The kitchen is the heart of the home. It’s a space that gets used by everyone in the house, multiple times a day. A kitchen is more than just a place where food is prepared. It’s a place that can also serve as a gathering spot for loved ones and guests, to spend time, enjoy each other’s company and make memories.
It also means that your kitchen flooring is probably the hardest working surface in your home. It needs to be durable enough to handle frequent foot traffic, and hold up to drops, spills, leaks, stains and frequent cleaning.
But as the heart of your home, you also want a beautiful space with flooring that reflects your sense of style and integrates into your kitchen decor.
As you plan your project, there are lots of things to consider before selecting that new kitchen floor. To help you on your way, take a look at this quick guide and see some of the most popular options before getting in touch with us for a complimentary consultation.
What to Consider Before Choosing Kitchen Flooring
Your Lifestyle
Kitchens get more use than just about any other room in the home, and can often show the wear and tear to prove it. With sinks and leaking dishwashers, cooking spills, ice makers and regular foot traffic, the amount of moisture and dirt that can get on the floor must be considered when choosing flooring material.
The more people that live in a household, the more use your floor is going to get. Depending on the stage of life or your family’s lifestyle, that floor can take a beating from kids and pets as much or more than just the regular cooking and cleaning activities of most kitchens.
In a quiet household you might not have the same concerns. But if you like to entertain or frequently have friends and family over, where does everyone tend to congregate and hang out together? Frequently, it’s the kitchen!
The amount and type of activity in your kitchen can greatly influence your choice of flooring. Keep that in mind as you read on.
Your Style
Are you looking to create something that’s modern and bright? Or are you looking for something a little more homey, rustic or vintage?
Are you trying to create a floor that’s a vivid, dramatic centrepiece, or something that’s a functional, complimentary backdrop?
Maybe you’re most concerned with having the most natural or eco-friendly option possible?
What is the size and layout of your kitchen? What’s the colour and style of your cabinetry and appliances, and of the walls and ceiling? What about the natural and artificial light in the space? All these other elements of your kitchen are things to consider as you make your choice.
Or maybe you want consistent hardwood flooring throughout your home — it’s a popular option for many homeowners. However, choosing different flooring more suited to your kitchen’s environment can give you better durability while creating a uniqueness to the space.
Durability
The water-resistant quality of the flooring material you choose is so important in your kitchen. Spills and leaks are going to happen, utensils will be dropped and there will be the occasional broken glass or dish. You’ll want to be sure your new floor will hold up to accidents.
Many kitchens also have an exterior door, so you have to consider durability and maintenance in terms of what the outside traffic into your kitchen can bring with it. For kitchen flooring in Ottawa, that could mean regular tracking of snow, water, dirt and grime onto your floor.
Some flooring types are more scratch and dent resistant than others. Some flooring is water-proof while others may discolour or warp from standing moisture. Keep these things in mind as you read on.
Cleaning and Maintenance
Just as some floors are more durable than others, different flooring materials require different standards of cleaning and care. Some flooring is completely water-proof and stain resistant while others require quick attention to the inevitable spills and messes.
Tile flooring, for example, requires very little maintenance and can be mopped with water and an all-purpose cleaner. While with laminate flooring, you should avoid soap products as they can leave the floor looking dull.
Comfort
After evaluating lifestyle, decor, durability and maintenance considerations, one aspect of flooring choices that often gets overlooked is comfort. If you love cooking or otherwise spend a lot of time in the kitchen, you’re likely spending most of your time there on your feet.
For all of tile’s qualities, prolonged standing on a rock hard floor can be tough on your legs, joints and back. A tile floor just might not be the best option for you.
Materials like cork and vinyl are much softer underfoot and kinder on your joints, but are still durable and resilient enough to be a great alternative in your kitchen.
Budget
Above all, you need to be aware of the costs associated with your new floor. Kitchen flooring has wide variation in price of both materials and installation.
One option to consider is installing different flooring materials in different areas of the kitchen. You could place a durable, easy-to-clean tile in the primary working area and install something that’s a little warmer or more comfortable — but also more affordable — in outlying areas of the kitchen.
Your budget also has to match your goals. You may be content to go with the most affordable route possible, but cheaper flooring may not be the best choice if it lowers the value of your home. Likewise, going with an expensive option might raise the value, but if it’s out of character with your home you might not see the return you expect.
Our Ottawa flooring experts can go over options and scenarios with you to maximise your budget, and keep you informed of any unanticipated expenses in your flooring project.
Kitchen Tile Flooring
For durability and beauty, nothing beats the classic appeal of tile flooring in your kitchen.
