Well I think your question about tile ever being more popular is subjective to where one lives and what their weather conditions are. Tile is definately more popular in areas that are prone to higher humidity or heat. And wood tends to be more popular in cooler less humid states.

In regards to upkeep, if hardwood is what you want, I don't think you should be afraid to go for it. Maybe it's just the Cherry that's harder to keep up because we have Brazillian Walnut floors and I have no issues with it what so ever. We also have red oak throughout the entry level of our home and couldn't lay it in our kitchen because we currently have those orangey oak cabinets which we're not scheduled to change for a few more years.

We were concerned that the two different woods wouldn't work together, but they do! We ended up putting the walnut in both the kitchen and attached dining areas. and they are the first thing people comment on when they come into our home.

To keep a cohesive look, we used the same 2 3/4 inch plank size and ran all the boards in the same direction. At the doorways, we used an oak transition piece that's the exact match to our floors. At first I wasn't so sure about how that would look either, but in the end, it's worked out just fine and we love love love our floors!

I'd also like to note (and I mean no offense to this) that it seems like if dark floors are preferred, cherry is the normal route to take and for me, I just didn't want what every one else had. I urge you to turn it up a bit and explore some of the other brazillian woods available. They are some really beautiful varieties to choose from that can offer the same rich look of Cherry but may be more maintenance free. And Bonus! A different wood that people rarely see will offer a great wow factor to your room. We found the website for lumberliquidators.com to be very helpful as it has a good variety of wood choices to look at and some helpful commentary about the different choices.

HTH, Good Luck!

We installed ceramic tile in our old kitchen. Our new house came with light maple floors. The wood is much easier to keep clean .... the grout was a pita.

Hardwood and tile are both going to be around forever imo. Go with what you really want.

We have hardwood in our kitchen, dining, entry and hallways. The hardwood in every area except the kitchen looks like new. In the kitchen, the finish is completely shot and the wood (which is oak) has greyed. I've been very happy with tile in my previous houses because it is so easy to maintain. That said, we'll be doing hardwood again in this house because the house is a split level built on the side of a hill in So. Cal., and hardwood will not crack the way tile will in the event of mild earth movement and settling of our hill. :)

I love, love, love my red oak high gloss floors in my kitchen and dining room. Very easy to keep clean, and nothing shows even when it's been months between washings. They are eight years old and perfect in a high traffic home.

I took your question to mean "does dirt show?" The dirt is on the floor no matter what color the floor is, but I think a self-described "clean freak" would go nuts with how dirt and dust show on a darker floor. We had wide plank, dark cherry satin gloss floors before. They were gorgeous for an hour or two after mopping, but they showed EVERYTHING!!

I agree that tile and wood are classic, but if you like to cook, keeping grout clean on a kitchen floor would be more than I would like to deal with. Also, tile floors are much harder than wood on your feet and legs. It's inevitable that things will be dropped in a kitchen, but things often survive the fall when they hit wood.

Thank you all for your wonderful response to my questions.
One very important one though, Do you think light red oak goes that well with Ivory cabinets? If I go a little darker, will the color look strange because of the lighter wood in the other rooms that open up to the kitchen?
Does any one have pictures of lighter floors with ivory cabinets, or pictures of different woods between the doorways?

I don't have wood floors, but love them. I've always felt like I couldn't keep a wood floor really, really clean in a kitchen. I think about the spaces between the boards. I like tile because it can be cleaned easily with almost any cleaner. As far as grout, they make grout sealer that if used once a year, will keep grout lines the original color. You could also use a darker grout depending on the color of the tile and your taste.

If by light red oak you mean red oak without a stain, then no I don't think it goes with ivory cabinets. We had unstained red oak floors, about ten years old so were getting yellow-orangy by then, had the kitchen redone in beige glazed cabinets which were just beautiful, but then the floor did not look good with them. The two mismatched because they were the same general color value but two different non-harmonizing colors. So we had someone distress and change the color of the floor to a medium toasty brown and it looked fabulous. You could put more of the red oak in the kitchen, and then have someone change the whole thing to the same color. If it's solid they could sand it all down and put some color in it. If it's engineered they could do the distressing thing. Ours was engineered and had no wear layer to sand, so they just worked on top of the existing floor with what they did.

