I have linoleum flooring in my kitchen and it had a pretty large tear in it, so I cut the flooring into a square shape and tried to patch it with some left over flooring we had. Unfortunately, the amount we had left over wasn't enough, So I have this huge square piece glued and it looks horrible. Now I have two questions. 1. I am really leaning towards laminate flooring for my kitchen. It is not big at all. I was wanting to do tile, but I want something a bit easier and a little more kid friendly. If the kitchen was more open I would do tile. a- Is laminate kitchen flooring looked down upon or is it normal? b- What is a good color that is modern for kitchen flooring, but also something that will seem new for years? I am looking to rent/sell the home in about 2 years. 2. If I did end up getting a laminate, do I need anything to put over the linoleum or can I put it right over it? The part of the floor that I have the linoleum patch is pretty large, so that I am worried about. If I did have to tear out the existing linoleum what would I put down over the baseboard? That is what is under the linoleum I am 99% sure. There is definitely not any kind of concrete backer. I'd appreciate any help. I can post pics of the patch if needed. Thanks!

I had a professional crew come in and re-do section of the house...about 500 sq ft total...the typical treatment; sand, apply oil stain, then oil based sealer and 1 coat of semi-gloss top coat also oil based. The work was done over a week ago but the place still has intense odor despite the fact that about 12 hrs a day I have all the windows open and I have a nice draft going by placing a fan in the window. The floors are obviously dry by now.... in fact they were dry within 24 hrs after last coat.... but still off-gassing. Few questions: 1. Anything good to get that smell out quicker ? 2. Would covering with rugs help or should I leave the floors exposed to allow all those fumes to freely escape ? Thanks !