Why don't you do a diagonal break from the kitchen wall to the edge of the sliding glass door ?

Welcome! Hope we can help.

What about splitting the difference? Make the transition between the hutch and the banquette, parallel to the long axis of the kitchen. It looks like this will be even with (or very close to even with) the edge of the cabinet opposite.

For the best info skip the help file and read the "new to GW thread" along with loads of other information kindly and exhaustively assembled by buehl and others it includes how to include pictures

Here is a link that might be useful: read me thread

I think you could do tile and wood and have them transition nicely from one to the other. Here's some picts I found of transitions. The first one shows a nice way to transition tile from room to room by running in different directions:

{{!gwi}}

If you want to do it all tile, you can definitely find a tile designer to help you. Tiles don't have to be square, they can be brick, random, etc. And they can design the rooms to fit together nicely. If you really want tile in your kitchen, I'd start at the tile store and let them help you.

I understand your concern. If you went to my relative's house, you'd wonder what they were thinking with their flooring. They have an open floor plan with 6'x 5' slate entryway, berber in the cove on the left, cherry in the dining area on the right, fancy embossed carpeting in the family room in front which flows into the white vinyl floor in the kitchen which meets a back hallway with ivory vinyl which meets the cherry dining area and then meets a mudroom with grey indoor/outdoor carpeting. Seven different floors in one big room! The home is only 10 years old and was designed this way. DH and I were amazed when they had five different floors and 'bout lost it when they added the cherry. The embossed carpet put us over the top. Every time we go there we're hoping there's a new floor to look at ;-) We're really not that snobby. The variety just really peaked our interest. My husband had me paged at work when he saw they had a #7. He was so excited to tell me about it. lol

The link below is a wood transition, but I could see an inlaid wood design flowing nicely into tile too.

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

Don't worry about flooring just yet! Get your other elements together and keep in mind that transitions are very doable and a little detail you can deal with satisfactorily later. Hopefully Jem's photos have convinced you it's gonna be okay!

(psst--wood is tougher than you think!)

Thank you everyone, for your replies! Some good ideas :) I wouldn't have an issue with the transition if the hutch wasn't in the picture. I'd rather not have the transition bisect that piece of furniture....

Running one flooring type up until the kitchen end of the hutch might work....I'll have to see how that looks from the far side of the kitchen. I was also thinking of some type of inlaid "carpet" type design in front of the hutch, and then have the rest of the floor just transition as usual between the rooms....but we're trying to keep it simple.

Thanks, everyone, keep the great ideas coming!

I'd be tempted to keep the family room floor right into the banquette area, and put your transition at the end of the kitchen cabinets - it looks like that is almost level with the end of the opposite wall.

I had this same dilemma, really wanted cork in my kitchen, but couldn't find any good transition point. I ended up with wood throughout. My personal feeling is that if there isn't a physical barrier between the two rooms, there shouldn't be a visual one (ie change in floor). Esp if you're trying for open concept. But that's me :)

we used a granite as the transition from tile to hardwood floor.

Thanks again for all of the ideas - I love wood and have it throughout the rest of the house...so we may just go with that. But now I have some alternatives to think about as well!

I appreciate the uploads and links to transitions between floors. Thanks, all!

Think hard about ceramic tile in kitchen. It's really hard on your back; if you work on a hard floor elsewhere during the day, you might be grateful NOT to stand on one at home as well. Also, tile offers zero resilience for breakable dropped items.

Be sure to take a look at Marmoleum before you make your final plan. You can do some very attractive custom patterns, including the areas alongside the wood floor. Bands of color could be used to expand the narrow space visually, if planned skillfully.