100% Wood. I actually am installing for the second time wood flooring in my kitchen and dining area in fact the whole first floor. I did the second floor in Brazilian Cherry and just love it so much more than the oak that I currently have. However if I had to choose I would choose the oak floors over tile every time. They wear better look so much prettier. And like the previous poster pointed out I hate dirty grout lines.

Hi Cherry, we went with the laminate throughout the house and it turned out absolutely stunning. To be honest it's such good quality I don't think of it as laminate and everyone who visits thinks it's solid wood. It won't look like laminate if it's a good quality brand and you use a thick underlay. Using it throughout the house makes the rooms flow and makes the spaces feel bigger. It's also really easy to maintain unlike shiny glossy tiles! Good luck!

You mentioned 12mm laminated floor yet you are asking about 'wood'. These are often two different floors. Are you asking about an engineered HARDWOOD that is 12mm thick or are you talking about a 12mm LAMINATED floor (fibre board with a pretty picture of wood on the top)? Engineered hardwood works well in a kitchen (just like Oak & Broad points out). Laminated flooring normally DOES NOT do well in a kitchen. That means the answer to your question could be "yes" or "no"....depending on which floor you are talking about. Please clarify.

Since I posted this, I think we came with a plan! We thought that bringing the carpet up to the landing would not work. Why? Mainly safety. When you are walking up and there is a little bit of carpet you are standing on, it could have a little give on it, but also for walking down too. Then the bridge piece wold be in an unexpected place and people would more than likely trip! I found some "nosing" in some sites online and some looked nice, but were chunky. We said no, to those as you do not want something chunky sticking out at the top of the stairs! We are going to get a silver/chrome metal nosing to finish it off, which will be neater and we have chrome hardware on the doors throughout the house now. the carpet just was laid, unfortunately the fitter did not have the nosing we wanted, but its on the way. I will post a pic when it is done so you can see. Here is it, unfinished, at the moment, but so far no tripping!