One of the most important parts of your kitchen, which is also a major design statement, is your kitchen flooring. It is also the highest traffic area in the home. From daily meals to hosting parties, your kitchen floor sees it all. When choosing the right floor for your kitch-en, you should take into account that it will be subject to temperature fluctuations, stains and water spills.
Considering the extensive, daily usage of your kitchen flooring, it must be made of a ma-terial that can handle multiple hazards, but also looks stylish and attractive.
Choosing the Best Material for Your Kitchen Flooring
There is a wide variety of kitchen flooring materials and styles to choose from. From hardwood to ceramic tiles, each material has its own benefits and disadvantages.
Let’s examine some of the most popular kitchen flooring ideas to help you pick the best one for your kitchen.
Hardwood
Hardwood is durable and sturdy flooring material. It is a suitable option for a place like the kitchen, which has a semi-moist environment. Moisture is an important element here be-cause hardwood is not ideal for those areas of the house prone to a lot of moisture.
The best part about hardwood flooring is that it provides a classic, traditional look that goes with almost any kitchen style. It adds warmth, and it is comfortable to stand on.
Ceramic Tile
This flooring material is made from natural clay that is glazed and shaped with the help of heat. It is one of the most popular kitchen flooring materials due to a number of impres-sive qualities.
Ceramic tiles are extremely durable. While this is debatable in terms of style, they can function well in almost all areas of the house. Their durability and sturdiness make them very difficult to crack. They come with a hard, protective top layer that makes them naturally resistant to stains, water and highly-humid conditions.
Ceramic flooring is fairly easy to maintain and care for as any dirt or spill simply rests on the surface of the tiles. You can easily wipe off stains with the help of a cloth or mop. You can even vacuum tiles with a soft brush attachment.
The only possible drawback of this flooring material is that it can feel cold and hard to walk on, especially during the winter season.
Cork
Like concrete, cork is yet another highly durable and versatile flooring material that has recently gained significant popularity because it is a “green” renewable resource.
One of its key features is its soft, cushiony surface that feels amazing to walk on. Cork flooring has easy installation, is environmentally friendly, easy to maintain, acts as a good insulator, and is also hypoallergenic, to name a few impressive qualities.
However, cork flooring can leave permanent indentations. It is susceptible to damage and can change in colour over time in the sun.
Concrete
Concrete is an inexpensive, long-lasting option for your kitchen renovation. Concrete floor-ing is quite easy to install, and it makes for a very attractive and modern flooring option for your kitchen. A concrete surface can easily be stained, polished and treated to change its look or finish.
However, like ceramic tiles, concrete can feel cold and hard to stand on.
Evaluating Your Flooring Options
When remodeling your kitchen, we suggest that you select the kind of flooring material that not only looks stylish but is also practical and durable. As an added bonus, we also recommend making sure that your flooring choice will positively affect the resale value of your home, if you ever need to sell it.
