Are you considering renovating your kitchen? Updating your home’s food preparation area with a fresh new look is one of the best ways to increase your home’s resale value. As you plan for your makeover, review several kitchen floor design ideas. Our sampling of homeowners’ kitchen flooring designs will help you discover which building material—from ceramic tile to hardwood to stone—may be best for you and your home.
Employ Engineered Wood Flooring
The homeowners of this kitchen opted for engineered wood over a solid hardwood or laminate. Light flooring and whitewashed cabinetry creates a cool, monochromatic look.
Engineered wood can go anywhere in your home, but it’s especially practical in rooms where water might be an issue. It shrinks and expands less than solid woods, making it less vulnerable to moisture damage.
Try Travertine Tiles
In this home’s grand kitchen, honey-color travertine tiles cover the floor, playing off the color of the perimeter cabinets. Caring for travertine is as simple as annual sealing, monthly wet mopping, and dry sweeping a couple of times a week. Polished travertine is practically stain-resistant and is a great choice for high-traffic areas in your home—such as a kitchen.
Add Oak Flooring
Oak flooring—in a rich stain—anchors this home’s elegant kitchen and provides contrast to the white walls and white-and-blue cabinetry.
Wood flooring is a fabulous kitchen floor idea and lends unmatched warmth and character to any room in your home. If you decide to put wood flooring in the kitchen, keep in mind that solid woods are vulnerable to moisture. Place a rug near the food prep area and cleanup zones to catch water and food spills.
More Reasons to Love Oak Floors
This home’s light-and-airy kitchen gets just a touch of warmth with oak floors. A not-too-orange stain gives the kitchen a modern vibe and works with any supporting colors in the kitchen.
Focus on Stylish Slate Tiles
Large slate tiles provide a sound, stylish surface underfoot, and the color hides dirt, pet hair and more. It’s simple to maintain the floor with a matte-finish product once a year.
The type of stone you choose and where you lay the stone in your house will determine if you need to seal it. Sealants and cleaning products vary depending on the stone type, so check with a stone retailer or manufacturer for specific recommendations.
Build with Beautiful Bamboo Floors
In keeping with an earthy color palette, the homeowners chose honey-tone bamboo plank flooring. The flooring reflects light, which keeps the kitchen bright and airy.
Renewable bamboo floors come in different patterns and plank sizes to complement a variety of kitchen styles. Bamboo can be stained in a variety of colors; just make sure to use water-based stains and top coats that are labeled as low-VOC-emission products to ensure the bamboo stays earth-friendly.
Bring Back Brick Floors
A bold paint color on the cabinets gives the brick floor of this home’s kitchen a fresh new life. The muted sea green on the cabinets pairs perfectly with the varying shades of tan and brown in the brick. The combination is unexpected and unique, and a stylish kitchen floor design idea well worth considering.
Go Retro with a Black-and-White Vinyl Floor
A classic checkerboard pattern underfoot adds an urban, designer-style vibe to this home’s cottage kitchen. The black-and-white vinyl tiles add a graphic edge to an otherwise neutral kitchen. Vinyl tiles are affordable and come in a wide range of colors.
Renovate with Reclaimed Wood
During a major home renovation, the homeowners chose to use reclaimed and bleached white oak floors through their house. The color and finish of the oak lends a rustic and carefree look and feel to the kitchen.
Add Antique Brick
Antique brick flooring brings charming texture to this home’s kitchen and eating area. The brick is a surprising contrast to the classically styled kitchen and modern acrylic chairs surrounding the table.
Mix-and-Match Materials
In this homeowner’s kitchen, ceramic tile flooring gets an added dose of interest and style by combining it with oak planks. Unexpected yet durable, both of these flooring materials will stand the test of time.
Consider a Comfortable Cork Floor
Natural cork covers the floor in this home’s kitchen and adjoining breakfast nook. Cork flooring is quiet, durable and cushiony underfoot, making it easier on your joints. Though it costs roughly the same as hardwood, solid-cork flooring has a distinct ecological advantage: sustainability. Cork trees take just nine years to regenerate while other trees can take 30 years or more.
Paint for a Quick Update
Give outdated but solid floors a new look with paint. Lighten up the room with an off-white shade of paint and set the stage for a beautiful kitchen.
Renovate with a Rustic Appeal
Coastal color and charm can be found throughout this cool, casual kitchen, including underfoot. Rustic flagstone flooring—in aquatic blue and green hues—complements the rich blue cabinetry. The flooring is durable and easy to maintain by sweeping with a dry broom and washing with gentle laundry detergent and water.
Lighten Up with Limestone Tile
Honed-limestone tile flooring and granite countertops contain the same earthy colors seen outside this home’s kitchen windows and define the color scheme for this kitchen. These elements complement the room’s farmhouse style.
Consider a honed or matte finish if you choose limestone flooring for your kitchen. This type of finish gives the room a more relaxed look and feel. It also hides scratches, requires little maintenance and provides more traction when wet.
Create a New Look with Cool Concrete
Concrete is central to this kitchen’s clean, contemporary style. The kitchen has concrete floors that have been stained and scored to resemble large tiles. Concrete is a great flooring option because it has the ability to take on many different colors, shading, patterns and sheens. It can even be fashioned to resemble various kinds of stone. Concrete is budget-friendly but requires periodic sealing.
Enjoy the Ease of Vinyl Tiles
Soft green and cream vinyl tiles were an affordable option for this homeowner’s kitchen floor, freeing up their budget for upgraded appliances and other finishes. Beyond sealing the floor, soap and water is the easiest way to keep vinyl looking new. Sealing vinyl flooring protects it from stains, which otherwise can be almost impossible to remove.
Warm Up with Cherry Flooring
Brazilian cherry flooring grounds the creamy white cabinetry in this bright and airy kitchen. This very hard wood does come from Brazil and is known for its rich burgundy hue. As with other woods, avoid saturating the floors with water and, when cleaning, use only wood cleaner or a barely damp mop and immediately wipe up any spills to avoid warping the wood.
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