Will you be doing a glue down floor or a floating floor? Mannington Adura has some pretty vinyl tile in glue down that can be grouted and also a floating locksolid product. There are installation videos on the Mannington website if you are going to DIY your flooring. I would look for something that will look good with your oak cabinets and oak color flooring in the living room. There are some in the Adura and in the Mohawk that have the golden color along with shades of brown and gray. I would not put down a wood look floor since you have the wood look laminate in the living room. Armstrong and Congoleum also have some pretty vinyl as do others that have been mentioned. Only you know what your budget will be for new flooring, and you may have to have subfloor replaced if it's plywood. If it's concrete, hopefully you won't have much to do since you have had laminate there. Is your kitchen laminate glued down or floating? You might also consider sheet vinyl. I know Mannington has some pretty ones, and I'm sure the others do also. My suggestion is to go to several websites and look at what's available, and then see if any flooring dealers near you carry what you like.

I have the Home Depot Lifeproof LPV being put down now. It is a beautiful chevron design in light color wood grain. We are half way though and I want to rip it out. It looks gorgeous and that is the only good thing. The fake wood grooves hold dust and grit. I vacuumed, swept, swiffered mopped and mopped again and finally on hands and knees washed and dried the floor and if you run a hand over it there is still dust and grit. Also, I kept hearing about the good sound quality in a room compared to other hard floors and that it was not as cold as tile. BS on that too. I gave the installers a day off on a Friday hoping I would feel better about it in a few days. Nope. I feel like a fool. I spent almost $10,000 and even though it is gorgeous, I hate how cold it is and the grit just will not go away. I am in such a quandary. It was very difficult to prep the house for the installation. While it would be financially foolish, it may be better to ditch it now. Very said here in Colorado.

My decision was also informed by my love of plants. In my last home I had real engineered hardwood and my plants caused some mild water damage that ultimately cost me $30k, since I had a big house with the floors continuous throughout the first floor and I had to replace everything.

OK...I'm sure these guys believe what they are saying...but they are discussing FLOATING FLOORING. That is sitting on HDF (fibre board). The WATER PROOF stuff is 100% cork. It is 4mm - 8mm thick. There is nothing but cork...cork...and then some cork. Nothing in the middle. When people say that cork isn't good with water, I always ask them: What is in wine bottles? Cork. What is the material that kept the Titanic's Champagne 'sweat' (ie. now salt water intrusion)? Cork. I'm not kidding. Google the sale of Titanic Champagne. It exists...and so does the CORK that kept the sea water out (at 3800m = 12,000 feet). Cork is glued down to the subfloor. It is butted tightly together. Then a polyurethane is applied over top = water proof. You can spill GALLONS of water on the floor and it will sit there. The cork does nothing. It doesn't care. So long as the water does NOT reach the walls or the cabinets you are fine. This is IDENTICAL to stone. This is identical to porcelain. So long as the water does NOT reach the walls, you are fine. Just suck up the water and go. Cork is the same. Whosoever 'poo poos' cork's water proof properties does not know the REAL cork flooring. The CLICK together stuff is a different animal and it needs to be TREATED as such. I can get a floating cork floor in a kitchen. No problem. How? Because I know what I'm doing and I know what I'm dealing with. Am I an installer? Nope. Just a sales chic! But I've done it, personally, on several occasions. I can also install a decent glue down cork tile in a BATHROOM. Yep. Baths, kitchens and entranceways = super happy places for glue down cork tiles. But cork is expensive and takes +++ MONEY to install (if it is glue down). So the cork industry tries to make it easier to install....but the SALES people (and many installers) fail to understand the product and they FAIL to follow installation/maintenance instructions. I can get the softest wood floor (cork) to be water proof (glue down tile) and to be the toughest floor you will ever meet (Loba 2K Supra AT applied x 2 coats after installation). But then again, I know what I'm doing; I know what I'm working with and I UNDERSTAND what cork is. I think you would be hard pressed to find the same with the Gents in the video. As for resale, the EXPENSIVE cork glue down tiles = as valuable as marble flooring. Nope. Not kidding. But then again, I understand cork.