Laminate, laminates everywhere, and not a drop to drink

I've been shopping for laminates, since (a) I can't really afford to do real wood, and (b) you really shouldn't do real wood on a slab anyway. As you know from previous posts, I found some laminates at Lumber Liquidators that was $.69/square foot, which would enable me to do *all* of the areas I want to do, so I went to visit those products yesterday. I also visited products from Floors to Your Home. Here are some pictures and thoughts on what I found.

1. Dream Home Utopia 6mm Sugar Maple from Lumber Liquidators:

I liked the color of this one, and it's $.69.

However, I noticed a dark joint line in the sample where the boards came together--that would drive me crazy. It happens in all laminates, but you notice it more with the really light colors.










See?

2. Dream Home Utopia 6mm Swedish Maple from Lumber Liquidators: This is listed on the LL website for $.69, but they didn't have a sample in the store. I'm guessing I'd have to purchase it online and have it shipped to the store for pick-up. I like it better than the Sugar Maple, at least online. But again, it's a light laminate. I really like the lighter colors, and I think they work better with my personal style, but I really don't like the idea of dark lines everywhere...

3. Dream Home Charisma 8 mm Old Town Oak: This wasn't on the website, but the store had a sample. It's $.99/square foot, which would add $450ish to the total cost (versus a $.69 lighter wood), but it's 2 mm thicker than the others, which feels and sounds nicer. But the cents add up quickly! I'm not crazy about oak in general, but this wasn't too bad. It still goes with the colors I've picked out, kinda, and it's darker, so the lines won't show as badly.

4. Dream Home Utopia 6 mm American Cherry: I hadn't marked this on the website, but I really liked it in-store. It looked a lot nicer than I would expect something this inexpensive to look. However, it's $.89/square foot, which would add $300ish to my cost, and it's still only 6 mm. The online reviews have a lot of pictures, though, and they're all pretty.

The color is much more red-orange, though, and doesn't go as well with the colors I was thinking of for the kitchen.

5. 7 mm Wild Pear: This is listed as being $.99 online, but it's $.79 in the store. The sample is very similar in color to the LL American Cherry one, but it's $.10/square foot cheaper ($150ish total), and I realllllly liked the large sample in store. Again, though, the color is more red, and I'm not sure whether it'd work with the colors I like for the kitchen. But I really like it... And it's darker, so it wouldn't show the dark lines as badly... And it's a smidgen thicker than the LL stuff...

6.

7 mm Original Pine: This stuff is ok. Not wild about it. The salesguy called it a "plank style" and said the dark lines would look even worse with it. The price is right ($.69), but meh.















7.

Kronoswiss 7 mm Havanna Beach: I like this all right. Looks ok with the kitchen colors. It doesn't thrill me but it's not bad.

The website lists this at $1.19, but in-store it's $.89. It'd still be more expensive than some of the others, but it's a little thicker than some, at 7 mm, and color-wise, it'd be easier to work with.

8.

Classic ?? mm Spanish Maple: This is $1.39, but it comes with an attached pad, so I'd save some money there. However, I don't know if the pad includes a moisture barrier--if it doesn't, I'd still have to get that, so it wouldn't save me any money, and this would be out of my price range.

I like the look of it, though--the pattern is neat and the color isn't too flat. And it has a 50-year warranty (versus 10 or 15 for any of the other products here)! The website says there's 847 feet in stock, which means I'd have to order more. I don't know for sure that that's possible.

Ok! So there are my major options at this point. I'd love to hear your thoughts!