I would go with the wood look tile. Go to several tile distributors and look. Some look fake and terrible and others look beautiful. I had my heart set on http://www.mediterranea-usa.com/havana.html The local distributor had it for $3.89 per sq foot on sale (half the usual price) They can lay it with a very minimal grout line since its high quality tile and that also makes it look like a wood floor. However - when we ripped up the carpet to explore why our tile was cracking in the foyer - we found a big crack right down the middle of the floor. There were ways to fix the crack - but since the house is only 5 years old we worried that its still settling in the soft Florida sand... so we are going with a floating laminate floor. Wilsonart is the best quality I could find. Its going down on Monday. Don't worry too much about pee, poop, puke in the grout lines. My old house was all tile, and while I hate grout lines with a passion - they never held any odors. Go with a dark grout - cause no matter how many times you seal it - it will still get dirty - believe me - I've done it. Best cleaner I've found for grout lines is the magic eraser but basically I've given up and live with dark grout lines. Oh yea - and the dogs will always have accidents on your carpets and throw rugs - they seem to avoid the tile for messes :)

Are you sure about changing the flooring just for the kitchen? I've always had wood floors in the kitchen, they are nice and warm, and softer than tile.

Your furniture and accessories should be considered as well. Will you be painting all the rooms the same color and if so, have you thought about neutrals. Suggest bringing floor sample to paint store and have an idea what color (not shade) you want to go with. BM has great paint and the consultant will be able to guide you - cool vs warm, undertones etc. Bring home lots of chips, as there is a lot of painting and you want to get it right

What a charming house! You've done great. I had somehow missed this thread up to this point, and I did not read all (or even a significant fraction) of the previous responses. I have a 1910 house and also don't like subway tile. But I wanted something that fit the era of the house. I ended up going with a simple (and extremely cheap) 4x4 white field tile capped with a contoured molding tile (that almost but doesn't quite match the field tile because I couldn't find a molding I like from the a manufacturer that did a 4x4 field tile that was 4x4 rather than 4.25 x 4.25. Adds to the charm). I have very few uppers, though. I think a 4x4 white (or gray, since you seem to think white is too stark) field tile with black or charcoal pencil liner would be cool. These all show a pencil liner with subway because that's what the popular kids are doing, but it would work as well with a 4x4 or other basic field tile.