We're about to embark on a new kitchen including floor covering...we've decided on tiles, but can't decide on dark or light!

Kitchen cupboards will be cream with a wood look Formica work surface......no wall tiles so far.

I'd welcome opinions which will look cleaner for longer....I know the difference will be hours rather than days but I just can't decide!

Help....only got a few days to decide and choose...

Depends on the size of the kitchen, but I would go dark

Dark brown/orange but not plain colours, mottled -hides muddy pawprints much better.

I have rhino floor covering in my kitchen.  It's similar to a fake wood colour, brownyish squares.  I absolutely love it.  Not a terribly dark brown to be fair, and I do mop a couple of times a day, but it never shows paw prints so never looks scruffy.  I'm thinking that something similar would look good with cream.  Do come back and tell us all what you get! 

Don't go light, I have light flooring in the kitchen and it's a pain , it looks clean for about a day.

> it looks clean for about a day.

Sounds like the stuff I have in the downstairs shower room.  Looked lovely in the shop, a nice cream colour!!!!!  Where do I get my ideas from?  The dogs think it's the playroom and I have always regretted choosing cream. 

Mottled sounds good.....anything to help hide marks!

The kitchens about 12 x 13 with cupboards in an L shape on one side and a door either end - to the hall and utility - Will take the same tiles into the utility too because that's where the dogs stay to dry off.

I'm useless with colours and deciding what I like.....the kitchen is going to be ripped out, re plastered, new ceiling.....total renovation.....I'm looking forward to having new but just hate the choosing!

I'd go dark.

I recently got new kitchen floor covering. 

My kitchen isn't exactly large, and I was worried about making it look smaller and dark, but it doesn't.

I chose a dark, nearly black, 'slate-look' vinyl.  It has greyish grout-effect lines to make it look like tiles. 

I'm really pleased and it doesn't show up the dirt.

In fact I love it  lol!

I was given a sample book by the fitter (small family company) and it made it much easier to chose.

I would say go light. It looks lighter and brighter and won't be too bad to keep clean.
The reason I say this is because when we bought our house it had a light, mottled, cream/beige/baby blue coloured Lino which didn't show the dirt, just washed it over once a week.
Then it was the trend for slate tiles which I liked but couldn't afford. We had to replace the Lino so I went for slate effect Lino - big mistake !!! I just don't like my pale wood kitchen doors/white surfaces with the slate effect Lino. It is too dark. I can't wait to replace this Lino back to cream but just to annoy me it is lasting well !

Is it possible to hold a light and dark tile against your chosen kitchen to see ?

> The dogs think it's the playroom and I have always regretted choosing cream

We have light tiles in our downstairs shower room - doesn't get dirty because we keep the door shut ...........

We have something similar to the Norfolk pamment in our kitchen which are good at hiding the dirt. They are ceramic as the pamments are too thick for the under floor heating.

I had a light wood effect amtico which looked beautiful but hard work.I now have a slate effect so mottled and fairly dark. Live it can get through a day without scrubbing. The cabinets are cream and walls and tiles white
I

I've got terracotta tiles in my kitchen, have always looked good. A friend had light grey ,textured tiles put down in her new kitchen and they always look dirty.

You're clearly not going to get a consensus here - I think you have a 50/50 answer!

In many ways the right floor colour is determined by your room and the light available.  Some well lit spaces work very well with dark floors whilst others need a lighter floor.  Add to that the light reflective qualities of different floor surfaces and you have even more choice.  It's well worth asking yourself what you would choose if the dogs weren't part of the equation: once you've established your personal choice then it's perfectly possible to make only a few compromises to get a floor that works for them too.

In my opinion: some dark colours show the dirt more easily, consider what happens with black cars...  Light floors don't show too much dirt if you choose one with a flecked, mottled finish

I opted for a mid range stone colour from Karndean - Knight Tile Portland Stone ST13 - it's been down a year and I've never regretted it.  Coffee and tea drips just disappear and it can actually be quite dirty before it looks like it needs a clean!  I have it in the utility (dog) room and all through the kitchen.  I use a turtle mat by the back door and another in front of the range cooker to absorb grease spots or exploding sauces.  The colour works very well in my space and the dogs don't slip on it either.  I tend to ensure they are fairly dry before they come into the kitchen but a quick wipe with a dog towel in the utility room is enough to remove to odd paw splat. 

