I do not care for the U shaped kitchen at all!! I have lived in a home with only one pass through to kitchen. It's horrible and terribly inconvienent to the person working or cooking in the kitchen.

Option 1 W/islands looks the best to me

Honestly, I don't see how/where you will put two different flooring surfaces in either of these scenarios. I guess you could tile the small area inside the peninsula in option 2, leaving the rest of the area hardwood, but option 1 with the island...I just can't figure out where to change the flooring, plus I think it will chop the spaces up. FWIW, of the 2 options, I do like the island best, but only because I would feel penned-in in the other.

Could you either tile all 3 spaces or do hardwood in all 3? Our entire downstairs in hardwood except for the mud room and master bath...and I
think it flows so nicely.

We could do hardwood in the kitchen, however the wife is ABSOLUTELY against it lol.. By doing hardwood we would be able to go with our original plans but she has read too many horror stories of spills that end up destroying the hardwood and how impossible it is to match the hardwood after.. ..

Post your plan on the kitchen forum, and read the FAQ's first. There are lots of people there who can give you good advice. There are many discussions of the pros and cons of hardwoods in the kitchen--most posters over there are in favor of wood, especially with a layout like yours.
Look for the link to a thread called Ice, Stone, Water, Fire which refers to the order in which the various work stations in the kitchen are used and the best/most efficient way to arrange them.

We've always had hardwood in our kitchen. Can't for the life of me understand why anyone would want tile. It's super hard on your feet/legs, cold, and any dropped jars break immediately.

Regarding the layouts, the option with the island is the only one I like. The one with the peninsula and the one in a U shape would really constrict the flow. But I agree, ask the kitchen forum folks.

One of the nicest things about the inspiration kitchen is the wood floors. ;-) I've had hardwood floors in the kitchen (whole house) which was heavenly-so nice to walk on. Now am in Florida on a slab with porcelain tile and my feet are killing me. If you are worried about replacing a board in the future, buy an extra carton. Just kidding, kind of. I do wonder if you could walk through some finished homes/kitchens with wood floors, or tile/wood floors to get an idea of how it really looks? That's a question for your builder/designer/floor installer.

I have had wood floors and tile floors in previous kitchens. My preference is wood. Hands down .... Good luck with your decision.

How will the morning room be used? If it is going to be used as a dining room, I think it is too narrow to also have the counter overhang with bar stools on that side. Therefore, if you want bar stools, I would think the U shaped kitchen would work better with the bar stools on the side of the counter that faces the family room.

However, I actually prefer the kitchen with the island.

I suggest you make a mock-up kitchen with cardboard boxes and walk through making meals in it to see which one feels more comfortable.

The six foot gap between the family room and the kitchen does not bother me. If you will have a couch there as shown in your floor plans, use a sofa table behind it and you have made the gap only five feet :)

I like plan 1 better, but it's a shame not to have any seating at the island, and there isn't room for any in the plan. In plan 2, you could carry the counter overhang around the corner and down that side of the U for stools, to take up some if the room you're worried about, but it might be tight getting into the morning room.

I'd post this on the Kitchen forum. Be prepared for suggestions to change your kitchen layout, but they will help you find the best mix of form and function, as well as figure out your flooring issues.

I have wood throughout our main floor, including the Kitchen, and love it. Changing flooring does tend to chop up a space. But to each their own!

Just to pile on, I'll never again have tile or stone in a kitchen. PITA to stand on for any length of time, will shorten the life of your joints (maybe low priority now, much higher priority when you're 50 and wish you weren't getting a knee replacement), cold, stuff breaks easier, and is more difficult to keep clean.

You need only look at 100 year old houses with original wood floors in the kitchens to know how well they hold up and how good they still look after a century.

I have had two water incidents on my hardwood floor in my kitchen and first floor area. One was a dishwasher leak that was not discovered for not sure how long. It wasn't until the hardwood boards began to curl that I noticed it. (The leak was from under the dishwasher so the water ran under the hardwood, not on top when I could see it.) The boards curled on the edges in an area of about a square foot. We had the leak fixed and once the boards fully dried, they laid back down and you cannot see where it happened.

The next incident was much worse and, again, once the boards dried, there is no evidence at all of an accident. Water overflowed the laundry room sink and seeped under the walls and soaked the hardwood floor in the hall outside the laundry room.

Our floors were refinished before the incidents and they used Bona Traffic.

I know you said your wife is completely against hardwood in the kitchen but it is very practical. We have big dogs who dribble water on the floor after they drink, track in big snow balls on their feet in the winter and humans who spill things on the floors and ours have never been affected by these types of spills.

I am prejudiced against tile, though, because I hate the way the grout looks in the traffic areas and I hate trying to keep the grout clean.

I have to agree with your wife on no hardwood. I've had it twice. Twice I have detested it. It can't be cleaned(disinfected) the way a kitchen floor should be cleaned. We had an issue with the auto defrost on our fridge. It resulted in a little bit of water overflowing the pan, and curling/darkening our oak floor. We're doing Marmoleum in the house we are currently building.

Option #2 for me. I dislike islands you have to walk around in a kitchen. A "U" shaped kitchen is very practical...IMO.

For a small home, there are too many areas to eat food and not enough room dedicated to producing that food to eat. You'd be better off eliminating the peninsula between the breakfast area and kitchen and just turn the kitchen into a galley, with the island facing the family room being the large second wall of the galley. That allows for better circulation, seating, and separation of areas. Better still would be to eliminate the nook as nook, enlarge the footprint, and rework it into the kitchen. Then strengthen the connection with the dining area so that it is used for everyday eating as well a 3x a year holidays.

Like this.

My own personal druthers -- I find live_wire_oak's plan way too open for my own tastes. The first options are preferable to me. For myself, I'd be inclined to the peninsula of Option #2 if there is a way you can put a few chairs to the right side of it.

Re wood or tile -- you could run wood through the whole plan, or you could use the peninsula to demark where tile starts to the left.

I'm in the process of planning/almost ready to build my own home -- I'm going with mid-toned wide wood flooring for everywhere but kitchen, laundry and bathrooms. I'll have slip-resistant area rugs in the kitchen where I'm most likely to stand a long time - in front of the sink and in front of the prep station. If I drop something, I'm tall enough it's going to break from my height anyway. I've had linoleum for so LONG that I'm really really looking forward to tile!

I do recommend that you make the transition from one type of flooring to the next (if you go that route) without any difference in height - helps prevent tripping on thresholds!

i really like live wire oak's kitchen and if you don't go with that, design it the way the cook wants--after explaining your concerns

I like both of the new plans better than the original angled plan; however, if forced to choose one, it'd be the U-shape.

Options for the flooring:

- Reduce the possibility of injury to the hardwood flooring with those gel-type floor mats (since they're not cloth, they won't hold water against your flooring).

- Buy a couple extra cases of the hardwood, and tuck it away for potential repairs. If you do that, I bet you'll NEVER have any damage to that floor! Actually, I think it's wise to get a little extra flooring, tile, whatever -- you never know when you're going to need to repair something or take just ONE of your bathroom tiles to the hardware store so you can choose paint.

- Go with wood-look tile. I think it's possible to match it pretty closely.

Wood look tile? LOVE mine. Had dishwasher leak from hose connection the very first day. No problem with the tile floors.