I don't think it would look best to have two different woods, but don't know exactly what your floor plan is either.

I'm sold on HW in the kitchen. I like the continuous look throughout and maintenance is easy.

They both can look stunning, and either one could be in or out of style several times over in coming years, so go with what you like.

That being said, I love hardwood and have it in our entryway only. We have a good Mannington floor in the kitchen/morning room now, only b/c when we were building, our kids were babies and toddlers and my DH knew I would have been neurotic about them driving cars and trains and anything else they would have gotten their sweet little hands onto!! Eventually, I would like hardwood to replace it...when we have the $$. One thing to consider is the feel of both materials. I find ceramic really hard to stand on for long periods of time (cooking, etc). Hardwood is much more comfortable to stand on imo. Good luck. Can't wait to see pics when you finish whichever one you decide on!

I recently had the same dilemna. I really love hardwood and am not crazy about tile. I have an old house, all wood floors and was concerned about what do when I remodeled my kitchen (still underway).
I did ivory wood cabinets, with black granite countertops. I was only thinking of wood but had a hard time finding a color/style that matched, or was different enough to look good. I tried reclaimed floors as well but the look wasn't right and the price was through the roof.

I ended up doing a brick tile floor which is stunning. It goes with my old home and looks fabulous. I got them from Inglenook Tiles in Lacaster, PA, www.inglenoontile.com. Check out the site, they make tiles from old brick molds.

My contractor said they were as easy to install as tile. They are easy to clean and look great. You can pick your colors, they mix for you to your liking and are super nice to work with. I am really happy with my decision, which I spent alot of time on!

Organic, you could make either oak wood or tile (or brick or slate tile) floors work beautifully with ivory cabs. For a kitchen, however I would focus more on the functionality of the two floor surfaces. They are very different.

Here's my sense of it. Wood is softer underfoot, quieter, and less cold. While wood is pretty sturdy, heavy traffic, chairs moving back and forth, and repeated spills will cause damage. Tile is harder underfoot, noisier, colder, but much more bullet proof when it comes to soccer cleats, chairs, roller blades, etc.
It you pick tile, know that all floor grout -- no matter how well sealed -- eventially will turn dark. This isn't a problem if you know this in advance and plan for it from a design standpoint. If you pick wood, know that you will need to be vigilent about chair glides, standing water, and soccer cleats. Again, this isn't a problem, just know it in advance.

As for me, I faced this debate twice before and both times selected tile. I am happy with my choice, but if I had a less high traffic kitchen or tidier household I might have chosen differently.

Freckles 510

Sounds beautiful Have any pictures?

Organic -- I love HW, its beautiful, easy , nice underfoot. I have it in my current home in the kitchen.
In my new home I went with natural stone tile. I just don't like the way wood wears in the kitchen. I don't know how I will like it as I am not in the new house yet.
I definitely had differing opinions about which was better, but for me it came down to what I felt would wear better.
I do love my travertine. It is a antiqued, tumbled travertine. Here is a pic, although this is the mudroom, its the same in kitchen.

acountryfarm, I just love your Travertine tile! I love the various sizes and the colors. Real stone is truly beautiful. I am thinking of going with Porcelain Tile that looks like Travertine or tumbled marble in the kitchen or vinyl or Linoleum tile. I love the look of hardwood in the kitchen but My 4 little furkidz are let in and out of the sliding door by the kitchen solid wood table and I do not want to worry about damaging the floors. Right now I have Linoleum sheet floors in a very light color that is actually pretty but they are old (I bought my home 11 years and they were here and my home is 18 years old so I am not sure how old they are) and need to be replaced due to some damage on them. I love how I can spill anything on them and they wipe right up with no staining. They are so easy to take care of. But now I want something that is not worn on the edges by the door and by the walls and is rich and beautiful like your floor or light and happy like Brutuses kitchen floor. My kitchen opens up to the family room that right now has beige carpet but I hope to change it out to a hardwood floor but keep going back and forth between Brazilian Cherry versus Amendoim. I love the colors of the Brazilian Cherry and how rich it looks but I love that the Amendoim barely darkened up when I left the samples outside in direct sunlight for several days.

The issues have all been addressed. It depends on:
1) the feel you like most
2) the look you like most
3) what works best in your climate
4) what is expected in your area (resale)
5) how "timeless" you want it to be.

