your flooring question. And, the video link you sent to your wife's inspiration kitchen is so very fun to watch. Others will be inspired too.

For me a black floor would be too much maintenance...it will show everything! But a white hex floor has it's own problems. It's a lot of grout to try to keep clean and if you go too dark, you can get an annoying optical effect. I think the herringbone wood sounds beautiful. When they moved the kitchen in our hundred year old house up from the basement in the late 20's they put in a wood floor.

Couple of things.

First, an all-black floor can be very cool, but I'm not sure it's terribly Victorian. To me, it has a slightly industrial, maybe Art Deco edge. It also seems a wee bit bathroomy, and yes, will show every speck of dust. The blog Door Sixteen showcased an all-black bathroom floor, but in penny tile rather than hex.

It is neat, but also gives the impression of a big black hole. It will also suck up light like a sponge.

You can get inspiration from photos like these:

at American Restoration Tile

Also, if you want wooden herringbone, but are worried about the wear, have you considered faux wood porcelain? It's gorgeous.

Have you seen Martha Stewart's barn kitchen? It has dark grey hex tiles. Love it.

Here is a link that might be useful:

Love the hex tile in kitchens.

I have had white hex tile in two bathrooms. In the 1st, I had white grout. Disaster. Always dirty. I smartened up, and put a grey grout (Delorean Grey) in the 2nd one. This is great. You don't see the dirt on the grout. I looked at a lot of different hex tile samples and I would advise on getting a glazed tile, as opposed to unglazed. The unglazed samples I brought home were always very dirty (hint, hint), and when I cleaned them up and stepped on them, they held the dirt much more than the glazed tiles.

Wilsonart has some great laminate flooring, which I'm going to install in my new kitchen. Wilsonart's High Pressure laminate flooring is 3-5X thicker than most other manufacturers.

On dust/dirt -- if you go for a high-grain or streaky finish, the dirt won't show as much.

Here is a link that might be useful: {{!gwi}}

I had hex tiles in a kitchen when my kids were little. Hated every inch of them -- hard to mop and always looked dirty.

Thanks everyone! I appreciate all the feedback and am still torn. I still think that having the hex look dirty is a very real likelihood. The black or charcoal will be too dark and the white seems like a dirt nightmare. Glad to hear noone had anything negative to say about their durability. I'm leaning towards herringbone...I'll post photos when we're done:)

Thanks francoise47-got a charlie horse for making the DW sound crazy;) Glad you liked H+H!

Thanks for the mosaic ideas marcolo, loved the B+W! I'm not sure if the faux would will mix with the real in the rest but will definitely check it out at some tile shops!

The video kitchen is beautiful, we're going to try for the carrera subway backsplash, carrera island with SS counters and white cabinets too so hopefully it'll turn out well.
cheers,
Alex