I had to put carpet on my stone tile kitchen floor (FLOR) because standing for long periods on that cold hard stuff is torture (it's a rental--I'm not going to rip it out!). Wood sounds very nice, and easier to clean than carpet.

I wish I had wood floors in my kitchen, unfortunately as a renter I'm stuck with the vinyl peel and stick tiles my landlord installed. I do have a rug though, to minimize the impact of the hideous vinyl. My parents house has wood floors and a rug in the kitchen. I never thought of it as unusual, but maybe it is. I like it much better than tile, it's so much softer on your joints to stand on and unless you drop full pots of tomato sauce on the floor regularly, I've never seen clean up to be any different.

i love our beautiful cherry floors in the kitchen! easy to clean, super durable, and they are soooo good lookin' while cookin' :)

My parents have wood floors in their (GORGEOUS!) kitchen and they don't seem to have any problems keeping them clean. Even during our Christmas baking binge, which consists of 12ish different kinds of cookies done in a day and a half, we just had to sweep between sugar spills.

When we reno'd our kitchen 2 years ago we put wood floors down. I've got rugs in front of the sink and stove. However, we had a small plumbing problem which sprayed water everywhere. Although we got it under control and sopped up all the water 20 minutes after it happened, it managed to get through the cracks and into the wood causing it to swell and buckle. So, now less than 2 years after installation the floor needs to be refinished.

While I love the look of wood, I don't think I would choose it again.

We have wood floors in our kitchen. Keeping them clean is not an issue at all, and they are much easier on the back than a stone/concrete material.

Water is a real concern, though. Plumbing mishaps can be disastrous, and there are a lot of ways those can happen. (Refrigerators with water dispensers, I'm looking at you.)

I have wood floors in my current rental, though there is a big ugly spot where a previous renter's fridge leaked. I'll likely be able to cover most of it with FLOR tiles though - any recommendations on which ones are best for the kitchen?

My grandmother a couple of years ago installed those PERGO wood floors in her kitchen and it looks very nice. The old tile she put in when she bought the house in 1985 had started to chip and look dingy.

We put wood in one of our former kitchens, and I wish I could have voted "maybe". With a rug in front of the sink and stove, we staved off some of the worst messes (in front of the fridge is useful too), but we were fortunate not to have ever had a leak.

Frankly, we put something much better in our current home kitchen -- rubber flooring. It is comfortable (!!), you don't dent pots or break glasses if they fall, it is beautiful and unusual (the colours can be really fun), it is antibacterial at floor level (like true linoleum), and it is easy to clean -- oh, and great with kids and pets.

After finding rubber, I have gone "off" wood floors, as they now look to me in many cases (not in the examples above) to look like the floor equivalent of granite countertops (passé).

We put in bamboo floors about four years ago (we had some vinyl tiles that were poorly installed by a tenant before we bought the house). Very easy to keep clean and far better than the hard ceramic tiles at our previous place (glass shatters into a billion pieces when you drop something and it's murder on the hips & knees when standing for the whole day).

We considered cork as well, but opted for a continuous look through the entire downstairs of our open floorplan.

We have wood in our apartment - it was refinished before we moved in and even after wasn't in the best shape. I like the look and the feel of wood floors but after 8 years, they are pretty banged up (we have a problem with dropping stuff apparently). And we had a refrigerator leak that damaged the floors. I'd say think twice about it.

I installed them in my tiny kitchen. It's open to the lr/dr/entrance, so I did hardwood throughout the main floor. I love it.
And while I didn't have any plumbing issues, I did have a klutziness issue. Spilled a whole brita full of water. The boards swelled at the seams (cupping it's called), but it did subside back to normal.

Keeping it clean is no problem - I have a labrador that likes to keep them spit-shined.

We had laminate floors in our kitchen, but we had a major spill on our move-in day (the previous owner hadn't shut the water to the ice maker off when they took the 'fridge -- so when we turned the water on, the ice maker feed flooded the kitchen). The planks cupped and contracted, leaving large gaps that collected debris.

We had ceramic tile put in instead. We have a beaglador -- beagle/lab -- he spit-shines, too -- but he also dribbles about half of what he drinks, so we're always mopping up after him. It's a piece of cake on the tile.

We've got a maple floor in the kitchen. It was refinished a little over a year ago when we moved in and it still looks perfect. I don't think wood is any harder to keep clean than anything else and it's so much warmer than tile.

Our home was built in the mid-70s, and the owners put vinyl over lovely oak flooring that covers the rest of the house. When we have the $$ to redo the kitchen, we're pulling up the vinyl and refinishing the floors. I'm going to put gel mats in front of the range and sink.

Grew up with hardwood floors throughout the whole house, kitchen included. Have hard wood floors throughout the first floor, kitchen included, now. I wouldn't have it any other way.

I have hardwood floors throughout my flat. If it's varnished, it's easy to wipe stuff up, so I'm not sure why this is really worthy of a question.

I have real wood floors in my kitchen and they are awesome. I have a weekend home (I love this country) and have laminate wood floors in that kitchen. Huge mistake. Lot's of extreme things go on in a kitchen (heat, moisture, arguments) and they're just not rigorous enough to take it.

I've noticed that extended stay hotels are putting in laminate. After a year or so the look pretty bad.