A quick hint:  borrow some tiles or an offcuts of your preferred flooring before deciding.  Move it around to see what it looks like in sun and shadow and very importantly have a look at it in both daylight and artificial light.  I think flooring is one of the most important decisions in a room and it's an expensive one so you don't want to make mistakes if you can avoid it.  Choose the floor before you choose your wall tiles if you can - they are millions of options in wall tiles!

I like to be able to see the dirt so I know when to clean.  That's twice daily now since I've started feeding raw.  Blood shows up very well on my very light floor.  It's solid surface linoleum, waterproof and easily mopped.  I find the idea of dark colours that won't show the dirt rather a nauseating, and potentially unhealthy idea, even before I fed raw.

Having said I prefer my darker floor just wanted to add that the floor gets cleaned daily if not more often .I don't see it as an excuse not to clean because it doesn't show

Charlie Brown, have a look on my topic in the chat section titled 'Kitchens'.  Someone (brainless?) shared a fab kitchen visualizer tool on there.  You can mess around with colours and stuff and see what suits and what you like.  Brilliant thing!

> just wanted to add that the floor gets cleaned daily if not more often

Mine gets done once a week (unless any spillages). If I mopped it when it was dirty I would be doing it all day long. A little bit of dirt never hurt anyone - and I have a life to lead ........... Larger raw bones are fed outside - or in the garden room if not possible, so raw meat doesn't go on the kitchen floor

Cleaning the floor twice a day !, sod that for a game of soldiers

That's my ocd kicking in you wouldn't want to hear the rest lol

That's my ocd kicking in you wouldn't want to hear the rest lol

> sod that for a game of soldiers

Oh Celli - a girl after my own heart. 

http://www.toppstiles.co.uk/tprod43980/section901/Bengal-Sierra.html?wishlist=true

I like to be clean but don't want to be a slave to it.....not sure if the link above will work....I'm not great with them..... but I like these.

Saw them yesterday, but will go back for another look and a sample today.

My terracotta floor is very good. Mud doesn't show!!!

We are having ours done at the moment, cream units and oak worktops.
We have gone with the Tools Tiles Bengal ones but the lighter Autumn colour. It looks lovely and I think they will be fine with muddy paws.
Good luck, having your kitchen done is a nightmare!

I do like the look of that Bengal-Sierra.  With those sort of markings you should find that it never looks dirty.  Like your choice. 

That's like my floor I have now.  It's FAB! Hides a multitude of sins I only clean it maybe once a week and that is the room that my dogs sleep in, eat in, dry after walks, etc.

> I don't see it as an excuse not to clean because it doesn't show

  That's the funniest thing I've read in ages!!

I really like it but someone said today if the tiles are "bumpy" and not smooth they tend to look grubby and never really clean up well?

> if the tiles are "bumpy" and not smooth they tend to look grubby and never really clean up well

That is true to a certain extent. The bumps tend to cling onto the dirt if you just mop and can need a scrub. However, I don't like smooth tiles as, IMO, they can be slippery if wet. Also, for older dogs they can be bad for walking on. I always have slightly bumpy tiles because of this. It doesn't take long to give them a quick scrub occasionally

I've found textured tiles do take a bit more work to clean, muck gets caught in those trendy wee crannies, mine are cream though ( I know I know, but I got them for free ) and show up the tiniest speck of dirt.

Also test for slipperiness ( no such word!) as when the dogs dribble on tiles, they can become lethal. I also vote for terracotta as it is very practical regarding looking dirty.

We went for slate grey and an imitation stone quarry floor. Really looks nice and it's warm and very easy to clean! And not slippery and so far no scratches at all from my dog or cats!