I have had hardwood in my kitchens for years. No problems, just use care techniques and cleaning products recommended by the manufacturer.

My preference would be for hardwood everywhere. It is comfortable and warm. It's been in my kitchen/family room for 25 years and I am just refinishing it now. It's gone thru 3 dogs, 2 kids and 1 husband. It doesn't really need refinishing, but I'm changing the color.

Prefer hardwood. Know manufacturer's care instructions and see if it is advisable -- or not -- to add a gel mat (with beveled edges so its not a trip hazard) to the places where you spend a lot of time standing ... such as in front of the sink or stove.

Hardwood everywhere and I hate gel mats if you have pets the mats are hair magnets in fact I don’t like mats at all in kitchens they are IMO tripping hazards all the time.

If you don't want hardwood in the kitchen there is no reason that you need to do hardwood in the kitchen.

The current trend is to have one flooring throughout your home. Prior to the last 10 years it was much more common to have different flooring in different rooms. Usually a tile or laminate in kitchen and baths, hardwood or carpet in other living spaces. Trends come and go.

Pick the flooring that will best fit your lifestyle and make your home work for you.

There are many ways to transition from one flooring to another. The transition is easy when there is an architectural break between two room (doorways are most common).

Sometimes we can use flooring to define an area and create two spaces where there is no architectural break. My last home didn't have an architectural break between the living room and the entry, but the transition from carpet to tile defined the areas.

Here are a few other transitions that are obviously a design choice where two floorings were intentionally selected.