Hi Erica, We are exclusive suppliers of Porcelanosa Grupo product - the material you are talking about sounds much like the Porcelanosa PAR-KER Range: Timber look porcelain tiles. I will attach some images for your reference - if you would like to see the tiles in person, we have showrooms in Sydney, Melbourne and Newcastle. A flooring more durable than timber, with less maintenance, and from Australia's first and only Green Certified tile supplier. Hope this helps, Earp Bros - Innovative Tile Solutions Website: www.earp.com.au

I work as a colourist and the easiest method for a upmarket look is to choose an exact colour to match one of the colours in the tile. I would take the tile to a paint shop and get the colourist it match exactly one of the greys in the tile. Make the depth of the colour a light version. All white walls are on the way out. Lappatto tiles usually have some texture as they are semi polished. This is the latest look in tiles as they give a shine without the maintenance of polished porcelain which had been in. They are usually less slippery than satin or polished tiles depending on the brand.

Most timber stains will look good but I would go for a mid brown stain. Look at kitchen photos here on house - search white kitchen with timber floors. I just checked myself - when you enter white kitchen and timber floor- the majority of photos have medium tone (35000 images ) and only 15000 images or for dark timber and even less for light tone timber.

Spotted Gum is a great hard wearing timber with a Janka rating of 11. This means it is high density timber and won't dent as easily as softer timbers like American Oak. A polyurethane finish is the hardest and most durable timber floor coating and it comes in gloss satin and mat. The lower sheen's are more forgiving if you you have pets and young children. Bamboo is another hard product but only comes in short lengths so you would need to take that look into consideration when selecting. Some clients don't like the look of the short boards and consider it a cheap look. Others prefer the longer floor boards of timber. If you do choose bamboo make sure that you find out the coating used and whether it can be sanded and re coated down the track, as all timber and bamboo floors will need a touch up especially if you have pets. Some bamboo floors can not be sanded due the coating used. Hope this helps. Our website may offer some inspiration. Good Luck http://budgetfloorsanding.com.au/