We are in the midst of our redo. We have travertine floors with our cherry cabinets.

I'm a slate lover and love making a statement so I'd definitely go with the slate. They make an excellent floor and there are so many varieties to choose from. Here's Indian Autumn, we just installed this in our bathroom last year.

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Thanks everyone for your pictures. They look beautiful. My problem with the slate is that I have no idea on what color I will get. The floor company didn't tell me the name of the slate; they only showed me a sample (which was a box of about 12 tiles). They ranged from very dark grey to green and some rust colored squares. I think I might go with travertine and do a slate design border or even slate in my backsplash.

Thanks again for all your post.

Two things, which you have probably considered, but I just wanted to mention briefly.

- The support that either form of tile will require. Depending on how stiff the subfloor is, you may end up adding a (often 1/2'') layer of cement board. This can mean the floor is raised above the adjoining floors. If your kitchen is a separate room, then no big deal, you'll have a transition in the doorways. If your kitchen flows into an adjoining room in an open-plan layout (you mentioned taking down a wall), then the change in level may be an issue, either visually or tripping.

- Stone or tile floors are hard and can be cold. If you have foot or ankle problems (I sometimes do) or like to cook in bare feet (I often do) then you may end up with rugs or mats on the floor.

I have the multi-hued, rough-textured slate, as you described. They hide dirt very well, are durable, and look nice, although hardly ''period'' for my house (1911 four-square). If I had my druthers, I'd chip them out and lay down wood or maybe cork. I just don't know how much effort and expense I want to go to.

A lot of people are considering cork in the kitchen now. It's a renewable resource, plus it's a bit springy, which is easier on your feet and back. I'm looking into it for our basement and have found it comes in a number of different finishes.

One other thing to consider with travertine is it does have to be sealed and it can chip if you drop something on it. I'm using it in some bathrooms (even using it as a counter in one) but the guy selling it to me warned me that it's "soft" like marble. I have NO idea if that's all true but if it is, you might want to factor that in. I believe slate is more durable.

I've got indian multicolor:

It's not this bright, the lighter tiles blend in a lot more.

The plusses are that it looks great and it does not show dirt and does not stain. If something gets dragged across it it can create a light scratch that simply running a wet sponge over it will make disappear. It feels like an outdoor floor indoors in terms of durability.

The minus is that you can't really use a spongemop to clean it. It wears them out fast because of the roughness (which I should add is totally comfortable underfoot.) I use a Hoover Floormate wet/dry vac, it sucks up all the dirty water and has rotating brushes.

If you're using multicolor, I'd suggest what I did - open all the boxes and lay the tiles out on a driveway and patio and wash them down with the hose really well to remove dust and dirt. Then sort them into piles; mine were "lighter pretty" "lighter boring" "darker pretty" "darker boring" "black/grey" "really really pretty" and "unusable" - those were the ones that were broken, or hand sharp clefts, or had ugly rough inclusions. This was the cheapest HD slate, so you might not have as many rejects.

Then I chose where the "really really pretty" tiles should go, decided to use the black/grey tiles all together in the entryway part of the floor, and told the installers to pick one from each pile, over and over. So it got a good checkerboard pattern.

Thank you for all your replies.

We have to take up the wood floor because it doesn't match the other rooms that we will be flowing into. I can't buy wood that will match as the other floors are already 5 yrs old. The kitchen floor is 18 yrs old and we stripped them 5 yrs ago to match the new wood going in the adjoining rooms. They have a yellow tint to them from the polyurethane.

We have a basement which help on the feet. Of course, we are use to it; however, I don't know what it will be like to have tile floor down. Will it be a lot worse on the feet than the wood?

I am nervous about the chipping of the travertine as well as keeping up with the seal. I do think it will be easier match with the granite counter top (to be picked out still) as well as the back splash.

With the slate tiles, I was concerned about the multicolor being too unique. Will it keep people from buying our home (say 10 yrs from now). I am also concerned with making our kitchen too dark even with having a bay window on the south wall. We want cherry cabinets too, which adds to the darkness.
I like the idea of it hiding dirt (since we have two large dogs). I like the idea of getting the Hoover Floormat wet/dry vac. I was trying to figure out how I was going to clean the slate if we choose them.

