Decorating and Design - Floor Ideas for House Needed? Stone Tile? Wood?

I am removing the carpet in my dining room and living room. Carpet cannot go back down, our choice. When you enter my home I have a 10X20 foyer in ceramic tile flooring. On one side you have the living area and on the other side is the dining room area. These are the rooms I want to tear up the carpet. If you walk straight it goes to my Den which has Pergo already down.

Our house is basically fancy, musuem type of decor. So, I have to stay in that type of flooring. I prefer finding some beautiful stone like tiles and put in both rooms with nice area rugs. Hubby wants wood, but it will not match the Pergo...I am thinking the two woods will compete with each other and not look good. Hubby hates Pergo floor, so he does not want it in the other rooms.

I need help with some ideas? Anyone have stone put in their home? Or know where I can look to get some ideas? Also tile in foyer is 13X13 squares, so should I stay with same size tiles or larger? STumped, and we are starting to argue over this one at the house...ugh

:confused:

Either wood or stone would be beautiful with area rugs. Of course, the Pergo can always be replaced. If you have a plywood subfloor, you will need no additional underlayment material for wood. You will need concrete underlayment boards for tiles. The wood installation will more than likely be considerably less expensive than tile installation. Explore area floor covering shops for options in wood and stone tiles. InfoTile.com is an International resource for ceramic and stone tile information as well as other surface coverings. InfoTile provides information on manufacturers, retailers, allied products and more!

we have concrete subfloor on ground level. The pergo is fairly new and cost a fortune. It covers the den which is about 600 square feet and the pergo is top of their brand with inlayment. So the pergo does stay...thanks for your help though. I will check out this website.

well we decided to go with the wood flooring in the living and dining areas. We decided it would look formal with the right type of wood. We decided on a Butternut Oak and hope it turns out well. We can still put down throw rugs.

Now I am thinking of re-doing the foyer floor.

Since you are installing on a concrete slab, I assume you purchased an engineered wood product. Read and follow manufacturer's instructions carefully for acclimation, floor prep, and installation.