What kind of flooring should I have in my kitchen?

6 years ago

I am about to have my kitchen redone. I want a classic but contemporary look. Budget is fairly small. I am going to have painted wood shaker doors, possibly with a grey blue on lower cabinets and off white on upper, which would be the same as the walls. I want a marble look quartz worktop, or something similar. None of the colours will be dark. Handles on lower cabinets will be either be quite minimal pulls, as unobtrusive as possible, or something cool like buster and punch pulls. I am wondering whether it is possible to have handleless push open doors on upper doors, which would be wide horizontal ones rather than vertical. I'll probably have upstands along the worktop and considering zellige tiles as a backsplash. Sorry I can't show a photo of this, none of it is definite and work hasn't yet started, but hopefully that gives an indication of what I'm after.

I am am totally stumped when it comes to flooring. I can't think of what would fit with the look I'm going for. Wood effect tiles are something I have considered, but I will have engineered or laminate flooring in the rest of the downstairs, so not sure whether a different and fake wood tile would clash as the two will meet.

Any ideas? I'm not too keen on the look of stone flooring as it often looks more country style to me and I want something a bit more elegant.

Featured Answer

kikiamack

6 years ago

What about a mid to dark wood Karndean or similar LVT. You could have it throughout for a more streamlined look.

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Comments (14)

Jade Byng
Original Author
6 years ago
This is the kind of thing I meant when I said contemporary shaker. I wouldn't have such dark lower cupboards and I don't live in a particularly nice house so don't think I can pull off the luxe look so well! This seems to show wood flooring but I'm unsure...
PRO
Woodpecker Flooring
6 years ago
Hi, have you considered parquet flooring? It's really on-trend for kitchens, especially with grey-blue coloured cupboards! Here's some inspiration:

And some parquet floors from our range:

Goodrich Natural Oak

Goodrich Coffee Oak
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PRO
Floors of Stone
6 years ago
Hello,

It sounds like an exciting project! We'd love to see a picture when you're finished.

It sounds as through porcelain might be a good choice for you, as it has a clean, contemporary finish which sounds more in line with the look you want to achieve. Something like our Stucco Chalk or Stucco Marl might look good with the colours you have described.

Or if you want something a bit warmer, one of our wood effect porcelains might work well for you. Our Aged Oak Porcelain is really popular and goes with most colours, or if you want to keep everything light, then our Vintage Oak Porcelain may work, as it has grey undertones throughout.

This is our Aged Oak Porcelain against a Lead Shaker kitchen, from our sister company deVOL. In this house, they had real wood in the hallway running off from the kitchen, and the two sat very well together.

Or if you wanted real wood, then as Woodpecker Flooring mentioned above, parquet is extremely popular and offers a timeless look (they've also posted pictures from our sister company deVOL, so you can see how well it works with the Shaker style!). You can go for an unfinished parquet, which is sanded and finished in situ to give an 'ice rink' appearance, so a much sleeker look, such as our Rustic Oak parquet:

Or for something with a bit more texture, then our Planks & Parquet range have a more distressed finish, to give a softer look:

I hope that's given you a bit of inspiration, but if you want to email or call us, we'd be happy to chat through some options with you and give a bit of advice. We can also send out free samples, so you can see how the tiles look in your room and against your kitchen colours.

Best of luck with your project,

Sophie // Floors of Stone
Jade Byng
Original Author
6 years ago
Thanks for those comments. I think parquet flooring is out of my budget and I wouldn't be too keen on the idea of wooden flooring in the kitchen. Wood effect tiles would be more realistic. It would be useful to see how people have made the transition from wooden flooring to wood effect tiles but I suppose there wouldn't be many photos of that.

I am quite taken with modern patterned tiles, but again, cost is a problem. I don't think I would be able to do the entire space in the type of tile I have seen. Do people manage to successfully have two different tile types within one room? I wondered whether a cheaper, plainer floor tile could go within the kitchen area (as the tiles behind hob would be quite eye catching anyway), and then have the patterned tile in the dining half. I suppose the problem then would be the tiles being different sizes or thickness.

