If there's one room in your home where flooring really matters, it's the kitchen. Aside from aesthetics, the material you choose needs to be durable, comfortable to stand on and easy to clean! Whether you're starting from scratching or dreaming of a renovation, we've put together six of our favorites as a good place to start.
1. Tile: Tile is great in a kitchen because it is durable and easy to clean. Whether you choose ceramic or a natural stone, look for larger scale tiles (I love 12"x24") to reduce the amount of grout lines. The only drawback to tile? It can be uncomfortable to stand on for long periods of time and isn't as forgiving to the dropped wine glass.
2. Hardwood: Due to their susceptibility with water, hardwoods have not been the traditional choice for a kitchen. However, with better products and sealers on the market, wood can be a great choice and is easy to clean. In homes or apartments with open floor plans, using hardwoods throughout the space can also provide a sense of continuity. Wood also has more "give" so it's less fatigue-inducing than tile or concrete.
3. Cork: Cork might just be the current darling when it comes to flooring. Not only is it available in many interesting colors and patterns, but it has a slight cushion meaning it's more comfortable to stand on than wood and helps prevent dropped dishes from breaking. Due to its cellular structure, cork is also warmer to the touch then other materials. In terms of sustainability, cork is made from a renewable resource and contains a natural substance called suberin, which acts as an anti-microbial agent. Although cork is not usually recommended for wet areas, as long as its properly sealed, cork will do just fine with the occasional spill. Cork floors can be cleaned the same as you would a hardwood floor.
4. Linoleum: Linoleum is not a new product, but it has made a resurgence in recent years. It comes in a wide range of colors and your choice of sheet goods or tiles. Even with tiles, the seams between are barely detectable which makes linoleum a great choice for an easy-to-clean floor. Unlike vinyl and other petroleum-based products, linoleum is typically made from 100% natural materials like linseed oil, cork, limestone, tree rosin and natural minerals.
5. Concrete: Concrete may not be an option in existing homes, but it's something to consider during new construction or a major remodel. While not incredibly comfortable to stand on for long periods of time, concrete is extremely durable and long-lasting (great for dogs!) and is perhaps the easiest to clean and maintain. Ok, and while the thought of gray concrete might be "blah", the material can be stained a number of colors to create warm browns and reddish tones. But what about walking on cold concrete? In many new homes, concrete floors are paired with an under slab radiant system, creating happy feet and a more efficient means to heat your space.
6. Hybrids: There are now several products on the market that combine the best of two or more materials. One example is And/Or, a rubber/cork hybrid from Capri. The addition of rubber creates a more shock absorbent flooring and the cork keeps it from looking like something in a gym. Minimal seams keeps cleaning simple and fast.
(Images: 1. Apartment Therapy, 2. Coastal Living, 3. chezerbey, 4. Forbo, 5. Balance Associates, 6. Apartment Therapy)
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i have sensitive feet, after walking all day on several types of flooring coming home to stand in a kitchen cooking on lino is just the ticket. never liked lino before but it definitely is easier to work on than concrete or tiles.
AT needs a new proofreader.
We have cork in our kitchen and it's warm on the feet, cushy and we got a colour that corresponded with tones in our Tiger Eye hardwood in the adjoining living room...
HOWEVER, where our patio doors are it has faded dramatically from the sunlight.
Wilson Art-style floors are amazing and so easy to clean and install. We thought about cork until a dropped can of soup left a huge dent in the sample we had. : /
We live in a loft. Concrete floors. Super great for dogs. Not comfortable to walk on or stand on. But, we love it! Don't know if I'd choose it over nice wood floors if we owned our own space, but I love the loft style.
We have bright cobalt blue linoleum tile in our kitchen (was there when we bought the house and I'm sure has been there since ???? - decades ago). Sort of that mottled look like the green floor above. I actually really love it. Its super easy to clean, and photos of our Boston Terriers look great against it. :)
Spills aren't the main thing to worry about - leaks are. Would a wood floor look great? Sure after a leak, not so much.
We've put lino (marmoleum) in our last two houses (3 years in the first; 9 years in our current house). It looks great with a wide range of colors and choices and wears really well, even against multiple cat claws. Clean up is a breeze. It is also warm (important in WI winters) and is easy on the feet and legs when doing cooking marathons. I would use it again in a second.
I'm thinking about the vinyl plank flooring I keep seeing installed in basements (hello, Income Property I'm talking to you, Scott)... I think they're made by Armstrong. My kitchen is wet all the time since our side door is the closest to the driveway... sounds like a good compromise between wood and lino. You know, except for the noxious fumes and all. :)
I have concrete floors and I love them. They are easy, especially if you pets or frequently spill wine as I do. (Yes, I'm clumsy.)
And although my floors appear to be only grey there are hints of green, beige and light grey in the floor that makes the floor interesting.
Linoleum wins for me in every category-- wide offering of attractive colors/finishes, easy on the feet, relatively budget-friendly, easy to clean, and eco-friendly. My mom's hardwood floors are GORGEOUS in her kitchen, but they really aren't that practical (spills, pets, and high foot traffic make them hard to maintain).
I have tile and I don't like it but when the grout was clean, it was pretty. The grout is gross looking now and I once dropped a hot pan on the floor and cracked several tiles. It's going to be replaced soon, just don't know with what. Maybe linoleum?
