The kitchen floor is probably one of the largest surfaces in your home, so kitchen flooring ideas are always worth some thought and attention.
An elegant and stylish kitchen is the center of all the activities of the house. Spacious cabinets, workspace, and space for entertaining often take center stage. When it comes to kitchen flooring, there are plenty of options to suit all tastes and budgets.
Flooring, however, is a major eye-catcher that shouldn’t be an afterthought. Whether you’ve bought a new home or are working on remodeling your kitchen, affordable yet sophisticated flooring can make all the difference.
Few rooms can excite the senses like a kitchen, and few features bring a kitchen space to life like a fabulous kitchen floor.
When planning your kitchen flooring ideas, of course, the surface you choose (as with the backsplash, countertop, and kitchen island) must be able to withstand constant foot traffic and occasional messes.
Your floor also needs to perform on many levels, including durability, safety, and ease of cleaning, but they also present an opportunity for impressive design. It also needs to look good, so give it as much attention as your cabinetry.
Look no further as we’ve proven that kitchen floors don’t have to be boring, whether they’re styled in a classic checkerboard pattern, vibrantly tiled, or swathed in sleek marble.
We’ll be giving you 16 of the most glamorous kitchen flooring ideas. No matter which you choose, your guests are bound to be definitely impressed.
Kitchen Flooring Ideas
Materials such as natural stone tiles and warm wood will blend into traditional designs, while durable laminate and matte porcelain will look great in modern kitchens.
Popular modern flooring material is polished concrete, which gives a sleek, industrial look.
Budget carefully to include all installation costs and additional costs for primers, fixatives, and grout. If you want underfloor heating, make sure it’s compatible with your floor before buying.
Kitchen flooring ideas should always work with the rest of the room, so a good starting point in the kitchen is to consider the look and material of your units when choosing the flooring.
Opt for Luxurious Marble Flooring
Durable, Timeless, and absolutely stunning, choosing marble flooring can transform your kitchen into a truly spectacular space.
From large format tiles to marbled vinyl effects, there is a range of styles and options that can be incorporated into your kitchen.
Whether you complement the marble used in your countertops or choose a contrasting marble pattern for added impact, the durable material can elegantly enhance your kitchen design.
A marble floor can also be an excellent option for a smaller kitchen space. Choosing a floor for a smaller space shouldn’t be a limitation.
In fact, since you have a smaller area to cover, you should be able to afford to invest in quality materials that will stand out and stand the test of time.
Invest in Real Wood Kitchen Floors
If you’re looking for warmth and character, a hardwood kitchen floor is a great buy. As a high-traffic area of the home, the floors you choose for your kitchen should meet a number of requirements.
Wood is a solid and attractive solution with the added benefit of cleaning up stains if you’re cooking a particularly messy recipe!
Hardwood floors can be an attractive focal point in any kitchen design, and natural fibers can add texture and interest to a space. You can choose hardwood floors that match the wood of the cabinets or even smaller units and shelves.
Keep in mind that wood is a natural material and can be scratched and dented if too many objects are dropped or damaged if too much liquid is spilled. So look at your home and who will use the kitchen to choose the right option for you.
Choose the Real Wood for Warmth
Warm and inviting underfoot, solid wood kitchen floors will require careful treatment and maintenance to ensure they don’t warp, as they are less resistant to water damage than engineered wood(a layer of wood veneer).
However, if your project is open-plan, you can use the same flooring throughout the space to provide visual connection in different areas: cooking, lounging, and dining, for example.
Engineered wood is better in kitchens than solid wood because the planks’ layered construction creates a very strong and stable surface. This is especially important if you are installing underfloor heating or a cast iron cooker.
Find the Right Stone for the Kitchen Floor
Stone flooring options for the kitchen include natural stone, artificial ceramic, terracotta, and porcelain. All are sturdy and easy to clean, with porcelain being the toughest due to its non-porous and scratch-resistant properties.
For kitchen flooring ideas with individual natural beauty and character, look no further than natural stone – no two tiles will ever be the same, so your kitchen floor will be one of a kind.
The stone offers a classic, luxurious look and tends to improve as it acquires the “patina” of age. However, it is a bit harder underfoot than synthetics and hardwoods.
Smooth marbles and polished limestones are a sophisticated and smart choice or choose a weathered tile that sits comfortably in a country kitchen. Confirm your tiles are treated before laying to prevent staining.
Create a Light and Airy Feel With a White Flooring Idea
Using white floors in your kitchen is a great way to make the space look bigger and brighter, and they’re ideal for smaller kitchen spaces.