Tile is probably the easiest kind of flooring to maintain and keep clean. It’s highly resistant to water and humidity, making it great for bathrooms, kitchens, mud rooms and entrance ways. If your kitchen has an outside door, tile (especially slip-resistant tile) is ideal for handling the dirt and moisture that is surely to be tracked inside by slushy winter boots, and is great for high-traffic areas because it’s resistant to staining and wear.
Due to the intricate process, we recommend you leave tile installation [Link to tiling] to the pros. This will add to your flooring budget, but when you consider its durability and the value it adds to your home, tile provides incredible value. The grout may need to be resealed to keep it stain-resistant, but properly installed tile can last for decades — even centuries.
Remember, tile flooring is extremely hard, which makes it durable and easy to clean and maintain, but can make it uncomfortable to stand on for prolonged periods.
Hardwood Flooring in Kitchens
Hardwood flooring has a beauty and value that continues to make it a popular choice. While it’s a very durable flooring material for most areas of the home, it requires more diligence to maintain in your kitchen. Hardwood has long been considered a poor flooring choice for moisture-prone areas, but modern sealers and finishes are making it a more suitable choice for your kitchen..
We would still advise caution when choosing wood for a kitchen due to the danger of moisture damage. Wood can also be marked and dented by dropped utensils much more easily than materials like tile. Scratches and wear can also compromise the sealer and allow moisture to enter and damage the wood.
Solid hardwood tends to expand and warp in humid and moist environments. Hardwood flooring used to largely be avoided in the kitchen due to the amount of moisture and heat that can be created. Fortunately, we now have engineered hardwood.
Engineered hardwood flooring is available in wider, durable planks and a variety of installation styles compared to solid hardwood. It’s made of a tough top layer of solid wood veneer and core layers of wood, plywood or high-density fiberboard that have been pressed together under high heat and pressure. It’s less susceptible to damage from temperature and humidity fluctuations and can stand up to heavy traffic and wear from children and pets.
Engineered wood flooring gives you the same look as solid hardwood at a more affordable price, and depending on the thickness of its wood veneer, it can also be refinished one to two times.
Luxury Vinyl Flooring for Kitchens
There are two main types of vinyl flooring — luxury vinyl planks (LVP) and luxury vinyl tiles (LVT). LVP mimics the look of hardwood while LVT is made to look like tile or stone, like slate and marble.
Vinyl flooring is resilient material that can enhance your space at a fraction of the cost of hardwood or tile. If maintained properly, vinyl flooring can last up to 25 years, depending on the quality of the product and how well it’s installed. It comes in a wide range of attractive, high quality finishes to suit your style preferences and has a good balance of firmness and give, which makes it much more comfortable underfoot than tile.
Vinyl is an excellent choice for kitchens as it’s waterproof and won’t buckle and warp in kitchen conditions. When cared for properly vinyl flooring is highly durable, as long as you avoid abrasive scrubs, detergents and solvents.
While vinyl flooring is one of the more affordable options, keep in mind that it doesn’t add to the resale value of your home like hardwood and tile.
Laminate Flooring
Laminate flooring is a cost-effective and low-maintenance material that’s become a favourite choice for kitchens. As technology improves, so do today’s laminate flooring options. Unlike laminates from the past, today’s laminate flooring has a more highly-protective resin layer that makes this option extremely stain, moisture and fade-resistant. There’s no need to stress about small spills.
While it’s still not as waterproof as vinyl flooring, advances in laminate’s water-resistant capabilities are making it a better option for kitchens. However, you still have to beware of standing pools of water.
Top quality laminate has a convincing wood or tile finish and can include embossing and bevelled edges. Avoid the cheaper laminates, however, which can stain, warp, and peel.
Eco-Friendly Flooring Options
Bamboo Flooring
Bamboo flooring is an excellent eco-friendly option for your kitchen. Bamboo floors are just as tough and even more water resistant than hardwood floors, with a similar appearance and feel. Natural bamboo does have a distinct look, which is typically a very light hue. However, it comes in several different colours, from natural and white-washed to deep dark and walnut stained.
Its eco-friendly quality is in the fact that bamboo is actually a type of grass that reaches maturity in just a quarter of the time of a typical tree. It will continue to grow after it’s harvested, and can be re-harvested after just a few years.
Good-quality bamboo flooring is as durable as hardwood while offering a fresh, clean, contemporary look. Beware of cheap bamboo flooring — it’s more susceptible to scratches and damage.
