I'd put neither, but would put the same walnut laminate in the rest of the downstairs if you can still get it. Many formal dining rooms have hardwood and if your laminate looks as good as you say, it seems like a choice that would flow well with the rest of your home.

Are you trying for a modern take on MCM with the dark walnut and white combo?

FWIW - the houses I have seen with marble or tile in the living room seem cold and extreme and have put off buyers every time. I can see it for the dining room, but not for the living room. I'd stick with the wood or wood look floors if you want to lose the carpet.

I love marble but have seen it overused in some houses and it goes from an asset to a detriment....

Re whether to put stone in or not, it depends where you live.

I've seen countless homes now on House Hunters International where the whole place is tile top to bottom. Often the same white tile. Even upstairs BR's.

In America it's mostly popular in southern states, all across the southern border. But many people here feel it's too cold on the feet because of going barefoot at home. On HHI, I noticed it in Rome. (Does it get very cold in Rome?)

I personally like the feel of cold floors on bare feet. And I like tile. But wouldn't put it in my LR. A formal DR, yes in the right house/place.

Choosing between marble and granite, you could go to a museum or other large public monument and see how both look? Wash DC would give you lots of ideas. Lots of marble lobbies too. There are beautiful granite floors of all different kinds throughout the George Washington masonic temple in Alexandria, VA. Couldn't take my eyes off the granite baseboards there!

Is it that you need to see large expanses of granite for looks? Or you are worried about durability?

Thank you for all of the responses. Re: Why I'm considering stone vs wood laminate: I had thought initially of putting in the Walnut throughout, but it's been discontinued by the mfg and my flooring co's having a hard time locating enough to do the 3 carpeted rooms that I want to rip out and replace - they can only do one room, and that's going to be the family room that opens off of the kitchen (high profile spot, so must match perfectly). I don't want mismatched/close match laminate in the high profile transition spaces of the front entry arch leading to the LR or the arch leading from the kitchen to the DR, so thought that if I can't match it, than a complete contrast transition would look better than a 'I tried to match and failed' look. I figured that maybe since those 2 rooms are formal, and the rest of the place is informal, it might work to have them with a completely different flooring.

I'm not really worried about buying appeal, because I intend to retire in this house - selling will be my DD's worry when she inherits. ;-) I do live in the south, in the Wash. DC area - Biochem, it is exactly those lovely stone floors in the public spaces of this area that gave me the idea. I had thought of marble first, because to me it's a 'warmer' stone and I really like the marble FP surround in my LR, but marble's so high maintenance compared to granite, which I actually prefer to marble. I'm trying to picture in my head the transition of fine grain granite floor to the flowing pattern marble hearth, and in my head it just doesn't work. So, I'm waffling between the two stones.

In the end, my flooring co may find enough of the laminate to do more than one more room, in which case I'd do wood in the LR and granite in the DR, and not have to worry about a spilled glass of wine at a dinner. :-)

Thank you again for your responses - you're echoing a lot of the questions I've asked myself as I consider options for a graceful transition/flow from room to room, with carpet no where in the picture and without having to rip out and replace the Walnut that I love and don't want to have to replace with what may not hold up as well as what I've currently got.

If you plan on retiring in that home, you might want to consider the slip-and-fall factor of a slippery flooring like marble or granite.
Dee

Another vote for the wood flooring if your flooring company can find a suitable match. If not, I'd get a close as possible and stay with wood throughout. It's such a classic and versatile look and much more practical than the stone.

I'm also having trouble visualizing marble or granite in the LR & DR of a home. Stone just says lobby of a public building to me. Plus, it is very hard and tiring on the hips, legs and feet.

We all have our personal preferences and opinions, though. Mine would be to remove the laminate and install real wood throughout the entire area. I don't know how old you are, but wood will most likely out-live you, and it is virtually maintenance free. There are many beautiful wood choices out there. Did you choose the laminate, or was it already in the house?

I have no idea about your budget or cost comparisons between wood and stone, but it's something I would think about.

If you can't find the exact match to your other floors, I'd go either lighter or darker in the other rooms with an equal quality laminate "wood" and a contrasting wood border around the interior "field". You can't fake a real match so make it a design feature instead. A parquet center might work very well for you.

My comments before about buyers not liking the all stone/tile look was not as much about resale as it was about hearing many opinions on how it comes across to many others. If you are in Fla or Ga, my answer might be different, but you are not south enough to change the equation by much.

A dining room floor won't matter on your feet or back if it is very hard, because most people are not in their dining rooms on their feet very long. I would consider the smoothness/hardness a factor in more used areas because of the potential for slipping and hitting a very hard surface. My son fell on our ceramic kitchen floor (old kitchen) and I can still hear the sound in my head. It was truly awful. Luckily, he did not do serious damage, but we spent time being very nervous until the x-rays confirmed that. His fat lip and swollen face were pitiful.

I lived in a house with a large polished marble entry and it is definitely slippery, especially when wet. Also, it scratches easily. I can't imagine what it would look like with dining room chairs moving back and forth on it, even with pads. Of course, you could add a large area carpet.