We have cork floating floor boards in our kitchen and half bath. We placed a small rug by the sink in the kitchen in case of splashing. I love the feel on my feet. As an added bonus, it absorbs the sound and shake from the nearby train!
Seconding JSENPAI's comment. We rent and have ceramic tile in our kitchen and bathroom, and it's the worst - cold, hard on the legs and feet, and slippery as all get-out. I hate it.
taureg - don't get me started on wood floors. we have it in the lounge/living and i'm tossing up ideas right now.
I've lived in kitchen with tile (growing up), linoleum (college and apartment living) and hardwoods. I have to say I like hardwoods the best. Granted, they were the only real option in our houses because of the open floor plan (too hard to figure out how to start/stop flooring) but they warm up the kitchen nicely and have held up extremely well. As for flooding, that's what homeowner's insurance is for (and if you're renting you don't have to pay for the flooring anyway), and the only room I do preventative leak decorating in is the finished basement.
I have an open concept kitchen/living room and a swimming pool. The current wood floors are looking abused. I am considering Congoleum "Connections" vinyl plank flooring because I like the look of wood and I am intrigued by the durability of vinyl. Does anyone else have any input on vinyl plank?
We have polished concrete through our kitchen, dining room and lounge, which has been ground back to show all the stones in the concrete mix. It looks fantastic, but I am a little worried because I have read that concrete will grab oil and not let go, leaving you with a big oily stain forever, because it is porus. I'm just hoping that the water based sealer does it's job, someone is bound to drop oil in the kitchen one day.
The concrete is really nice and cool right now because it's summer, and we have underfloor heating running through there for winter. I really recommend it if you are building.
I had linoleum growing up. Then a year before I moved out, my parents "upgraded" to tile.
We all swore to never get tile in a kitchen again. If you drop glasses/plates/bowls on a wooden or linoleum floor, you have a pretty good chance most of them will survive. ANYTHING dropped on a tile floor shatters into a million pieces. Concrete is surely the same.
I hope we never buy a house with tile already in the kitchen, as my husband will probably think I'm insane for wanting to switch it out for a "lower" grade material.
Anybody know if an old slab foundation house can have its floors ripped up, a radiant heating system put in, and then some kind of concrete skim coat put over the top?
That's sort of growing into my new fantasy for our house after reading this article and most of the comments.
(Hey, Charlotte, your prejudice is showing. Since when does a spelling mistake mean the writer must be a Southerner? Perhaps when we say "do" it sounds like "due" to you, but that doesn't mean we spell them the same way. Plenty of us are excellent spellers as a matter of fact.)
We put Marmoleum tiles in our kitchen and love them. They are warm, durable and clean up extremely well. I love being able to run a vacuum over them and get 90% of the dirt, the other 10% comes off easily with a quick wipe-up twice a week. With our first son, we had carpet under his high chair and now with our second we have the Marmoleum. It has changed my life.
We have both cork and concrete floors in our home. Love the concrete but HATE the cork! The cork was installed by the previous homeowners and I sooo can't wait to replace it with something else one day. Yes the cork is warmer for feet in the cold and I have actually had glass dishware drop on it in the kitchen and it did not break but slightly bounced. But....it is totally faded anywhere that sunlight directly streams in and the biggest issue is that it's so soft that very simple things gouge it, scratch it and dig in to it....even things such as walking. Not to mention things such as the previous owners dog who apparently ran through the house with it's claws digging in to the cork and thus left a very clear pattern of his run. Also, anything that you slide or scoot across the floor can dig at the cork. Basically, the floors are only a couple years old and they look awful and there is no way to "repair" them once they've been all dinged up like this. They are trendy and hip and cool, but totally not practical and will end up being a waste of money.
Hardwood, concrete, ceramic tile, I had many expensive but not so great kitchen floors that required so much care before finally being able to return to... LINOLEUM. Everyone scoffed, but linoleum is the real deal. Easy to keep clean, comfy to stand on, very reasonably priced, fun colors and designs, easy to install, the temperature stays normal, eco friendly, durable beyond belief. Great for kitchens that actually get used for cooking & gathering.
I'm wondering if older cork floors wear differently than new? We've had cork for two years in the kitchen, with no fading, no dents (and there are two heavy pieces on the floor that I move for cleaning regularly, so I'd see 'em). We have a big dog who hates to have his nails trimmed, a teenager who wears soccer cleats in the house, and we even abused the floor with a flood about 2 months after installation. It still looks great. I love cork and would pick it again in a heartbeat.
Hardwood is becoming more and more accepted as a choice in kitchens. It's softer under your feet than tile, and it doesn't have grout that can stain and look terrible within a year or two. Also, if you have wood floors in adjoining rooms, it really is more beautiful to have the same floor running continuously from one room to another, as opposed to having different floors all over the place... That can get tacky if you're not careful. A general rule of thumb is not to have any more than 3 different floors in your home (unless of course you have a huge mansion, then perhaps more than 3 is acceptable :)
We have sealed terra cotta in our kitchen and pantry - oy! what a pain in the arse. The floor looks super great but needs to be stripped and waxed EVERY year or it looks dingy and dirty. The cost is up to 650.00 a year now. I did it myself 2 years in a row by hand and it was too much. I would go for linoleum..my very fussy, designy neighbor upstairs in our apt. building in NYC choose linoleum and it looks great - modern, clean _ ALL THE TIME and it is not hard to keep up and you do not have to do anything special to it.