starting on the floor obsession

I knew I would start obsessing over the right floor choice soon. I was unexpectedly sidetracked by the difficulty in finding a sink the right size, but now that I have found it, it is time to move on to choosing the floor. My starting point was choosing a material. We considered laminate and wood and linoleum tiles, but we settled on ceramic tile because that would work best with the radiant heat we will be installing under the new floor.
Took a trip with hubby to Lowe's to look at tile. (We had a sitter for the kids--nothing like a trip to a home center as the start of a romantic evening out!) Found what we wanted for the bathroom floor (a very small side project we are tacking onto the contractor's work in the kitchen) but nothing for the kitchen. Everything has that tumbled stone look that is very trendy--I do not want trendy, I want classic.
The next day I went to Expo and Home Depot (alone--the sitter was gone, so husband stayed with the kids) I figured starting at the least expensive places was the best. If the perfect choice is available for $1/sq ft, why pay more? I found a few possibilites and bought a few tiles to bring home. The cashier had one of the choices in her house and said she loved it.
At home, none of them looked quite right...one was too dark, one was too light and the white was just a crazy idea. We had it on the edge of the floor while we fixed dinner and it got dirty right away--a whole floor of white tiles would look white for about 5 minutes and then it would be over, so it is probably not the best choice, unless we want to go for the "lived in" kitchen look (also known as the "I lost my mop" look) Next stop: a real tile store (with real prices, I'm sure.)