Flooring Ideas

Ever since we purchased our 13.1 acre (gotta get credit for that extra 0.1 acre!) lot outside of Albuquerque last year, Sexy Nerd and I have devoted most of our free time to planning our mountain dream home.

We cannot make a decision about anything. At this point, it seems our best option would be to build a row of townhomes, each in a completely different style. On Monday, we would live in our colorful Victorian home, and later in the week we could switch things up in our ultra-contemporary, all concrete house.

Since I can't imagine our neighborhood HOA (or our budget) ever allowing such a thing, we really do need to narrow down our list of ideas.

Flooring is a tough choice. In our current home, we have premium laminate flooring. It stands up well against our rambunctious dogs, but is easily damaged if you unknowingly drip water onto it and let it sit, like by the dog's water bowl and the dishwasher.

We also have real wood flooring on our stairs and our bedroom sitting area, but it scratches easily. Simply put, real wood and laminate are both off our list.

Which leads me to...

Ceramic tiles that look like wood!

It would be even more convincing if the grout matched the tile, right?

I'm seriously considering this for our dream home. It seems like it would be easy to maintain - no scratches or water damage. Our other top ideas right now are travertine tiles, which we currently have in our master bathroom, and stained concrete. We've come across these "wood" tiles on home tours before and have liked how they look in person.

But still...tiles that look like wood? Are these really dream home material??

Does anyone out there think this flooring will seem dated in a few years? Once it's in, I'm too cheap to change it!

*2016 Update*
We've seen wood tile dozens of times now and I still love it. There are options that are textured and that come in wide "planks". (Is it still considered a wood plank if it's not really wood?) I've visited homes that have this tile and I swear it's real wood every time. I sometimes even have to touch the floor to make sure.

You can even use wood tile in other applications, like on a fireplace or to create a statement wall. It's super trendy right now, which has me thinking we should not use it, lest it be like linoleum 10 years from now.

Also, can you believe I still haven't decided on a tile for our floor?? When I said I was having difficulty making up my mind, that was no exaggeration!

*Another Update*
If you're considering using wood tile on the wall (or even the ceiling...is that possible?), Barn WoodStone Spring Harvest from Coronado Stone is now my #1 choice:

Barn WoodStone Spring Harvest from Coronado Stone

It looks so real!

3/16/18 update: We ended up going with Crossville Speakeasy wood-look tile in our new home. I like it except the grout color is too light, the grout lines are too large, and the price (more than $6/sq ft, excluding installation) was too high.

And now, just for fun, I have some information on laminate flooring to share with you.

For those of you who doubt the durability of laminate floors, I present: Pica!

A hyper Jack Russell is no match for this floor. Even her claws sliding across it do not cause any harm.

Dropping an attachment from your stand mixer will leave a dent though, as I learned the hard way. Roomba also cannot be trusted after leaving swirls on the floor.

As an added bonus, since Pica cannot get much traction on this floor, she slides excitedly into the wall, the door, the fridge, etc. whenever we come home.