apartment therapy changing the world, one room at a time

Karen, I have friends who installed cork flooring in the kitchen of their 19th century home in St. Louis. They said it is wonderfully warm underfoot in winter. I have no idea how it would hold up to dogs, though.

I actually like your kitchen the way it is - except for the magnets on the side of the fridge and the clutter on top of the fridge.

For the cold floors - You could always place rug warmers under your area rugs: http://www.speedheat.us/sales/rugbuddy/rugbuddy.html

...and long term, I'd investigate spray-in foam insulation beneath your uninsulated floors.

Maybe you could paint them. with some tile paint then coat them with a cool shiny laquor or something. you could put a big rug under your dining area if it is in the same room to give texture and color, and also maybe protect the floors from the chairs. Good luck!

Persian runner rugs are very inexpensive at E-Bay, and they are durable, easy to care for and very warm.

http://antiques.shop.ebay.com/items/Runners__W0QQSizeZ9Q2527QQQ5ftrkparmsZ66Q253A2Q257C65Q253A15Q257C39Q253A1QQ_catrefZ1QQ_dmptZRugsQQ_sacatZ37983QQ_scZ1QQ_trksidZp3286Q2ec0Q2em14QQ_sopZ1QQ_scZ1

I have the same problem. My kitchen floors are ice cold right now. I have cheap rugs as I have dogs. Im looking into heated floors for the kitchen.

It's too bad those soft rubbery/gel mats designed to soften the ground for people who stand up all the time are so expensive or really ugly-utilitarian. I've always thought it would be comfy to have an entire kitchen floor covered in it. The non-conductive surface would get rid of freezing feet in a hurry.

On the other hand, if it's too good I suppose it could over insulate the floor and let less heat get to your pipes...

Regarding painting these tiles, we had the same type in our playroom and just lightly roughed up the surface, painted them with BM Porch & Floor Enamel, and then polyurethaned them and they look really, really good and have held up well.

But if you want to cover them for coziness, those FLOR tiles (people love 'em or hate 'em...I think they are nice) might do the trick. They have a lot of colorways that would work with the aqua and you can replace them if a tile gets stained. And you could get them to exactly fit the space or work as a runner....

Wear socks. The cabinets looks great by the way.

If you were willing to re-do just the floor, you can have electric radiant pads put in underneath the tile. I just saw an episode of This Old House or Hometime (forget which) on it, and now I'm daydreaming about warm floors...

Agree about rugs, but FYI, the color you've chosen for the cabinets imparts a chilly look to the kitchen. It will never look warm and cozy with ice blue paint.

I think it looks great. The blue is gorgeous and I don't think it looks icy.

I'd love to see just a few bright orange kitchen accessories, which I think would warm things up visually.

threebeans, could you elaborate on what you used to rough up the tiles. I have the exact same color/style of tile in my kitchen and want to paint them. Will have to wait for spring to paint and polyurethane, but not sure what to use as far as sanding goes. Thanks.

I have the same issue in my house. The tile floors are so cold, even wood floors are warmer. Best option on a budget is a thicker rug -- I have a couple of wool ones from HomeGoods in my kitchen.

We have rubber flooring, which is quite warm, and not as fragile as cork wrt to dogs.

http://www.expanko.com/REZTEC/products-REZ.html

Flor Carpet Tiles. You can make a runner for your kitchen to go with your new cabinet color. Durable, easy to clean, and affordable. And you could opt for wall-to-wall if you really wanted to. Just pull them up in in the summer when cool tile will be a blessing on your feet.

Ugg slippers for everyone in the house. About $80 per person. Worth every penny.

Two suggestions: spray in insulation, for one--I think you can even just have loose fiberglass blown in which would be great if access to the pipes is a necessity.

Secondly, this is kind of strange, but . . . . My mother in law wanted a cushioned floor in her guest room/sewing room, so she bought carpet padding and covered the floor with it, then used linoleum/vinyl over the top of it. It's very durable, easy to clean, cushy underfoot and insulatory. It's also inexpensive.

Love your blue cabinets.

Karen, sorry this is off topic, but how do you like your stove? I was looking at that model but wanted to get some input before I take the plunge ...

i second the flor carpet squares. since you have dogs and may be remodeling in a few years, I'd get the cheap, durable ones suitable for high traffic areas. also, rather than ugg slippers, get a few pairs of cheap heavy fleece scuffs at llbean. think they're 20 bucks and you won't mind spilling coffee on them...

