Kitchen Flooring: Where to Start
When remodeling your kitchen it’s best to start from the ground up. That’s right, today we’re talking about floors! As anyone who has begun the remodeling process can tell you, there are many kitchen flooring options to choose from. Between tile, wood, vinyl, and laminate, the number of options can feel overwhelming. But never fear! We’re here to demystify your options and help you come up with the kitchen flooring ideas that are best for your modern home. So let’s get started.
First, you’re going to want to ask yourself one simple question: Am I keeping my existing flooring in my remodel, or am I looking to bring in something new?
To answer this question, you’re going to want to work with your remodeler to learn more about the condition underneath your existing floor and get their expertise as to whether or not that existing floor can be matched to other parts of the house. This last point is why many of our clients opt to go with entirely new flooring for their remodel, as it opens them up to more options and versatility.
Now that we’ve gotten these preliminary questions out of the way, it’s time to take a look at some of the most common flooring materials we see in modern kitchen designs: wood, laminate, and tile.
What About Wood Flooring?
We’ll get this out of the way right now: wood can be tricky as a kitchen flooring material. First and foremost, wood stains easily, making it a less-than-ideal material for a space where spills can – and most likely will – happen. As Italians, we know the struggle of trying to get tomato sauce stains out of a light wood floor and all we have to say about that is three words: non va bene.
Instead, we prefer to reserve wood flooring for warmer areas of the home, like the office or bedroom, where spills and scratches are less likely.
One exception to this rule is the open floor plan, where the kitchen, living room, and dining area are connected and need flooring with a cohesive look. In this case, you may want to go with wood flooring, as we did with this beautiful Eden Park renovation.
If you have your heart set on wood floors in your kitchen, work with your designer to find high-end, scratch and stain-resistant materials like oak or hickory so that you can get the look you desire without creating more hassles for yourself down the line.
Let’s Talk About Tile Flooring
In Italy, kitchen floor tile is the standard, and for good reason! High-quality floor tile for kitchens is durable, stain-resistant, and adds a timeless look to any space.
When we say “high quality,” we’re talking about tiles that are made of stoneware, porcelain, or stone. As you search kitchen tile floors for inspiration on Google and Pinterest, you will likely also find many vinyl kitchen flooring options (often under LVT luxury vinyl tile). Vinyl is made of plastic and while it is a great option for budget and durability, we’ve found that the lower-quality material can affect the overall look.
This brings us back to porcelain, stoneware, and stone tile kitchen floors, which are not only high-quality but also give your kitchen the timeless look that is central to modern Italian design. Kitchen floor tile design has infinite options thanks to the infinite sizes and shapes they provide. Additionally, you can use real stone or nature-inspired patterns to bring a natural element to your space – another key component of modern Italian design.
In fact, tiles are so versatile you can get the look of stone, cement, or even wood without the coldness of stone or cement or the aforementioned issues actual wood flooring can bring.
Time to Design Your Kitchen Flooring
Now that you’ve got the basics of kitchen flooring materials, it’s time to get to the fun part…designing your new kitchen floors! When you work with NOLI to remodel your kitchen, we use large-format engineered wood plank or stoneware tile in various sizes, all of which are made in Italy. We can help you create the look of your kitchen using bespoke tile, or create beautiful new wood floors that integrate perfectly with the rest of your home.
Contact us or stop by our Cincinnati showroom to learn more about the materials we work with and get started designing your kitchen flooring today!
