The kitchen was covered in nice looking Italian tile about 20 years ago, but it didn't hold up and it's cracked in many, many places. All it takes is a misaimed item from the fridge to generate a new crack. Fixing up a kitchen is cost effective if you want to sell a house, so when I have some money I want the bad floor to go.

What have you found to be the most durable and attractive flooring?

I am going to take measurements using square feet, and would like to start looking for a great deal on something really nice. Can somebody help me figure out how much flooring I have to buy?

Two of the nicest floors I've seen have been bamboo and cork. Both are renewable resources, which is an added plus. The cork has a nice feel to walk on, and looks quite nice. Bamboo has the beauty of hardwood floors at a lower price (IIRC), and faster renewal rate. Both are veneered, so cleanup is easy.

Porcelain tile. Much stronger than ceramic, more durable and reasonably priced if you're concerned about the budget. I'm not a great fan of organic materials for kitchen floors and vinyl is out completely.

This is most interesting to me too. I don't have any money to do renovations at the moment, but replacing the 37-year-old orange-and-yellow linoleum in the kitchen of the house we just bought (and have not yet finished moving into) is definitely 'on my radar.'

I was thinking tile. But that will require improving the floor (I assume), because it flexes and creeks when you walk on it, which would cause tiles to crack.

But bamboo sounds interesting. I might actually consider bamboo for the whole main floor (where there isn't nasty lino, there's equally unappealing champagne-colored shag carpet).

Any other suggestions?

Cheers

i put in hardwood throughout my entire place, kitchen and bathroom included

it makes the place look bigger as the eye isn't interrupted by any changes in flooring

i have an open concept living/dining/kitchen

If the floor flexes and creaks now it'll flex and creak when you install the bamboo. Bamboo installs the same way as hardwood flooring. The condition of the subfloor is extremely important. There are products designed for tile installation which compensate for poor subfloors. Consider the Schluter Ditra system. It's specifically designed to prevent tile cracking.

My subfloor was 4" T&G pine at full 4/4 and about 80 years old with a lot of flexing and creaks. I re-screwed the planks to the joists before installing my hardwood. Two screws per plank every 16" OC. If you have a 3/4" plywood subfloor, screw on another layer of 1/2" plywood being careful to overlay the seams. Keep in mind that with a 3/4" bamboo floor the total increase will be 1-1/4". You will need to remove your base cabinets, trim doors, install new thresholds and transitions to other rooms.

I had cork flooring in my kitchen for more than 5 years.
It is easy to clean, environmentally friendly, warm and easy on the feet.
Even when i stand bare footed for hours in the kitchen, it still feels very good.
The floor is the best used in kitchen and bath room as it withstand moisture better than most materials.

I have also installed bamboo flooring (horizontal strands) non-carbonized colour.
Just loved it!!
During installation, I've used a staple gun and did I really nice job.
When I had to hammer in the nails at the end pieces, I've actually missed my hammer a few times and the floor planks showed absolutely no signs of damage.

Good Luck!!

Do you have pictures? I would love to see what the floor looks like..

Thanks,
RtC

I really like the cork idea, and found something so cheap I could do it now, and maybe even another room with a torn up floor. What do you think of this?

Cork flooring

This product is as good looking as the other types that cost more, but I can't find it reviewed anywhere. $1.29US per square foot. How can you beat that?

You could always get your ceramic resurfaced. andy colour, pattern, texture design etc you want. Stronger than concrete and it looks great. I had my porch redone with this stuff and it was fantastic.

Here is a link to the company that did mine: Unique Surface Solutions.