Cork Flooring
Cork flooring has been around for ages but has seen a recent rise in popularity for its eco-friendliness, its look, and because it’s so comfortable to stand and walk on. Cork is harvested from the bark of living cork oak trees. The bark regrows to be harvested again in just a few years time and no trees need to be cut down to produce flooring material.
This completely renewable option comes in many different patterns and over 100 different colours. While easy to maintain and highly durable, cork is actually considered a soft flooring. It has a slight give to it that cushions dropped objects, is comfortable underfoot if you’re on your feet for long periods of time, and also acts as a natural insulator for both heat and noise.
Cork has a very moisture-resistant cellular structure and is a great choice for the kitchen because it is slip-resistant. However, it should be sealed every 3 to 4 years to keep it durable and resilient.
Kitchen Floor Colours and Textures
New flooring can transform the look and feel of any room. When it comes to the unique makeup and purpose of your kitchen, there are many factors that designers and homeowners consider when choosing flooring colour, such as:
- Should the kitchen floor be darker than the cabinets?
- Should the kitchen floor be lighter than the cabinets?
- Should the kitchen floor match the countertop?
- Should the kitchen floor match the backsplash?
Your answer to the above questions can have an incredible impact on the personality of your kitchen. A dark floor — like dark espresso or charcoal — paired with light cabinets will create a dramatic contrast that pops.
But kitchens with all their tools, appliances and gadgets can often feel a bit more cramped. So you may want to choose a brighter colour for your kitchen floor so your room can feel more spacious.
White tile or whitewashed wood is a neutral that compliments most other colours without calling attention to itself. White is a common colour for kitchens, and a white floor can go with any cabinet colour choice. If you decide to change your décor in the future, you won’t have to also redo the floor because of its colour. Grey is also a popular floor colour because it creates a cool, contemporary look and also easily complements most décor.
Of course, if you’re trying to create a uniform flooring look throughout your home, then you have to balance the overall look and feel of your home with that of your kitchen. Natural wood tones like honey or blonde leaves room for lots of flexibility for décor while creating a consistent but warmer look.
Many kitchen floors are also designed with different textures, patterns or multiple colours that add character and personality. A rustic texture can work well in older homes, cottages, and farmhouses. Distressed flooring can create an authentic look of subtle cracks that recreates the flooring of an older home.
A textured floor might be the way to go in your kitchen for its better grip and slip-resistance qualities. There are textured tile options that are designed with precisely that in mind. Small tiles, both square and hexagon, with their numerous textured grout lines are also a great anti-slip option.
Vinyl flooring products also come in different textures. Vinyl with wood-grain embossing, for example, provides anti-slip protection.
DIY or Flooring Installation
A new kitchen floor is a significant investment in your home, one that can last a lifetime. We recommend using an installation team that will deliver professional results.
In the most straight-forward projects, unanticipated challenges almost always happen. A kitchen installation will have many more challenges than a typical room, so you want an installation team that has the know-how to handle any situation that pops up in the process.
We understand how many homeowners prefer to complete their own projects around the house. While you can save money when you install flooring on your own, it can be a significant investment of time and effort. Kitchen flooring requires precise, delicate work, measuring many corners and angles, cutting tiles or planks to exact dimensions, and the use of advanced tools to get the job done right.
If you’re a casual DIYer, you risk not only damaging your materials, but ending up with a very unprofessional looking installation. If you have to tear out and replace materials that weren’t installed correctly or buy tools you don’t have on hand, the expenses can add up quickly.
In many situations, people actually end up spending more money on their DIY because of unplanned expenses.
Professional installers also remove and dispose of your existing flooring, and assess the subflooring before making any installation. Then, before they finish, they’ll properly install the other necessary elements like baseboards and accessories at room entrances or areas where flooring changes.
If and when it comes time to sell, potential buyers will notice a shoddy flooring installation and your home is going to be worth less to them.
After all the time, effort and expense you put into doing it yourself, more often than not you’ll wish you’d simply hired a pro.
Many Great Kitchen Flooring Options
What’s the best kitchen flooring for your home?
It’s the one that best fits your priorities, budget and style.
But remember, some materials are just better suited for your kitchen than others. When it comes to kitchens, some options will need more diligent maintenance to ensure they don’t suffer unnecessary wear and tear, or irreparable damage.
So while aesthetics and appearance are certainly important, you really need to keep durability and functionality in mind before making your choice.
Our flooring experts are here to help
We hope you found this guide to kitchen floors useful — but it’s just the start. Our Ottawa flooring experts are highly knowledgeable and always happy to answer your questions.
Would you like a complimentary on-site consultation and estimate in your home?
Drop by our showroom or give us a call for a quote at 613-688-2080.
