need opinion/advice - kitchen flooring question

we are doing work on our house. its a split, with the kitchen and dining room side-by-side at the back of the house. well, we added an extension, and that rectangle of space will be used maybe 75% family room area and 25% eating section.

i'm torn as to whether or not i should have the eating area tiled or just to put hardwood flooring throughout. In trying to keep the areas separate, and considering possible furniture layouts, it's been driving me nuts. and no, i dont think i'd want tile in the family room area

if you have hardwood flooring in your eating area (keep in mind i have a 1 year old, and plan on having more kids), is it a nightmare to keep clean? does it get scratched easily? there is also a door to the backyard in our eating area, so it will be a heavy traffic area

Re: need opinion/advice - kitchen flooring question

Our dining room is hard wood and we had to get an area rug to put on the floor under the table and chairs because the chairs would scratch up the floor. Other than that, I find it easy to maintain and clean.

Re: need opinion/advice - kitchen flooring question

My SIL has hardwood in kitchen, eating area and dining room. Her floors still look beautiful.

Re: need opinion/advice - kitchen flooring question

We have hardwood floors throughout and I don't find it difficult to keep the eating area clean. I actually like that it's hardwood bc in some way it's easier to see what's on the floor and clean it up right away (I have an almost 2 yr old so I know this battle well )

It doesn't really scratch, just make sure you have those little pads on the bottom of each chair leg so they move smoothly. For the area right by your backyard door I would get a good quality, heavy duty small rug (3x5 maybe, just guessing) just to "catch" some of the dirt from outside and to protect the floor somewhat.

I think you should stick to hardwood throughout, gives you more options down the line.