There is no rule that you should match countertop to floor. I've seen spectacular white kitchens with dark wood floors, beautiful mid tone wood kitchen with mid tone floors, and so on. Since your kitchen is small (like mine) my initial instinct would be to get a similar tone floor to your cabs.

Personally, I find tile a consumers nightmare! Every time I've had to pick out tile I come home from shopping confounded! Take your door and countertop sample with you, go tile shopping and bring home LOTS of samples. I would also take into consideration the color of your appliances. I have honey spice birch cabinets, a dark grey countertop, ss appliances, and I ended up with a tile I love (unfortunately, it is discontinued or I'd recommend it). Our floor tile is a colorbody (or through body) porcelain and it wears like iron. It looks kind of like a weathered limestone with colors of the honey spice tone, silvery grey and white. It is not too dark and not too light; hides dirt too. I also like the feel of it on bare feet, like water worn stone. We got 18" tiles and we like that size in a smallish kitchen. DH thinks it is one of his favorite things about the kitchen. I feel for you - choosing tile is hard. It helped me to have my BIL give his opinion; he is a printer. So, I'd suggest having someone you know with color sense come and take a look at the samples in your kitchen. Good luck with it and let us know what you choose.

I'd probably look in the beige/tan range and bring home three preliminary samples -- JUST for color-testing. You'll need to see how the colors change in your home's light, and how the kitchen flooring would transition to adjacent rooms. Choose one sample that runs slightly pink, one that's a bit yellow, and one that's more taupe. Don't even worry about the pattern at this point. Just try to see what the best shade in the yellow-pink-taupe range is. Then fine tune.

Fine-tuning points:
-- Edges - perfectly straight (rectified), straight, slightly curvy, 'chippy or Old World'?
-- Pattern - 'Dotty' or pixelated? Stone look? Shiny glazes or matte? Recognizable pattern? How many different 'repeats' are there?
-- Size - Do you want something really large? Medium? A mixed-size pattern?
-- Hide the Dirt or See it to clean it?

Have you considered a tile that looks like wood flooring? It's really pretty and rapidly becoming very popular. I was in a JCPenney's a few wees ago and some workers were installing it in the store, it looked fabulous, very realistic and warm. Here's a link for some I found online with a picture.

Here is a link that might be useful: link to some pictures.

I agree the idea of taking a cabinet door and a
piece of your counter top with you to the tile store.
Then look for a favorite or many favorites. Bring them
home so you can really see what it will look like.

So many beiges and creams that can go with your
honey spice. It will look wonderful.

Here are some ideas but a web shot does not really
give a true color with various monitors.
It can help you imagine. Your best bet is to see the
tile in person with your cabinets.

~boxerpups

{{!gwi}}

Platino Rustic ceramic tile