I don't really have any new ideas for you, I'd go with the Flor tiles, I was thinking of doing the same in my kitchen. I just wanted to say that your cabinets look lovely and I love your open shelving!

Wear thick wool socks or slippers. I have a variety of that are a must to slip on cold mornings before making my coffee. I am glad to have tile and not cheap linoleum.
Also i love the painted blue cabinets! Carpets in the kitchen get way to dirty too quick.

You could spend money on rugs, cork flooring or lino but none of these will address the problem. The spray on insulation will help but you will still need to change out the tiles, since you don't like them.

I say do it properly now. Take out the old tiles, you can do this yourself), and lay heated floors, then recover with new tiles. You will have addressed both problems and it will be done right. YOU WILL NOT REGRET IT. You may also be able to lay the wiring right over top of the old flooring and put new tiles on top. It will raise your floors about an inch which may or may not be a problem.

I am speaking from experience. I have the same problem in my bathroom. I spent money on new renovation and new tile floor but did not put the heated floor in, and I regret that every second I am in that cold bathroom. I made that decision to save money, but I should have saved the money somewhere else. I should have upgraded the cabinetry at a later date and gone for the heated floors then.

Tile is just cold in winter, period. I live in LA, and my tile floors are too cold for bare feet in winter. But in summer, they feel fabulous! And radiant heat floors makes no sense in LA, or anywhere else that is not arctic. (your post is via AT LA, but your location is not given...)

When you get the opportunity to remodel, use a warmer material such as wood, cork, or linoleum. That alone will help tremendously. And tile is hard on the back in a kitchen, anyway.

For now, put on some slippers and/or put down a rug. Mrs. Yow is right: Ebay has some great bargains on rugs. It is really quite amazing, for those of you who haven't shopped it for rugs.

Those who noted that blue is a "cold" color are correct. Mental perception has more impact on your physical sense of cold than you may realize! I love the blue, but it IS cold. No way around that. I feel chilly just looking at it.

Flor tiles and fuzzy slippers! Love the blue with the stainless!!!!

i'm with terra maria on this one.

cork is warm, easy to install, inexpensive, gorgeous, sanitary...and did i say gorgeous? i know the rehab is in the distant future, but this would be a piece of cake.

also, slippers and wool socks.

Looks like a warmish blue to me. Jots of yellow to it, and such. (Yes, you can have warm blues! You can also have cool yellows.)

I have terracotta tiles in my bedroom (I know... they're all through this level of the house, though), and they're FREEZING in winter. I compensate with plenty of area rugs, but I'm not sure how that'd hold up in a kitchen...

cork with electric radiant flooring underneath...

I don't understand why you can't insulate the floor in some way -- that would be the first real solution.

After that, I support the other suggestions of slippers, cork flooring, and radiant heat. (Thick throw rugs in the meantime.)

Karen Here :)

First thanks to everyone for all the feedback. We plan to put in radiate heat once we remodel. I think we are going to go with carpet tiles for the winter only. I think we can figure out a way to get them in there without permanently sticking them to the tile floor. And then over that we will throw a pretty area rug. I'll post an after picture once the project is finished. now I just need to find a rug and the carpet tiles.

The color on the cabinets is definitely warmer than in the picture - I think the flash makes the color a lot cooler looking.

bepsf - I agree the side of our fridge is a mess. I guess when you live with everyday you don't notice it. I'm going to tackle that this weekend. Thanks for pointing it out.

As for the cork flooring, a friend of ours with two dogs says that there cork flooring isn't standing up to the dogs wrestling and running in their kitchen.

mrd89 - the stove is amazing. I love cooking on it. The two ovens work great for us - we generally use the only the top oven which preheat incredibly fast Things that don't fit in the top oven are deep dish apple pies, turkeys and lasagnas (I'm sure there will be more things to add later on).

Love the blue cabinets!

How is it not having a hood over your stove? I'm thinking of doing it in my kitchen which has closed cabinets, but I'm worried about grease particles getting all over everything. I can't imagine what it's like with open shelving!
What is your experience?
Anyone else not have a hood over their stove? Does it require excessive cleaning of the entire kitchen?