The fireplace is faux (bought at auction). The red walls also have a lacquer coating. There is one wall painted pale muted yellow to lighten things up a bit. Our freecycle in the Dallas TX area is Excellent. There was an add last night to give away 6 300# concrete garden benches. They required that you bring 4 men to do the lifting if you were to get one. The problem is that we could not round up 4 people quickly enough to help us lift one on Saturday. So we missed out on one of those. The lady who listed those porcelain statues on my mantle said, "Box full of chipped Brick Brack". I immediately thought about my newest interest in mosaics!!!! She said great. Then when I unpacked the box I could not bring myself to do anything but display them.

Laminate wood next to real wood won't work, doesn't matter the color. Either extend the porcelain or put in the same wood as the rest of the home.

Hi Dereck! I definitely don't think wood tiles will make your space look "cold", if done right--there are so many different tones and types available, but you can definitely fool people into thinking they're real wood! There will always be people who disagree, but ultimately it's your space and you should get what you want! I personally love the look of concrete flooring, however, some people shudder at the idea of it. I found these photos online of spaces with wood tiles--hopefully this helps. Best of luck with your project!

As Jan mentions above, it depends on what the flooring is in the adjacent rooms that will abut the kitchen floor. If it's hardwood, don't do it. But if it's carpeting or some other non-wood floor, go for it. I have clients who installed wood look tile in their kitchen and they love it. Looks great, super durable.