Do people tend to put underfloor heating beneath tile kitchen floors now? Is this expensive to run?
A S
6 years ago
Wood Effect Porcelain Tiles can be very cold to the touch, especially if there is no underfloor heating.

I'd consider LVT, such as amtico or karndean- it does come slightly pricey at approximately 30 psm (last I checked) but it gives a good wood/stone effect and amtico may even do patterned tiles. They are warmer to the touch can withstand contact with water if fitted correctly and high amounts of traffic.
PRO
Floors of Stone
6 years ago
Hi sparklybloom,

Not the best photo, as a customer sent it in, but this shows the wood effect porcelain in their cloakroom against the real wood flooring in their hallway, I hope that helps.

A lot of our customers use underfloor heating nowadays. We sell a brand called Varme and they advise "based on the default thermostat settings, a 1kw system will cost approximately £0.40 a day, based on an average house with an average level of insulation"
PRO
Emma Kewley at Interior Folk
6 years ago
I am interested why you wouldn't consider wood in the kitchen? I only ask as I would advise to always try and have the same floor finish through out, it's a really important party of creating harmony. Having said that I am very impressed with @FloorsofStone solution pictured above and the effective colour matching they have achieved. It's a great solution.
Jade Byng
Original Author
6 years ago
That photo does look good, the two don't clash at all. I can't afford real wood flooring. I will either be having new laminate or engineered wood flooring, neither of which are something I would want in a kitchen. I also don't feel comfortable having something I feel would be more difficult to clean than tiles. It's a kitchen diner which opens onto our unusually wet and muddy garden. I have two children who create lots of mess. Just yesterday my eldest spilled some sort of hideous red goo all over the cream carpet upstairs!

My other option is some sort of blue geometric patterned tiled floor. I haven't been able to find many affordable options so would probably only be able to do half of the room, depending on the way it is designed. Do any more affordable options exist? I found the optiks tiles at topps tiles which are just under £70 a square metre, so still too expensive for me. They are also quite a light blue and I'd prefer something darker. Are there any other options around?
Jade Byng
Original Author
6 years ago
Or I could go for a parquet effect tile on the floor and the lovely expensive geometric tiles as a backsplash for the hob instead of the zellige tiles I liked as a way of introducing a bit of pattern. I'm not so keen on the darker blue zellige tiles and it might be a bit bland if everything is white/grey. Do you think parquet effect flooring would clash with standard plank flooring in the hall where it meets in the doorway? The wood flooring would look more classic and less likely to date and the backsplash behind the hob would be a much smaller area to replace if I go off the geometric patterns in time.
PRO
Fawn Interiors Studio
6 years ago
Have you seen the new (luxury) vinyl flooring range by Neisha Crosland? They would look great with the style of kitchen you're describing...the first one is called Parquet and the second is Check: http://www.harveymaria.com/Floor-Range/parquet-neisha-crosland. Ei
Jade Byng
Original Author
6 years ago
No, I hadn't seen those. I like the parquet style, it doesn't seem to come in a dark blue like I was hoping for though.
Melissa S
6 years ago
Have you seen the grosvenor range at topps tiles? Depends on style of your house I guess but we have the brown in our bathroom (also comes in blue) so far look great, very hard wearing and easy to clean.
PRO
Floor Monster
6 years ago
Hi there,

We have a few laminate Herringbones in stock currently that may be a good option for the kitchen!

They are from our Underground collection range!

This is our Laminate Herringbone, Islington!

We also have a smoked oak, Holborn which is pictured below.

A natural Oak Herringbone callFinsbury park

And last but not least we have a walnut laminate herringbone, called Holland Park!

If you have any queries in regards to the flooring we would be more than happy to send you FREE samples. You can give us a call on 0141 887 5698 or email us at info@floormonster.co.uk

We wish you the best of luck.

Kind Regards,

Floor Monster Team