Hi everyone! Just wondering if anyone could give me a few ideas. I need a new floor for my kitchen and bathroom. Not quite sure what to get though. For my kitchen my cupboards are a beech colour with a black work top and my bathroom is a cappucino and slate colour. I don't really want laminate flooring I would like something a bit unusual and different. I have a 2yr old too so needs to be warm and child friendly! If anyone has any ideas I would love to hear them.

Thanks

Don't know why you wouldn't want a laminate floor in your kitchen, as they are tougher and last longer than real hardwood floors, with less maintenance and upkeep than the latter. They have every possible type of finish these days, anywhere from old wood looking to exotic ceramic prints, so you can find anything you want, however, I wouldn't use a laminate floor in a bathroom due to water and humidity issues etc.
Instead, you could install ceramic tiles (if you have a solid enough plywood underneath in good condition) or there's always a ton of cushion floors out there that are water proof and comes in a variety of colors and styles to match your décor.
Hope this helps

I don't want laminate flooring because the rest of my house is laminate flooring, I know how good it is and how easy it is to keep clean but would like something a bit different and unusual for my kitchen or bathroom.

I was going to suggest ceramic, but that isn't warm, unless you have a heated mat underneath the ceramic, which is what I have in my bathroom, but there's no law that says you can't have a heated floor in your kitchen either if you choose ceramic for that area.
Other than that, they have a gazillion prints for cushion floors these days that are truly realistic looking, and in some cases, you'd have to touch it to make sure. Don't know what other alternatives there are at this point. Hope you find what you're looking for.
Ray

Hey Ray, how about bamboo?

Heya Doc ! Ummm, I think Bamboo flooring still resembles floating floor, and lisalost has mentioned that she has laminate floating floor throughout her home, and is looking for something different.
Here's a sample of what bamboo flooring looks like
Yahoo! Canada Image Detail for static.flickr.com/171/376013562_0494cee4ef.jpg (http://ca.images.search.yahoo.com/images/view?back=http%3A%2F%2Fca.images.search.yahoo.com% 2Fsearch%2Fimages%3Fei%3DUTF-8%26p%3Dbamboo%2Bfloors%26fr2%3Dtab-web%26fr%3Dmoz2&w=500&h=375&imgurl=static.flickr.com%2F171%2F376013562_0494cee 4ef.jpg&rurl=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.flickr.com%2Fphotos%2Fglen-art%2F376013562%2F&size=81.7kB&name=floors-bamboo-tile2&p=bamboo+floors&type=JPG&oid=306f24670153faf8&fusr=glenfairchild&tit=floors-bamboo-tile2&hurl=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.flickr.com%2Fphotos%2Fglen-art%2F&no=17&tt=24,118&sigr=11gdd3l0b&sigi=11e27bhb6&sigb=12s77s92a&sigh=116bv5q3u) which you have to admit really looks like laminate.

Yup, that one is a laminate-with-bamboo; I've seen solid bamboo as well. I don't have experience with other unique soft surfaces that are good in wet locations; vinyl, marmolium, linolium, hardwood, laminate, tile, stone... what else we got out there?

I think we covered pretty well all the types of flooring for lisalost, however, I myself am now redoing our kitchen floor. I was dead set on installing a 12mm Laminate floor, but when I went to the flooring store, my eye was attracted to some incredible "wood floors look-a-likel" of vinyl flooring from companies like Armstrong and another company called Mannington... WOW, they have some real nice looking floors, whether it be a ceramic look to old barn wood look to whatever, these companies have what anyone could be looking for. It'll cost me about twice as much as the best laminate I could have bought, but it'll last as long as any laminate ( e.g. 30 years) but I won't get that hollow feel that laminates give you.

All the basics have been pretty much covered above. You did say that you were looking for something a little different and child friendly. Personally I think that the only flooring that is truly child friendly is carpet... and that is obviously not an option in a kitchen. If you're worried about warmth then you can install the wired heating element under the floor. However I think kids are tougher than we given them credit for. I would choose a dark colored tile for the kitchen. If you go light, the flooring will blend in with your cabinets. But if you go with a darker color, it will go well with the counter top.

As for the bathroom, you mentioned slate and cappuccino but I'm not sure where the colors are. Which one is on the wall and what is the color of your tub and vanity? With that info I could give you a better opinion about floor coloring.

You may want to try a french lay in the kitchen and bathroom. French lay is basically multiple different sizes of tile laid in an obscure pattern. I've installed patterns with 15 different sizes and square /rectange shapes. Only a high end dealer would supply such stuff.

Looks great however... travertine is nice for this and its very warm compared to other stones. Good luck.