Installing laminate wood floors

Naio, I don't think your cat would want to use cork for a scratching surface. A few nail punctures wouldn't make much difference as cork is self healing. As stated, cork excellent for bedroom as it is warm to walk on, shock when you hit tile bathroom. As far as tile goes, porcelain is very tough, doesn't chip easily and if you choose a natural look it will be the same color ant texture all the way thru. We have porcelain in home kitchen, have dropped cast iron stove grate on it with no problem. If your grout with the premixed grout it contains sealer, is a good match if you have to patch later, however a little more work to wipe off to finish. For the ones doing marble the edges can be polished quite easily. First a file then sand paper going finer until desired finish is achieved. With travertine I go to 320, so marble will require finer, but I don't how much. Trial and stop when it matches.