Kitchen Flooring

A new kitchen can incur a huge expense, but it is important to budget for a decent kitchen floor too.

Over the years the kitchen has become the hub of the home and the most hard-working room in the house. It is therefore imperative to choose a floor that will withstand the rigours demanded of it. From food and drink spillages, the daily family foot fall, the scooters whizzing around the breakfast bar and the parties and gatherings, your kitchen floor puts up with a lot!

With so many products on the market, it can be daunting to make such an important decision. So, let us help you work through the key things to consider:

Durability: Modern flooring offers resilience and durability, with features such as indentation resistance, stain resistance technology and lengthy product guarantees. Wood flooring oozes charm and by its very nature is durable. It will grow with you and any marks or dents can add to its character. If you don’t want to embrace these imperfections, then a wood floor can be sanded and re-stained. Wood is renewable and of course recyclable.

Easy to clean: Unlike carpet, which you can clean in one step with a vacuum cleaner, other types of floors are slightly more labour intensive but not overly burdensome. Both wood flooring, luxury vinyl tiles and laminate can be swept, or vacuum cleaned (just check the appropriate setting on your vacuum cleaner) and then mopped. Unlike carpets, these floors don’t hold dust, dirt, pollens or other allergens.

Waterproof: Modern luxury vinyl tile flooring (brands such as Karndean and Amtico) offer waterproof floors that will not swell, crack or warp when wet. Spillages can be easily wiped or mopped. With wood floors, you must not leave water standing as it can damage the wood and cause it to warp. To clean, use a damp cloth or specialist mop (see wood specific products from Bona, which we sell in store) * but not a dripping wet mop.

Sound: Modern luxury vinyl tile flooring (brands such as Karndean and Amtico) is quieter underfoot compared to hard flooring alternatives. So, if you’re prone to raiding the fridge at midnight, a quieter, cushioned floor may be for you!

And then it comes down to budget – wood will be more expensive than luxury vinyl tiles, laminate the most affordable. Once you have confirmed the key features you need and your budget, you can choose the design that will complement your kitchen style and room colours.

Wood comes in all sorts of colours, finishes, and patterns, such as parquet. Both luxury vinyl tile and laminate flooring manufacturers offer products that realistically imitate natural materials, such as wood and stone. But there are also amazing, patterned flooring available in luxury vinyl tile – from geometric contemporary showstoppers to historical tile imitations. There really are products out there for every home! Perhaps you can take inspiration from some of these kitchen ideas: