Marmoleum is one of my favs and the new click and lock system looks like you could do it yourself if you're handy. The assortment of patterns you can create with their tiles would suit any taste and budget. Good luck and please be sure to send us the before and afters once the project is complete.

Woven vinyl flooring is great in a kitchen - check out a company called Bolon - they put together any design/color combination - very cool product.

cork is great on the feet. and dropped dishes have a tendency to bounce instead of break.

Have you considered concrete floors? They have a really modern/industrial feel and they're relatively inexpensive.

...sorry,off topic but dog is soooo cute!!!.

I like the idea of Marmoleum or linoleum- it's very much back in trend because it's a natural product and thus you're not filling your home with nasty chemicals (like laminate).
Those cabinets are going to be very dark... so even if you have a lot of new windows, you would want to keep the floor light in colour. How about grey, or grey and bamboo colours to match your counters?

We're looking at marmoleum and marmorette (Armstrong's product) - we love the multitude of colors available. We're thinking of getting scraps, left-overs, and working out a design. That would suit our budget (nothing) and my husband likes that challenge! Your kitchen is going to be fantastic - send photos of the process and when you're done.

CENTIVA. www.centiva.com

I cannot recommend their luxury vinyl floors enough (I'm a commercial interior designer). I strongly recommend checking out their facebook page for photos of all different kinds of installations. The product is just gorgeous and it's going to give you a much more grown-up look than marmoleum, imho. If you don't want a wood look, check out their stone collection... it's fantastic.

Also, they will laser cut any design or pattern you can imagine, and it's EXTREMELY precise. You will see photos of this on their facebook page as well.

http://www.facebook.com/pages/Centiva/107662365938335#!/photos.php?id=107662365938335

I love the vintage look of vinyl composite tile. Think school tile. Lots of colors available.

P.S. love your boxer too. I have one that looks just like that.

Depending on how much DIY or even time you want to spend on the floor, check out www.skimstone.com. With a bonding primer, it can be applied over anything, not just concrete. Could give you the ability to incorporate a design like you mentioned.

We used cork in our kitchen renovation and love it, however, we also have a Boxer and the floor has not been holding up very well with her paws and nails. Also, we've found that when we entertain, women's heels leave depressess and not all of them 'pop' back up. We still love the product, but think we're going to have to replace it at some point.

thanks charliemomo! that's our newest addition Baxter. a rescue from MN Boxer Rescue. he's overseeing the project!

We have cork in our kitchen and LOVE it. Even have a curve. BUT, cork fades in sunlight and there's nothing you can do about it. So if you get alot of light, it's not the best choice.

wow! thanks everyone! i'll check out the other products you mentioned. marmoleum was the only one i was familiar with. i saw it on an episode of Devine Design about 5 years ago & had it pegged ever since. AnastasiaBeaverhausen - one of the combos we're looking at focuses on grey. so you and i are on the same page. Abcornwell - i totally admire you're "no budget" approach. that's what allowed me to paint the floor for the last 6 years. and it was somewhat eco-friendly cuz i used house paint that would have ended up in a land fill. but time for something more permanent and less maintenance. good luck with yours & i'd love to see it as well.

in the meantime, i'm blogging about it as we move along on our project - www.blondemafia.blogspot.com

you can get to know Baxter & big sis Cookie at www.dailyboxer.blogspot.com as well!

i'll keep checking back in to see what more you or others have to say. so glad i posted here & thanks for the input so far!

We put in Marmoleum eight years ago and it has been great. Soft and warm under foot, easy to clean, great range of colors (ours is Sahara, which compliments the original 1929 wood cabinetry). It's the second house we've used it in and we would do it again (although we are now in our "forever" or at least long term home).

I too love Marmoleum, but when I went to price it out for my kitchen, I thought my usual lack of a high-functioning mental calculator had gotten the decimal in the wrong place. But, no. It was way too expensive for our budget. Then I found the Armstrong "Rave" products: incredible range of colors for that good old mid-century modern style. Lots of recycled content, and some points for a LEED rating if you're looking for them.

Chilewich can be used as a flooring material. It is soft on the feet in the same way that cork is. Marmoleum sounds like a great option for you too. Given how much wood you will have with the cabinets and the bamboo, wood floors might be too much. Something light would look great with the combination you have going. Good luck!

I have an engineered cork product in my bath and laundry. It's beautiful, but I really think the engineered planks are not the way to go. Too many problems with the finish and with water. I wish I'd gone with old school cork like was used in public buildings 80 years ago. It understand it's much more hard wearing.

Marmoleum or cork would be my vote. You could get either in tiles of different colors/tones that would allow you to create any pattern you would like.
Good Luck!

I wouldn't dismiss tile, especially if it's Silestone tile.

I think you should definitely visit e-counters.com and see what's available! It's not cheap, but damn it's gorgeous!

I investigated Marmoleum for our new house, and it was (a) too expensive, (b) difficult to find in NH (only one dealer, way up north), and (c) supposedly HAD to be installed by professionals, not DIY, and at a pretty hefty installation cost.

We ended up choosing an 18 inch vinyl tile that looks a lot like slate. It's softer underfoot (and with dropped dishes) than ceramic, and we like the dark greenish/brownish tones with our light maple cabinets and dark green granite counters. (I think ours was from Armstrong, but I don't really remember.) We had something similar installed on the diagonal in our old house, in the tiny galley kitchen, and it made the floor space seem bigger.

We just had our finished-basement's concrete floors acid-stained. Including prep and installation, it was $4.99 a square foot. And it looks gorgeous. The concrete was installed 30 years ago, so there was plenty of character when the stain went on. It's a brown-amber color and I describe it as looking like tanned leather.

There are unlimited colors and techniques to choose from, too. I highly recommend it.

Can someone who has used or priced marmoleum say how much it was?

I know you don't want wood, but would bamboo be acceptable? It would coordinate with the countertops, and it's quite durable.

Try marmoleum. I think it's relatively reasonable.

In our new studio space we installed plywood which we white-washed on site. It was easy and affordable, and has an edgy and industrial look, without trying too hard. I love the not perfect, milky white-washed look, which also calms down the colour of the plywood. Simple to install, you just need to align your seams, aluminum screws proportionally with even spacing.
Our 2 large dogs have done some (very minimal) scratching, but it only enhances the look!

Hi! I work for Armstrong. Just wanted to clear up any confusion anyone might have about our products. Our linoleum line of floors is called "Marmorette." Our Rave flooring products are part of our commercial, not residential, line of floors. For more info: http://bit.ly/hqVubH Good luck choosing your floor - you've got lots of great options!

Have you thought of using rubber flooring? Based on what you've said about liking curvy design you might like the repetitive circle pattern.

Someone mentioned you should have a light floor with dark cabinets. From a lighting designer's standpoint, if your counter-tops and walls are light you could have dark cabinets and floors. It's the work surface that needs to be light to see what your doing. I tend to go more dramatic though. Also, with a wall of windows you shouldn't have a problem.

Marmoleum click is about $6.50 sq. ft. (material, not installation) It would be a great option for a kitchen for someone who has dogs. There is a cork backing, so you get some of the benefits of a cork floor (eco friendly, easier on your back than a hard surface), but not the problems with it not holding up to dogs like you do if you went with just a cork floor. The click is much much easier to install than sheet marmoleum and you can have fun with patterns.

well, we finally did it. this past weekend the new Marmoleum flooring was laid down.
http://blondemafia.blogspot.com/2011/04/i-goofed.html
we used Henna & Oyster. grand total was $5500 installed. that included the installing laying a new layer of premium underlayment on top of our sub-floor (we had to pull the old/painted sub-floor & i almost cried). but it was SOOOO worth it! can't wait to get the kitchen in! feel free to go back to the main link as i blogged the entire install over Sat & Sun

oh & thanks to everyone for their comments & suggestions. it was fun & helpful taking it all in! AT readers are the best!