5 Things To Consider During Your Kitchen Flooring
In more ways than one, the kitchen is the heart of your home. It is where you cook your meals, share your love for company and food, and where your family gathers. This room should be inviting, warm, and stylish. This extends to having a respectable and bespoke kitchen floor.
If you are thinking of installing new kitchen flooring, it only makes sense to take some time to learn about current flooring trends. This ensures that you get great value for your money and avoid future regrets. Discussed below are the top five things that you should consider when choosing you kitchen floor.
1. Resilient vs. Non-Resilient Flooring
Despite the polished look of non-resilient kitchen floor types like ceramic, concrete, porcelain, or stone, these floors can take a significant toll on your back and joints. Hard flooring is not suitable if you spend most of your time in your kitchen. This is because it causes subsequent back, hip, and knee pain when you stand on it for a long time.
On the other hand, resilient floor types like cork, linoleum, vinyl, or rubber are softer and more joint-friendly. These floors are not only functional, but also good looking. The cushiness of these floors eases muscle fatigue and are more forgiving when you drop fragile things.
2. Design
Your kitchen floor, despite being durable and practical, can also be a big design statement. The floor type you select affects all other design elements. The good news is that, your design choices are endless due to the variety of textures, colors, and materials available today.
Porcelain and ceramic are excellent for a kitchen with heavy traffic. They allow decorative designs and borders, and are available in different colors. Cork is a versatile and durable material that is also available in different colors. It is water resistant when coated with wax or polyurethane.
3. Maintenance and Durability
Your kitchen floor-type should be easy to maintain to avoid excessive repair and replacement costs. Regular maintenance is important to retain the durability and fresh look of your kitchen floor. Non-resilient floors like wood, vinyl, or cork require protective varnish to preserve their aesthetic look for years.
Resilient floor types like porcelain, stone, concrete, or ceramic are tough and highly durable. For the toughest floor-type, choose porcelain flooring. It is extremely hard, stain-resistant, and impervious to moisture. It is built to be resilient and can weather virtually any climate.
4. Eco friendly
Often, the term eco-friendly resonates with images of boring and bland floor-types. However, this could not be further from the truth. Today, there are numerous beautiful eco-friendly floors like cork, bamboo, linoleum, reclaimed hardwood, or rubber. What’s more, these floors come in an assortment of sleek designs and beautiful colors to suit your style and preference.
5. Open Floor Plan
An open kitchen floor plan requires a sleek finish because a large portion of the floor is visible. Here, you require a warm and inviting floor-type that completes the look of the kitchen. Hardwood flooring is an excellent choice for an open floor plan – just make sure you know how to clean hardwood. This is because it has unmatched visual appeal and warmth. Furthermore, hardwood floors never go out of style.
When it comes to finding the best floor type for your kitchen, it is important to consider things like durability, maintenance, kitchen traffic, and design. If you spend a lot of time in your kitchen, install a resilient floor type to cushion your heels and joints.
Written by Rich Callahan for www.RealtyTimes.com Copyright © 2016 Realty Times All Rights Reserved.