The Historic District

It's not tile. It's vinyl sheeting with a friable backing that is firmly attached to the floor. I am not removing it myself.

While I am a fan of laminate flooring in bedrooms and living rooms, they may be a bad choice for a kitchen. My uncle had Pergo laid in my Grandmother's kitchen and the first time she dropped a can of peaches we had this horrible hole. If you go with laminate, be sure it is strong enough to hold up to the abuse that happens in a kitchen. We had a similar situation, but wound up removing everything down to the joists so we could lay in radiant heat. The kitchen area only had one tiny radiator which was totally insufficient. Would removing the floor be in the future? You could always lay and inexpensive "temporary " floor.

The room is actually a dining room, but was turned into a kitchen at one point in the house's history, hence the vinyl floor. We're turning it back into a dining room, so it will be a low-traffic area. We've decided to go with a floating laminate floor that matches the color of the existing hardwoods. That way the living and dining rooms still flow together visually. Our hope is to one day restore the original hardwoods or replace them with salvaged oak. The floating floor will allow us to do that when we're ready.