flooring

Your kitchen is one of the most important parts of your home.

You might have guests over who spend time in the kitchen. Plus, all of your family’s meals are prepared and eaten there. When big holidays like Christmas and Thanksgiving come around, hours on end are spent in the kitchen to make sure that the feast is just perfect. Yet, the kitchen flooring often goes unnoticed.

Many people see the floor of the kitchen as something that is purely utilitarian; It’s for walking on and that’s it. But it doesn’t have to be this way.

The floor of your kitchen, when designed and implemented the right way, can hold just as much beauty as your oak dining table, decorative lighting or the state-of-the-art refrigerator with the stainless steel doors.

While you may not think much about the floor and what it does for the kitchen, you should know that it has just as much a hand in creating the room’s atmosphere as any other fixture that you would find in there.

Revamp your kitchen’s floor and it could easily become one of the highlights of the entire house.

When picking out your new flooring, consider these factors to begin guiding yourself down the path of picking the floor that’s right for you:

Traffic – How many people typically travel through your kitchen, and how frequently, over the course of several months? If you have a large family or entertain guests regularly then kitchen flooring that can withstand the strain of constant foot traffic is something that you should seriously consider.

Safety – This is especially important if you have children. Flooring made of a softer material will make for fewer bumps and bruises in the unfortunate event of a fall occurring in the kitchen.

Looks – Whether you prefer a vintage look or a modern one for the floors in your kitchen, you have plenty of options at your disposal. At the same time, you want to make sure that the look you choose isn’t something that clashes with the rest of your kitchen’s d?�cor.

All of these different factors tie into the next thing that you want to keep in mind when picking out the floors for your kitchen; the material.

The material that you choose in a kitchen flooring renovation project can make or break the whole thing, so you want to weigh the factors that have been listed against the inherent qualities for the different materials that are available to you.

Take a look at some of the most common building materials that many homeowners use in their flooring projects and you’ll see how each one differs from the next:

Wood – This material is both beautiful and quiet, but can require more maintenance than others. Nicks and scratches are common, but can often be remedied with a refinishing job.

Laminate – The beauty of wood (or stone) without as much of a maintenance hassle. Laminate kitchen flooring is an ideal choice for many homeowners because its’ comparatively low cost and durability, but noise is a known issue with this material.

Ceramic Tile – This material allows for the highest level of personalization. You can buy tiles with many designs on them and arrange them into whatever pattern your heart desires. One drawback to tile, however, is that it’s often cold underfoot and the grout in between individual tiles becomes covered in dirt, given enough time.

These are the three most popular options for kitchen flooring that many homeowners have used in their remodeling projects, but they aren’t the only ones.

If the environmental impact of your floor is an issue, you can have one made of eco-friendly material like cork or bamboo made. Whatever you need out of a floor, there is certainly something available for you to get the most out of your kitchen and make it the hot topic of conversation among all of your friends.

Remodel your floor to fit your personal needs and tastes and you’ll quickly see that the right kitchen floor can really tie the rest of the room together and make the kitchen that much more of an enjoyable space for you, your family and your guests.