I'm focusing on #5. I think wood is definitely the more timeless choice, especially if the remainder of that floor is wood. The finish styles/colors may change over the years (remember the "pickling" craze ca. 1988?) and it may require a bit more care and maintenance, but I don't think anyone will ever say "I really hate that there are wood floors in the kitchen."

The trouble with tile is that the styles change, and (IMHO) it can get outdated more quickly. And you can't strip it and refinish it. You have to pull it out and reinstall something else if you want a change.

We're getting ready for a major remodel and build-on. We're getting "wood like" ceramic tile for the dining room, livig room and hallway. I have samples here at the house and they look like real wood. The "planks" are about 2 feet long and maybe 6 inches wide. They'll stagger them to look like a wood floor. They'll use dark grout to match the wood. I'm sold on these. Plus, I love big braided rugs, so I'll have them in the bigger rooms on the hard floor.

I'm not one who goes with trends. In my new kitchen & utility room, which the whole thing will be gutted, I'm going with old fashioned (but pretty and colorful!) linoleum or a good vinyl with colorful patterns, which I have now and love. Apparently the trend is coming back to these two floorings. I never understood why everyone uses stone on their kitchen floors. It all looks alike to me!lol.

I don't know where you are located, however, I have been seeing a lot of tiles mimic hardwood. You can't even tell the difference till you touch it. They make the tiles in a lot of wood colors and sometimes they can even custom make them to match your current hardwood floor.

if you want to take a picture of the result. you can check out Style at Home's current issue. They have a feature article about a couple using the tiles.

Hope this helps

oakleyok - Do you have picture of the tile you're using?

Laurie

I posted earlier and said I love my wood floors in my kitchen, came back to see what's happening and noticed Deltabreeze's take on the differences. All very true. BUT...

I want to point out that in addition to darkening grout, tile cracks. I also have beautiful floor ceramics in a bathroom. My tile is about 9 years old so I've forgotten the name, but it's professionally installed thick ceramic floor tile on a proper underlayment.

One day a crack and a tiny chip simply appeared in one of the 12" tiles. I can't imagine how it got there because there is nothing heavier than a hair dryer in the bathroom. It's a fine, curved line, the grout is undisturbed, but the crack is there and plain as day. The tile does not rock, even with the crack. It is ugly.

When I bought this stuff they said it was virtually indestructable. I wonder what would happen if you dropped a heavy pot on a kitchen floor.

Also, brutuses mentioned the cracks between the boards of wood floors. Properly installed, the cracks are so tight they are impenetrable to all but microscopic crumbs. Grout, on the other hand is not waterproof or impermeable and requires maintenance in addition to regular cleaning.

Just my 2¢. Again. I guess that's 4¢ now.

Sherry

sherrman, it sounds as if your house might have settled a bit. If the crack is ugly, the tile could be removed and replaced with a spare one. (I suggest always keeping a couple spare tiles in reserve in the unlikely event that this occurs.)

In general, all houses settle a bit over time. (My nearly 70 year old home still is settling a bit, as witnessed by some new cracks that have shown up over my fireplace!) In general, I find that when wood floors settle, it can lead to squeeking floor boards. When tile floors settle, it can lead to hairline cracks.

In terms of grout, maintenance isn't an issue provided that you understand that grout will darken and no amount of "sealing" will stop it.

Whew. . I didn't want this to sound like an advocacy piece for tile kitchens. Frankly, I am very fond of wood kitchen floors. It is just that I have come to realize that both types of floors have their advantages and disadvantages and I wanted to highlight them for Organic.

You're right, Deltabreeze, my house probably did settle a bit, and I do have extra tiles. It's just a job I don't want to tackle because it will be hard to do myself and expensive to hire someone, plus the old grout has darkened. I don't want to remove all the old grout to avoid an obvious repair where the new grout would be.

You're also right about squeeky floor boards. We had an annoying squeek that my dtr's boyfriend (of all people!) fixed by hammering a nail of some sort under the floor from the basement ceiling. Worked like a charm! I wouldn't mind if she married him - it's amazing to me that someone would LIKE to do that sort of thing. He's handy to have around.

bumping so oakleyok will see!

Laurie