Whether you choose white painted floorboards or go for white stone or vinyl, white floors can create a beautifully relaxed and calm atmosphere, perfect for a busy area like a kitchen.
A white countertop in a kitchen can complement a white painted wall beautifully, emphasizing the light and spaciousness in the room.
Try it with a kitchen cabinet painted in dark blue or other deep colors to create an elegant contrast, adding character and balance to the space.
Make a Dramatic Statement With Patterned Tiles
Blue and white patterned floor tiles illustrate geometric kitchen floor ideas. If you want the soft, dusty colors and low-maintenance pattern of encaustic (concrete) tiles, consider porcelain with an encaustic look, like Puzzle by Domus.
Or do a bespoke floor by combining shapes. It’s amazing how many different kitchen tile ideas and designs you can create with a triangular format in a range of colors.
Select a Herringbone/Chevron Wood Kitchen Floor for an Elegant Look
With so many options available in terms of materials and designs, it can be daunting to find the right kitchen flooring ideas when planning a kitchen.
Herringbone or chevron styles are very popular these days, whether in ceramic or wood, and are a perfect way to introduce subtle yet beautiful patterns and a nice feeling of texture, even on the simplest kitchen flooring. Instantly transforming it into a focal point.
Lately, there has been an increase in the popularity of patterned hardwood floors. Large herringbone or chevron pieces often look more contemporary.
If it’s an open plan kitchen, a distressed herringbone or chevron floor will hold up well to general wear and tear.
Choose delicate parquet if you want to give the nod to a characteristic floor without overdoing it. Classic parquet can be laid in individual blocks, or the effect can be replicated with engineered wood planks, which are easier to lay.
We always propose that you consult a professional to ensure the floor is installed and maintained correctly, as moisture can be an issue in this environment, particularly with parquet, as this is a very skillful installation and not DIY.
Incorporate Kitchen Flooring Materials to Complement Cabinets
Anyone who has designed a kitchen will know that choosing kitchen cabinets alongside kitchen flooring ideas is essential.
It definitely makes sense that kitchen cabinets come first, but choosing to the floor should be the next big decision, ideally made in conjunction with choosing countertops.
My best advice, if you don’t have an experienced interior designer to pick for you, is to bring a sample of the cabinets you’ve chosen into the kitchen, along with floor and counter samples.
Hold the cabinet sample vertically, so the light hits it at exactly the angle it would be when installed, then place the kitchen floor and counter samples against it, but horizontally, so again, the light strikes it at the correct angle.
Notice the different shades it takes on in daylight and under artificial light; only then can you really be sure that you have chosen well.
Lay Vinyl for a Practical Kitchen Floor Option
Vinyl is a relatively contemporary surface covering, which has only made its way into floors in recent decades. It is an artificial material, similar to plastic, with many of the same elastic and resistant properties.
This makes it resistant to almost all stain removers and makes the surface relatively easy to clean from spills and splatters. Vinyl is also a solid idea for kitchen floors as a material that does not rip, tear or scratch easily.
There are two main options when choosing luxury vinyl flooring: planks and tiles. Luxury vinyl plank flooring (LVP) comes in long sections, just like laminate flooring, and is usually very thin and flexible.
They come in a variety of patterns, so you can choose what works best with surrounding colors and finishes. Because the planks are longer, most styles look like hardwood floors, but there is an abundance of colors and wood grain patterns.
Because this floor is so versatile, it works well when you want to use the same floor style in the kitchen and other rooms in the house.
Vinyl tiles typically come in 12 x 24-inch tiles and are designed to look like ceramic or porcelain tiles. It is quite thick and much stiffer than its plank counterpart.
Both vinyl options can be cost-effective if the subfloor is in good condition. Be sure to choose a laminate suitable for kitchen floors, as some are not suitable for humid environments.
Add Color Pop With Kitchen Flooring Ideas
We’re so used to standard tiles that it’s often easy to forget that the variety of sizes and manufacturing processes create a wealth of design possibilities.
Kitchen flooring ideas are a wonderful way to experiment with bold, distinctive patterns and color options, especially if you choose to keep the rest of your kitchen color palette neutral.
It is found that tiles combinations like this are typically used in smaller spaces like showers, closets, and kitchen backsplashes.
Still, as the fun patterns are getting noticed, you can also try to expand and use them in larger kitchens and open-plan spaces.
Maintaining Traditionality With Terracotta
Using traditional terracotta tiles will always create a warm textural scheme that beautifully reflects the designs and materials of the past.
