Monday, August 06, 2018

Home Style || Choosing The Perfect Kitchen Flooring



It's not until you come to choosing something like a family kitchen floor that you realise what a total minefield the whole thing is. You want a floor that looks good, that is easy to clean, hard wearing, won't ruin when inevitably covered in juice or cat vomit and fits in your budget. It's not as easy as regular bedroom flooring as there is so much more risk of it being exposed to liquids, heat and a big footfall from us all as the hub of the home.

Whilst searching for our perfect kitchen flooring we visited many high street retailers, looking at packs of laminate flooring, real wood, vinyls, tiles, everything and there is so much to consider when choosing what's right for you. The main things to think about are;

  • Is it suitable for a kitchen?
  • Is it cheap for a reason?
  • Will it withstand heat and liquid spills?
  • Will it dent, break, shatter or rip easily?
  • Will it need revarnishing or upkeep to remain attractive?
  • Will it stand the test of time? 
  • Is the pattern small/large enough to suit the space we have?
  • What's it like in faux and natural lighting?
  • Will it be easy to fit?
  • Will it be comfortable to walk on?
  • Will it help keep the room warm/cool?
  • Is it a 'fashion' choice that I may go off of?


All these things vary hugely from home to home. For example with ours, it's in a kitchen with an open conservatory extension, meaning it can be icy cold in winter with our current (and pretty awful) stone tiles, but then red hot in summer. Our current flooring is dark, large square tiles that dwarf the room, crack easily when a tin or something is dropped and as well as the fact they are just plain hideous to those with vision, they also don't serve us well, they don't suit the room and are horrid to walk on.

As part of our new kitchen, the flooring is something that will have the biggest impact on the look and feel of the kitchen. We are opting for a lighter wood super high quality vinyl flooring that will be hardwearing and child proof like a decent shop floor. The colour will instantly warm, lighten and boost the room, but also not having those cold stone tiles under foot will be an absolute dream come winter time.

We are having ours fitted by the supplier who are also doing out kitchen, so I'll share more about them later this year when it's all gone to plan fingers crossed with some updated kitchen pictures. If you're looking to update your floor, make sure to look for kitchen/bathroom friendly flooring and if you're on a tight budget, just make sure they are fit for purpose or with the slightest spill you'll have swollen boards and peeling, and nobody needs that in their life.

Having a solid wooden floor is dreamy, but does cost more and will inevitably need sanding and revarnishing at some point and I just don't want to have to be overly precious about anything, particularly while the kids are still young.

We've opted for a safe choice, a nice wood look that won't fall out of favour and will be really easy to tie in with our modern kitchen and industrial vibe.


Watch this space!