I don't think the flooring is cheap, it's just that I've seen what happens to laminate when it gets wet, and in the kitchen (and laundry) you have to expect that it will. There's no point paying for a floor you know is going to get ruined. Unless you want to buy extra to have on hand should you need to replace any flooring for resale.

Pretty PLEASE... Advice on grout color really needed!!! I'm looking for a gray color grout to go with Clay Grafito porcelain tile from The Tile Shop. I like the look of this tile & grout:

We have hardwood throughout our main no tile at all. Is that an option ?

Hi there! I do indeed have updated photos. We ended up choosing Pental Quartz’s Carrara (a quartz imitation of Carrara marble). When I saw larger images of Venatino, it looked rather like someone had splatted a bunch of black threads on a white countertop—not quite what I was going for! If you google for images, you may see more examples. - Countertop: Pental Quartz’s Carrara - Tile: Riad Tile’s 2x6 Zellige in Snow - Cabinets: SW Pure White - Walls: SW Zurich White - Butcherblock and Shelving: some combo of Mahogany stain with a darkening (mildly graying) water-based stain, with Rubio’s 2C Pure. There also might have been some Provence stain? Not totally sure. The shelving and beam had a higher proportion of the water-based stain to maje them darker. Any relevant details I am missing?