Cork is pretty nice, I have a few friends with it in their kitchens. Soft to walk on and warm.

Looked at marmoleum or real lino?

We used marmoleum and we really love it. We had the sheets installed with a cork underlayment so the floor is really forgiving (our house is a slab foundation on grade, so we are installing right onto the concrete slab. We were able to design our own pattern and we get rave reviews.

I liked marmoleum because it is an all-natural product and very durable.

Here is a link that might be useful:

there's some very nice looking vinyl available - maybe just change the vinyl to one you like better?

We are probably going to use Luxury Vinyl Tile/Planks for our kitchen. We are afraid of water damage to hardwood or laminate, and we've had hard tile in the past and didn't like it. Sheet vinyl just wont give us the look we're after, so we were beginning to wonder what we were going to do. Then we came across the LVT/LVP and decided it is the best for our purposes.

In my opinion, it looks nice---although, of course, you will never mistake it for ceramic or porcelain tile or slate. I don't think anyone will walk in the room and say, "Wow! Look at your kitchen floor! It's gorgeous," but that's okay---not every element has to be the **star** of the room. I think it will coordinate well and not detract from the overall look. It will be a comfortable, durable floor that will fit well with the rest of the kitchen. We plan to put in quartz counters and tile backsplash, and I think the LVT/LVP will be a nice complement to the other materials.

I have had a hard time finding others here who have firsthand experience with this partcular material, but we do have one friend who installs all kinds of flooring and he speaks well of it.

I've included a link ----

Here is a link that might be useful: Luxury Vinyl Tile/Planks

My sister put Pergo in her kitchen and family room.
AMAZING.
~boxerpups

We went with Shaw wood laminate--different brand than Pergo--and love it. But if you have too many wood grains going, that probably won't help you.

There is definitely a bias against vinyl flooring at present. One problem is, many people had builder's quality vinyl flooring, and it is like anything else builder's grade: It isn't going to last long, withstand scratches etc.

Sometime in the 80s, the owners replaced the flooring and countertops in our kitchen. Yes, by the time we replaced it, the vinyl flooring was worn out. But it looked good when we bought it and it was easily 10 years old at the time of our purchase. So if it takes 25 years to wear out, I'd say that's a good floor choice.

Since linoleum (marmoleum) is coming back, how about terrazzo?

For our laundry room, we used resilient vinyl, and we are really happy with it. It is quiet, forgiving, easy to clean, and tough. It looks great in our old Maine farmhouse. We DIY'd it and it was a dream to work with, no gluing, it is tacked down around the perimeter under the baseboards or with molding under the radiators. It gets high traffic and we've had no problems, even when installing -- ourselves, mind you -- the W&D and big freezer.

Here is a link that might be useful: Stainmaster Resilient Vinyl

Karndean is really cool (my taste). We were going to use it in the kitchen, but the local dealer's installer wanted the earth to install - not because the product is hard to install but because we had ceramic tile to be removed. So did another dealer of another product. In the end, we chose to do wood and removed the ceramic ourselves. I regret not revisiting the decision in some ways. I guess I never though we could get the subfloor as clean as we did and the wood flooring was a done deal by then.

Some of them have a lot of texture - pretty non-skid but are still easy to clean. Some have matte finishes. Some come in vinyl planks or tiles. If somebody carries Karndean nearby, its worth a look.

Here is a link that might be useful: Really nice replicas

We did choose to do a vinyl kitchen "slate-like" floor. I have had people comment on it. We like it a lot. We have a dog and small children, and I'm not a meticulously clean person. It is great for us. And, I am considering using it or a similar product in our bathrooms when we redo them.

I'd go to a flooring store, if I were you, and have a look at what is available (the resilient line already mentioned has a lot of great choices).

Thank you all for posting your suggestions and pictures.

I went to a flooring store today and saw MANY nice options. They did have Karndean but not the latest stuff - he said his rep will be in with some of the newer books soon. They had very nice cork - I sent an email to the company (US Floors) asking for samples. I also saw a ceramic tile by ceramica sant'agostino that was gorgeous and looked like reclaimed wood planks (7" by 36" long).
They had Marmoleum which I REALLY liked. I was a little all over the map because there were some many options.

I should have a sample of the doorstyle coming soon with the wood that I like. This will help me pull it all together.

If anyone has any pictures of their durable non-wood flooring please post it. Thanks!

khinmn, Thanks for the warning. I have found some information online---good and bad---about luxury vinyl tile. It seems that one key to success is meticulous floor preparation. The material we are looking at is a bit heavier than the ones I've been able to find information about. Also they don't have adhesive strips along the edges, they actually click together like laminate floors. Our friend speaks well of the product, but I thnk the viewpoint of the installer can differ significantly from the one who lives with the floor over time. For that reason, we're considering buying a smaller amount of the LVT we want for our kitchen and putting it in an upstairs bathroom (a DIY project). Then we can see how it works out there before committing to putting it in the entire kitchen.

