In my last house I had original 1938 hardwood. Someone redid the kitchen in the late 80s complete with horrible wall paper & (what I'm sure was once) white linoleum. When we did a mini make over we put in laminate wood floor that was similar in color. Of course you could tell the moment you walked on it, but it blended pretty well. We had thresholds (wood) that helped with the transition. Wish I had a picture for you.
Since you dislike your other floors, you should go with something you really love for the kitchen.

I think it would look weird. I appreciate vinyl, but just keeping two different wood floors agreeing with each other is hard enough. How about something like a cork look? That would keep it in the same kind of range, but with a different visual texture.

This isn't really what you asked--but we did put a vinyl floor next to rustic maple hardwood. It's a stainmaster vinyl that looks like slate. Rather than try to match the hardwood, we went with a stone look that looks really nice in the kitchen and also looks good next to the hardwood. I'm not sure I'd put wood look vinyl next to real wood, it only accentuates the fact that it's not real wood.

I LOVE the vinyl, the Stainmaster is thick and is very tough. I have no doubt it'll last 20 years, which is good, because I'm no tleavin this house--ever! :-)

Cj

Cj I'd love to see a pic of your floor... we used some Stainmaster vinyl in our laundry room and love it, but I've never seen the slate option and am thinking about that in our bathroom instead of tile.

Cj, I'd like to see a picture too. A slate looking vinyl is my 2nd choice, but since the kitchen will be open (completely, I hope) to the adjacent living area, I thought it might be distracting that way too.

In our last house we tried it in the master bath - bedrm was oak. I think it made the vinyl look more fake. After a year we tore it up and did porcelain tile.

Are you asking about laminate flooring? If so you can get samples at Home Depot and bring it home and lay it next to your flooring and see how it looks to you.

Because I had a morning room hallway and dining room and I wanted a flow look I used the laminate that matched the hardwood through out the house. I do not think you can tell the difference until you walk on it. It is softer than the wood.

They have come a long way. Laminate floors are actually very green or "eco" friendly flooring options. Almost all laminates are made with either recycled to quickly renewable materials, it isn�t hard to find one that has been manufactured in the USA, and most offer some kind of LEED credit.

My sister just did this in her kitchen and I do not like it at all. I like the wood and I like the vinyl, but the two next to each other make the vinyl look cheap. I have Pergo myself and I know it would look strange next to real or engineered wood.

The vinyl would have to be a really, really good match. If you do decide to go this route, get a box of the vinyl and lie it down next the wood to get an idea of how it will look.

If it was just a doorway, I think it would work, but if the two rooms are completely open, I'd probably use something else...maybe slate or even a brick or other stone.

I'm still debating about (vinyl) wood or brick, too...but slate has me wondering if they have an option that looks like flagstone :)

Marti- I just found this vinyl floor...Tackett Flooring called Inspire Colonial Flagstone Grey. Very pretty :)
{{!gwi}}From Lavender Lass farmhouse pictures

I visited Home Depot and Lowe's and they have a product like Allure that is a stone look. They said you can even put it right over tile without having to level the grout lines. That would be wonderful - IF it worked.

What if....

I looked at the stone-look vinyl in the store and while it's nice, it's just not what I want. There are other patterns online that the store didn't have though.

But what if I did use the wood look vinyl, separated from the real wood floors by a couple of different colored wood transition strips?

Oh & get this. We have boxes of old 8x8 tile in the garage, the white marbled stuff that we put down 15 years ago. I've been trying to figure out how to get rid of it, and mentioned putting it on craigslist today. Dh was shocked and thinks we are still going to use it. Um, no. I was thinking GIVE it away. On the FREE CL side. He was shocked, after we spent so much on it. Yes dear, 15 years ago when we were both 25 pounds lighter, everyone wore tracksuits everywhere, and the beastmobile was a gleaming new truck. No. No. No.

I think it would look odd...have u seen the tile that looks like wood? Could be a good look. They used it in a cool wine bar in Denver and in a new hi-rise condo lobby. Unless u reach down and feel it, you would think it is wood. I am considering it for a bathroom...comes in many "wood varieties". A thought.

My parents have old pine floors in the living room and lighter Pergo on the sunporch adjoining it. It is a strange transition but works to some degree probably because the sunroom is architecturally so clearly an add-on.