It's such a personal preference. The two are so different so try to understand why you are drawn to each. You need to ask yourself a few questions, as noted above. Do you tend to prefer strong color contrasts with the cabinetry or something more subtle and quiet? Do you prefer to see some movement? Would it bother you to be looking into something very dark or patterned when you are working? What overall effect are you looking for in your kitchen? When you gather pictures of kitchens you like, do you find a pattern to the types of counter tops among them?

Here's the deal for me: people can be such snobs about things like flooring, but of all of the things that we put into our homes, it absolutely has to suit your needs and your lifestyle. Flooring can be expensive, it requires regular maintenance, and it's a chore to install. If vinyl is what works best for you and your needs, then by all means use it! And as far as resale value goes (I got that lecture, too) I say, let the people who buy the house use whatever they want! When we were looking at houses, there wasn't a single house that we looked at that we thought we'd pay more for because of the flooring! Or the paint, for that matter, but that's a whole 'nuther rant. Anywho, thanks to those that liked our vinyl! It's also that Allure flooring, I think in the Teak color. That pic above is my craft room, and I also wanted a tough flooring that I wouldn't feel bad if I dribbled paint on it. We also put it in our living/media room. We spend a LOT of time in there, eat meals in there, the cats hang out in there, etc. We have carpet in the bedrooms and tile in the rest of the house, so we wanted something different. Apparently the PO's installed all brand new flooring in the entire house except those two rooms. And Northcarolina, I'd paint those stairs and just be done with it! You can always add hardwood on top of it, but YEARS is too long to have an unfinished project!

At one point, I was considering CoreTec, as well. I had a local mom-and-pop flooring shop come out to my house, measure every room, and discuss what I wanted out of my floors. The sales rep (the son of the owners) flat out told me that, given my situation, he would NOT recommend LVP. He said that dark LVP (I gotta have dark floors, lol; I just love them) + lots of sunshine (my main living areas all face south, with considerable eastern light as well) + tons of kids + 160 pound dog = very unhappy Me. He assured me that I would see every single scratch, every single day, and that it would bug me to high Heaven. He's right. He recommended wood look tile for my slab-on-grade house. I expressed skepticism, remarking that, "I'm not sure you'll be able to get the grout lines small enough for me, without voiding the warranty on the tile...." And he proceeded to show me photos on his phone of itty bitty grout lines on a wood look tile. Not that I'm necessarily saying you should go with tile, but know the non-cleaning downsides to dark LVP. :-)

Thanks so much everyone for weighing in. I definitely think LVP might be the winner. I realize it doesn't conduct the heat as well as tile but maybe that's not a big deal. I think a wood look would be my preference, maybe with a couple area rugs to define spaces within the wide open rec room, make it feel cozier and provide extra cushioning for kids. I grew up with a basement with wall-to-wall carpeting and my sister and I did a lot of roughhousing down there (mostly pretty safely, although once she accidentally broke a friends' collar bone with a wrestling move!) so I was just picturing all that on a tile floor and cringing.