We haven't considered cork as my husband has his heart on "stone" if we have to do the floor. Honestly, he wants to stick with what we have now.

Thanks again for all your input. I love this site!!!!

I have hardwood in most of my house. I think it's a reddish cherry color stain (came with the house when we bought it). When I redid the kitchen, I went with 16" x 24" honed travertine. We had it installed in a basement bath and I fell in love with it then. I have 5 teenagers so durability was a big concern. I have zero regrets, love love love that floor and would not change a thing. It is heated as well. It's not harder on the feet, in my opinion. Stone floors have been around for thousands of years for a reason :).

I think you can see on the left side below where the wood floors from the hallway meet the kitchen, and then the same happens at the dining room doorway.

HTH!!

I also wanted slate as I absolutely love the way it looks, but we ended up going with travertine. I have to say that I don't regret it one bit. We chose scabos which has a lot of variety in the colors, since that is what I liked best about slate...the 'randomness'. Not the best pic to show the floor, but you get the idea.

Another travertine lover here. Ours is Florida Tile Pietra Art Chiseled Edge travertine in the modular pattern and in the color Picasso. It's honed. It hides EVERYTHING. It's been in for about 7 months and we haven't had any trouble with it. It doesn't stain (we've dripped red wine on it and it came out even after it dried). I can't say that I've dropped anything really heavy on it to know if it would chip or not. But ours is rustic with worm holes, etc. So if it chipped you probably wouldn't be able to tell.

I am super stressing about this choice. We are remodeling our kitchen and I have fallen in love with the look of travertine. It is the BEST complement to my cabinet and granite choice to give me that old world charm that I am going for. But everyone seems to be trying to talk me out of it! The staining and sealing is the main reason. Is it really THAT bad? I do use my kitchen a lot and we're Italian so there will always be lots of red wine and sauces! But nothing has made me swoon the way the travertine has. Your photos above did the same thing - how beautiful! Question though - what is honed? Not sure what I picked out. Just saw it and said "THAT ONE!" Still haven't made the purchase so if there's a reason why I should stay away, please tell me now! Thanks!

Costco has it at a really inexpensive price. I will say that it does hide construction dirt nicely! MAKE sure you have the right subflooring.

Someone mentioned cork above. I can only say that the one kitchen I've been in with a cork floor had stains all over on it. I asked the home owner about it, and she said this was a big problem. She later built a new home, and, in her new kitchen, stone floors. Perhaps she didn't seal it properly? She's a fabulous and prolific cook and takes good care of her stuff, so...

Sue

I have it in a good portion of my house and recommend it whole-heartedly. It isn't chipped, it isn't stained, it hides dirt to an alarming degree. I have 6 kids and we are hard on floors and everything else. It was sealed when we put it in a year-and-a-half ago and still looks great.

Decided to go with the travertine and LOVE IT! Kitchen is almost finished - how do I post pictures? Also, what's the best way to clean travertine floors? I would imagine anything with vinegar is a big no no!

I have natural travertine (not polished) and I use the Bona Stone, Tile & Laminate Cleaner Spray Mop
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B001EY967Y/ref=pd_lpo_k2_dp_sr_1?pf_rd_p=486539851&pf_rd_s=lpo-top-stripe-1&pf_rd_t=201&pf_rd_i=B001PYSFMU&pf_rd_m=ATVPDKIKX0DER&pf_rd_r=0JWB51W54WWFQPTD1R0H

Bona sells these spray "mops" that you can use with either their hardwood or tile cartridges (cleaners). I love this system because you just hold the lever to spray the floor and then mop it up with the removable (held on by velcro) sturdy, cleaning pads that wash up perfect in the washing machine. I use this system on my hardwood floors (love it!) and also my travertine floors (again love it!).

The hardwood cleaner was recommended by the company I purchased the hardwood flooring from. It is gentle, but cleans thoroughly. The tile cleaner works great also.