I've had the same cork floors in my kitchen for 12 years now. While the original dark stain has definitely faded a bit, the tiles themselves have only suffered minor wear and tear. I'd install it again in a heartbeat-it's amazing on your back if you stand on it a lot and fairly soft when it comes to dropped dishes (many a glass has survived the fall). I'm a big fan!

I have a dark green/brown in my bedroom. Make sure you seal it, even though they say it already is, it needs to be again. Be careful with you're stains, however; my dad sealed his in his kitchen and it tinted yellow, which completely changed it and he hates.
It's also soft, so anything with a little weight is going to leave an impression. We had to put boards underneath our bed post. Also, be advised that whichever color you choose, it's only that color on the top layer. If something scraps it, then the cork itself will be exposed, and man does it stick out. I've seen the corrective coloring sticks (I think they're like a Sharpie), but I haven't tried them yet.
Make sure you wipe up excess moisture (it will damage over time), and only clean will a damp mop or very mild soap. If you take care of it and sweep/wet swifter often, it will last and it is great. although one of my friends mistook mine for subflooring....
I got mine on iFloor. Excellent customer service, and I door love my cork.

We've had cork flooring in our kitchen for at least a year now and we love it! It's got resilience so your legs don't get as tired when you're standing up preparing food for long periods of time, unlike with a tile floor. We were warned to avoid spilling water and/or leaving puddles on the floor, but so far we've had around the average amount of spills/puddles which have not always been cleaned up quickly (we have a puppy... enough said) and the flooring has been fine, no leaking at all!
Also, it looks nice in our kitchen!

i have had cork floors in my well used kitchen for 6 years. as far as wear and tear it is wonderful. there is some fading, but the color is still gorgeous, albeit lighter. i have dropped a few very heavy things on it, which caused divots---but it really can take a lot before showing age. i agree with the others that it is heaven on the legs.

Love love love our kitchen floors, cork planks. We have not had the impression problem, so far. It bounces right back up when you move furniture that's been on it. Some of the damage we've tried to do: We have a big dog and a teenage boy with soccer cleats and tons of traffic (you have to go through the kitchen to get to the back of the house, which includes the family room and master bedroom). We have had a plumbing flood. I cook constantly. But it shows no sign of wear at all (18 months installed). We did not seal it, were told explicitly not to (it game with a wax seal).

We love the natural look in an older home, love that it hides dirt, and easy clean up with the Bona system.

Like everyone has said, if you spend time cooking, you will be so grateful you have it. I do an all day session of cooking most Saturdays and am barely tired at the end.

Can't recommend it strongly enough.

Be careful, because sometimes they can be very slippery when you're walking on them in socks. If you wear shoes or go barefoot in the house, not a problem.

When I was little we used to live in a tiny studio flat and we cork floored the entire thing! I agree with everyone that it was comfortable, however I am not sure if it's too suited for a kitchen... I guess it would depend on the quality you get, but if you get a spill that you don't notice it can cause trouble (once our window leaked slightly and before we noticed the tiles curled) as well as any heavy furniture that leaves marks. The most damage done by far was by our CATS who loved the fact that they can sprint back and forth and claw into the floor for better turns and thus more running... So I guess I say go for it unless you have mischievous pets running around :)

When we were remodeling the house we bought, I decided on cork floors for my kitchen. And I love it! I didn't have to go with colored cork, mine is actually "cork" colored (because it matched my decor so perfectly). It hides dirt (almost too well sometimes). Good quality cork is cushy and more comfy to stand on than tile or laminate or hardwood. It's pretty hardy too - bounces back from indentations from furniture or high heel shoes. And it goes down in squares so if part does get damaged, it's easy to replace. And I use the same stuff to clean my cork as I do my hardwoods so it simplifies my cleaning methods (and makes it shiny).

@suzee, I'd love to know which brand you got! I hear there can be a vast difference in quality between brands.

we installed cork tiles in our bathroom after loving it so much at the frank lloyd wright properties we love and visit often (fallingwater, kentuck knob, and duncan house). we really love them, and my husband said they were a cinch to install. the floor has held up beautifully. a previous commenter noted that it can be slippery when wet, which is true, but we just try to manage puddles like we would with any other bathroom floor and it's fine. we plan to install it on many more floors of our home as we remodel!

I have a friend with a cork floor in her kitchen that was installed about 10 years ago. She has done nothing special to maintain it, and is (and I say this affectionately) a bit slovenly in her cleaning habits. I won't claim that it is beautiful, because it isn't -- but it has held up remarkably well under her benign neglect. This is why I am planning to install cork floors when I finally do my kitchen remodel...

We have had cork floors in our kitchen/dining room for 3 years. It's a large area, and as mentioned before it can be very slippy when walking in just socks. If you don't wear shoes in your house then I suggest that slippers or bare feet is the safest. As we don't wear shoes I leave slippers by the kitchen door for us all. The kids automatically pull their shoes and socks off when they get in, then they can run around safely in their slippers or bare feet.

We are in a rental with cork floors in the kitchen, and I really, really like them. They warm the room up and are a pleasure to stand on while cooking. Our landlord has had them in for two years and we've lived with them for a year so far--no fading here. It does seem, as others have mentioned that different brands would make a big difference, and that it's important that they're sealed well. We've never had water damage trouble on ours. I will say that I've dropped our stainless steel pots a few times on them and they do leave small divots. These are minor, but over time I'd want to be able to take out damaged tiles and replace them with others. Theoretically, if you kept some extra tiles around, this wouldn't be a problem?

Any recommended brands? We're considering this for our kids' playroom.

Thanks!

Our only problem with the cork floors is that the cat scratches them up something awful, so I do NOT recommend if you have cats!

Thanks for all the great reviews, I always have shoes or slippers on my feet, and dont have a cat. I wonder if I could use cork as my back splash as well?

we've had cork in our kitchen and one adjacent room for 4 years, and i would not recommend it. our 75-lb dog has scratched the floors beyond repair, mostly near the door to our yard. perhaps it would be less noticeable if we had a different finish, but we went with bleached cork, and didn't realize that it would only be that color on the surface. any scratches are the darker cork color and are incredibly obvious. we also have the issue with chair legs or other heavy objects leaving divots or dents. i love the idea of cork floors, even still, but we are of the opinion it was the worst remodel choice we made when we bought our house 4 years ago.

I just moved out of a recently remodeled condo with cork in about half, and it was horrible. Constantly sticky, and I'm a frequent cleaner. It was also peeling in places. Just gross.

I would love to know what brand flooring you have? I am interested in putting cork floors in my kitchen and Im sure their are many different levels of quality in each brand.