I replaced vinyl floors in my kitchen with porcelain tile and with Armstrong Alterna in a guest bath. I've been happy with both products. I never saw any sheet vinyl that looked even remotely like real tile, so I can't see putting it with an upscale product like Cambria. You don't need to grout LVT, but we did because I wanted it to look like porcelain tile. The grout lines are very small and not deep, so they don't really trap dirt. They have their own grout for the product, but I don't know much about it. Maybe it's stain-proof like epoxy grout. I haven't seen any staining of my grout, but it is a bathroom. You can also use a darker color grout. There's a vinyl product called Amtico that has been used in Europe for decades and is regarded as very high quality. We considered that for our kitchen before choosing porcelain.

I am a fabricator. Given "very farmhouse/rustic" I'd also suggest soapstone. It's a great countertop material and fits your "rustic" décor perfectly. Soapstone was once the countertop of choice for the affluent because of it's beauty and substantial durability advantage over marble and limestone. Back in the day those stones were the only ones that could be worked with the tools available at the time.

"I’d love to do a bold pattern, but I haven’t found one that doesn’t look dated."-well what can I say..lucky you))) ('cause I've found so many-but would leave me broke lol. Still obsessively think about some. depends on a house of course..I'm lucky to have a house that beg for tiles. And I myself am a tile person. And a pattern person. So we met each other. Me and the house. We met each other-and then compromised...)) Please share your progress as you go, if you feel like it..we'd love to see how it all comes together!

Thanks to everyone for your comments. When we remodeled our hall bath for the kids almost 3 years ago our contractor sized up the kitchen since we had finally addressed the bulk of the major unsexy fix issues (roof and sheathing, electrical panel upgrade and assorted fixes, plumbing, all new HVAC, and 60K worth of good Anderson replacement windows/sliders). When he removed a kitchen floor vent and a threshold it became obvious that we have plywood sub flooring that is 70’s thin with a thick mortar bed and a single tile layer. We assumed that there was extra flooring but it does not appear to be so. I have said since we purchased this house that the tile has to come up and you’ve all confirmed that my instincts are correct. I’ll plan for removal and possible subfloor replacement. I am also searching for a tile that will complement the existing tile. Our new hardwoods are refinished solid 3/4 inch wood so they are good. I will source and reprice getting matching hardwood but cannot do so through the first company, that whole experience was almost lawsuit territory after 6+ months and several partial installs (bad original install followed by other installers who noted faulty thin plank product, several sales reps also said product was no bueno so after a complaint with the state attorney general and blistering BBB review got some movement and ended up with pretty flooring). Sigh Despite good inspectors everything in this place ends up being far more than projected. Jjhmarie, do you have a suggestion for an alternate tag to get some kitchen maven suggestions? Here are cabinet door candidates and tile.