mabel, Isn't all vinyl resilient? Or when you mention "resilient vinyl" is that a distinctive type of vinyl? The sheet vinyl we have in our kitchen now is, I believe, over twenty years old and has just started showing some wear in the past year or so. I think it's a great product for wet areas, and I like it better than the ceramic or porcelain tile I've had in the past. I would consider a sheet vinyl, but we haven't seen anything we like that much yet---of course we haven't looked at that many places. I know I want to be sure to get a good quality, not too thin, floor that won't be prone to tearing or denting. By the way, I love the floor you chose for your laundry area---it really complements the wood. I only wish my laundry room looked so good.

bmorepanic, The Karndean looks very similar to the Downs LVT I mentioned. Have you seen it installed or do you known anyone who has installed it? The LVT sounds good, but I wish I could find some information from someone who has actually had it installed in their home.

kirkhall, Is you "slate-like" floor sheet vinyl or vinyl tiles of some sort? Do you have a link to what you put in?

mamadadapaige, Please let us know what you decide to put in and how it works out for you. While I'm glad we have so many options, it does get a bit overwhelming when we have so many choices, doesn't it? We were, at least, able to rule out anything that looked like wood, as the floors will be adjoining real hardwood floors in our foyer, living room, and dining room.

Like you I didn't want to butt new hardwood against old hardwood, and didn't want tile because I drop things that break and tile is too hard on my feet.
I used to have vinyl flooring in the kitchen: two kinds in 34 years. I really liked it because it was comfortable to walk on, easy to clean, dog toenails and other dings ween't obvious because of the pattern.
Click cork flooring was professionally installed two months ago. I can't tell the difference in comfort between cork and vinyl. Unfortunately I chose a very light color, so I'm forever cleaning. Too early to tell how well cork holds up. BUT, presumably because the subfloor (over crawl space) is so uneven, some spots are spongy and the plank joins in some spots are very visible. The installers said this was normal and wouldn't affect the warranty.

I didn't want any of the marmoleum patterns or colors available here, so I have no opinion on marmoleum.

HTH

Sail-away, The vinyl we chose is called resilient vinyl, and it is nicely cushioned -- not spongy feeling, just more comfortable than the vinyl of unknown age/origin in our kitchen or the wood floors elsewhere. It is also fiberglass backed so did not need to be glued down. And thanks, we looked at a lot of vinyl flooring before we saw this one and instantly liked it.

I've had cork in the kitchen for almost five years and I've been very happy with it. My kitchen is on slab and before I put the cork down, it had sheet vinyl. The cork is warmer than the vinyl and is much more comfortable to stand on. I've also dropped glasses and they don't break when they hit the floor. The pattern I have is Natural Cork Douro. The color and swirling pattern means that it rarely looks dirty. I have the click and lock floating floor, but if I did it again I would probably look at the glue down. The click and lock still looks quite good, but I can see a few edges that I think will wear eventually.

Another option you might consider is real linoleum (one brand is Marmoleum). I have some friends who put this in their kitchen and it looks great. Linoleum is made from natural materials.

I am on vacation and away from my pictures, but when I return, I will try to remember to post a picture of what we picked. (or email me privately to remind me)

Ours is a sheet vinyl--I didn't want a lot of seams, but we do have 1 seam due to the size of floor it covers.

The installers put a LOT of time into preparation, and I think that is key.

Carnishel & Flicka, the cork floors sound wonderful, especially for a kitchen where you spend a lot of time standing. Glad it's worked out so well for you.

Mabel, I think I should see if I can find some sheet vinyl like what you installed. We like the look of a stone floor and, so far, any sheet vinyl we've seen looks too fake. But we haven't seen it all, so who knows?

Kirkhall, Thanks---I'll look forward to seeing the photos later.

About the seams---the vinyl planks that we are looking at click together and are described as "sealing" when they are clicked together. I, also, am concerned about seams trapping crumbs, dirt, etc., or letting in water, but they were adamant that the way it seals prevents that. That is the main reason I want to put the vinyl planks in an upstairs bathroom to make sure everything works as it should.

Cork -- soft and warm under bare feet -- has been used for bathroom floors in Britain for a long time, and it works great. Globus has made innovations in coloring cork tiles and developing the kinds of patterns that can be laid with marmoleum. The web site has lots of photos and lots of information.

Here is a link that might be useful: Globus

@sail-away - the local store had some large sections installed and big sample boards. It was a new product (at that time) for the dealer and I stumbled upon the dealer while looking for amtico samples.

Karen Belle, I must admit every time I've seen a comment about Marmoleum I've tended to rule it out because I, mistakenly, thought it came in just one color, usually a primary color (with no variation in shade). I recently took a closer look and discovered the huge range of flooring available in Marmoleum.

I have favored the LVT plans up until now, but haven't been able to shake my concerns about it and haven't been able to find much information from people who have actualy installed it and lived with it for a while. Now I'm switching my focus to Marmoleum and will be dragging my DH to the floor store to look at it with me.

Thanks to you and all the others who continue to sing the praises of Marmoleum. I'm not sure where I got the idea that it was so one-dimensional and consisted of only a limited range of bright colors. (Not that there's anything wrong with bright, primary colors, just wouldn't work for my kitchen.) Maybe, finally, we've found something we will actually be willing to go ahead with.