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 are some progress photos. The room is trimmed out now and primed with BM Silver Cloud. My initial intent was to use that for the ceiling and then Mt Rainier Grey for the walls. Now, with the prime, it looks too cold. So, I'm going one further step down to BM Winter Lake and changing the ceiling color to BM Harbor Fog. With no natural light, it's tricky with these colors. I'll post more photos when we are complete. Any comments/suggestions are welcome!

I have concrete floors w/radiant heat in the kitchen/dining room, not stained, just a sealer applied. I also have dark acid stained floors in the living room with radiant heat, a passive solar house- in the winter sun light comes in 23'. The acid stain has held up 15 yrs, but now showing some effects of the UV rays, color is definitely lighter where the sun left it's mark. The unstained kitchen has held consistent color (same sun exposure) and just now requires resealing. My wish is we had not acid stained the LR. Best guess is it will hold color another 3+years before an intervention..... & no clue how/what that will entail. My kitchen, however, is good to go, the gray patina improves with age, (& a lot of imperfections ) ,still looks good from kids, dogs, NY winters & a ton of traffic. Paint is not a good choice for longevity. Acid staining is the only way to go (it penetrates the surface) but it is a mess to deal with- prep work to protect walls/trim, wash down (with lots of water), foot booties, safety glasses, gloves, face masks & the result is a 'live with what you got' situation. Good luck.

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.