Although terracotta is technically a ceramic material, the earthenware is made from reddish clay that gives it a characteristic hue that sets it apart from its cousins. Color variations can range from beige to charcoal.
Working well in both vintage and modern homes, this ceramic tile design is a popular choice for kitchen tile ideas, often due to its durability and timeless appeal.
When considering terracotta tiles for your kitchen, be sure to choose a high-density material, as low-density tiles are porous and susceptible to stains and water damage. Ideal for creating a country, farmhouse-style kitchen, terracotta tiles add a timeless earthy texture to the space.
Choose Concrete Kitchen Flooring Ideas for an Industrial Flavor
Far from being ordinary building materials, the raw and unfinished beauty of plaster and concrete finds a very modern place in kitchen flooring ideas.
In their exposed and uncovered state, plaster and concrete have a bold, practical quality and an almost brutal sophistication.
In particular, concrete is a strong and versatile material that can be cast into shapes and slabs or poured, smoothed, and polished, making it suitable for floors, worktops, and even part of the kitchen itself if you are looking for an industrial style.
Although polished concrete requires specialized installation, it can last a lifetime and requires minimal maintenance. It is advisable to install the heating system while the concrete floor is in place.
Otherwise, it can get very cold underfoot, and updating can be a costly and disruptive task. You can also add a large, comfy rug to soften the space and help absorb sound and prevent unwanted reverberations throughout the property.
Try the Cork Flooring
Cork stoppers may be more familiar to you as corks in a wine bottle or pegboard, but the eco-friendly material can also be used as flooring.
Cork is a natural and durable material that will look great in a variety of kitchen decors, adding a soft, natural look to modern kitchens or blending in with the charm of a country kitchen.
It is especially good for kitchen flooring ideas as it provides a comfortable cushiony feel underfoot. Cork needs a finish to protect it from spills and, like hardwood, can be refinished if repairs are required.
Source Reclaimed Wood for a Rustic, Country Look
Reclaimed wood floors are not only full of charm, character, and history but buying something reclaimed is environmentally friendly and in line with today’s recycling trend.
Whether it’s reclaimed oak beams from old American barns or salvaged Burmese teak flooring from a converted school building, salvaged boards bear unique traces of time, like a piece of history in the home.
You can’t be more eco-friendly than buying reclaimed wood flooring. It is environmentally friendly and will be sourced relatively locally, and Reuse reduces landfills and limits the need to plunder resources from the earth.
The rescue has generally not traveled far, so it has a relatively tiny carbon footprint.
Choose Terrazzo for Contemporary Kitchen Flooring Ideas
Porcelain stoneware is by far the most popular material these days because it is sturdy, non-porous, highly resistant to stains and scratches, goes well with underfloor heating, and comes in a wide variety of designs, colors, and formats.
Porcelain tiles in stone, wood, cement, and terrazzo effect stand out; it’s crazy how faithful some reproductions are.
Layering with kitchen rug ideas is a great way to add warmth and softness underfoot, help with acoustics, and bring extra texture and design to a space.
Be Bold With Pattern for a Fun, Lively Space
Do you like a dramatic scheme? Bold geometries and exotic Moroccan patterns are exceptionally contemporary and versatile kitchen flooring ideas.
They have a timeless appeal that means they look equally at home in modern kitchens as in traditional ones.
Linoleum for a Try
Do you really just recommend linoleum? You may wonder. The truth is, linoleum got a bad rap because everyone used to live in a rental apartment with old, faded linoleum floors that they hated.
In addition to the above, linoleum is actually a great material for kitchen flooring on the same level as vinyl. It is also a durable and biodegradable alternative to vinyl made from flax.
Linoleum is durable, and the patterns don’t wear off because they go through the material instead of being painted on.
Linoleum costs about the same as vinyl tile and will last 30 to 40 years. Old linoleum can be painted or stenciled to give it new life.
You Can Choose a Cottage Look Tile
Please keep it simple in small kitchens. You don’t need to use too many different tile sizes, colors, and finishes.
Less is definitely more when it comes to bold kitchen floors, so use patterns selectively. It loses its effect when there is too much of it or when other patterns are vying for attention.
Try a classic diagonal checkerboard or a very clean, crisp geometry so that the eye can catch the defining principle of the pattern at a glance.
Conclusion
As you can see, a lot is going on with kitchen floors right now. There are many different and unique options on the trend that is likely to last for years, meaning your options are endless. Why don’t you try new ideas and get creative with your kitchen floors today?
