If you’re designing from scratch, you’ll be knee-deep in planning the layout, units and appliances in your new kitchen. With all this to think about, it’s easy to forget about flooring.
However, flooring can be one of the most crucial elements in the space. Flooring can tie the space together or help you to create zones in a large, open plan room. It needs to withstand boiling hot spills, the assault of children’s mealtimes, the scrape of chairs and hundreds of footsteps running across it every day. It may even need to deal with soggy pets coming in from the rain. In short, it’s very, very important to get the flooring in your kitchen right.
Here are just a few of the many options available, along with a few things to be thinking about for each material:
Wood and laminate wood
Wood flooring can look beautiful in a kitchen, especially a country-style room, but is it the most practical option? Wood requires a bit of maintenance, including re-sanding and varnishing or oiling every couple of years once the wear of extensive foot traffic starts to show. It also doesn’t like getting wet, so it can suffer if placed around a kitchen sink.
Laminate or engineered wood can be a more affordable and more durable solution, and many people absolutely love the eco-friendliness and hard-wearing nature of bamboo.
Carpet tiles and vinyl
Unless you have your heart set on them or have a particularly ‘out there’ design scheme in mind, carpet tiles are probably to be avoided in the kitchen. They look very dated and are difficult to clean – for many people, they also lack style.
Traditional vinyl flooring is also rather old-fashioned, often looking as cheap as it is. However, you can now find many attractive vinyl tiles that mimic real floor tiles very well, offering an affordable solution especially in small spaces or for feature sections of flooring.
Concrete and polished concrete
Concrete is all the rage in modern homes, being durable, reasonably affordable and offering an industrial-chic contemporary finish. If raw concrete is a little too raw for your tastes, you can opt to have your concrete floor polished to bring out the character and add some shine. A good tip with concrete flooring is to install underfloor heating beneath.
Tile and stone
Stone floors can be expensive but are absolutely worth it from an aesthetic point of view if you have the cash and are aiming for a traditional, authentic look. Tiles are a budget-friendly option, with a vast range of patterns, colours and finishes available at all price ranges. Tiled floors are easy to clean and look after, and can withstand most a busy kitchen can throw at them.
Other options
There are of course lots of other modern materials to choose from when it comes to kitchen flooring, so take your pick! Rubber, cork, plywood and resin are just a few of the exciting options available.
For advice on kitchen flooring and kitchen design in general, contact the experts here at A&J Kitchens – simply give us a call on 01942 873781 to see how we can help.
However, flooring can be one of the most crucial elements in the space. Flooring can tie the space together or help you to create zones in a large, open plan room. It needs to withstand boiling hot spills, the assault of children’s mealtimes, the scrape of chairs and hundreds of footsteps running across it every day. It may even need to deal with soggy pets coming in from the rain. In short, it’s very, very important to get the flooring in your kitchen right.
Here are just a few of the many options available, along with a few things to be thinking about for each material:
Wood and laminate wood
Wood flooring can look beautiful in a kitchen, especially a country-style room, but is it the most practical option? Wood requires a bit of maintenance, including re-sanding and varnishing or oiling every couple of years once the wear of extensive foot traffic starts to show. It also doesn’t like getting wet, so it can suffer if placed around a kitchen sink.
Laminate or engineered wood can be a more affordable and more durable solution, and many people absolutely love the eco-friendliness and hard-wearing nature of bamboo.
Carpet tiles and vinyl
Unless you have your heart set on them or have a particularly ‘out there’ design scheme in mind, carpet tiles are probably to be avoided in the kitchen. They look very dated and are difficult to clean – for many people, they also lack style.
Traditional vinyl flooring is also rather old-fashioned, often looking as cheap as it is. However, you can now find many attractive vinyl tiles that mimic real floor tiles very well, offering an affordable solution especially in small spaces or for feature sections of flooring.
Concrete and polished concrete
Concrete is all the rage in modern homes, being durable, reasonably affordable and offering an industrial-chic contemporary finish. If raw concrete is a little too raw for your tastes, you can opt to have your concrete floor polished to bring out the character and add some shine. A good tip with concrete flooring is to install underfloor heating beneath.
Tile and stone
Stone floors can be expensive but are absolutely worth it from an aesthetic point of view if you have the cash and are aiming for a traditional, authentic look. Tiles are a budget-friendly option, with a vast range of patterns, colours and finishes available at all price ranges. Tiled floors are easy to clean and look after, and can withstand most a busy kitchen can throw at them.
Other options
There are of course lots of other modern materials to choose from when it comes to kitchen flooring, so take your pick! Rubber, cork, plywood and resin are just a few of the exciting options available.
For advice on kitchen flooring and kitchen design in general, contact the experts here at A&J Kitchens – simply give us a call on 01942 873781 to see how we can help.
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