Need help picking floor for kitchen, hardwood, cork or tile?

15 years ago

I am trying to settle on the flooring for my kitchen. I had my heart set on hardwood to match the rest of the house, it is original oak from the 20s. We had it refinished before we moved in and stained a dark color. We are now redoing the original 1920s kitchen in white traditional cabinets, soapstone perimeter countertops, a dark hardwood island, pale green granite on the island countertop and stainless appliances. I wanted hardwood to go with the rest of the house, it is a small house and I thought if we did the same floor it would help to connect everything. Additionally when you stand in the front of the house you can see all the way through to the kitchen and back deck so it has to flow.

Now that we are really picking everything and not just dreaming I need to make the decision. Budget is a concern, but anything that I get to try and match that doesn't match exactly will stick out like a sore thumb. So I feel like I need to do exactly the same as the rest of the house or something completely different.

I got a quote from the guy who refinished our hardwood before we moved in to match the existing floor exactly, $2600 which is ok. Although anywhere I can save money is a good thing. So I am considering alternatives. Cork is one of them, although I really don't like the look of it and hubby thinks it looks cheap. I was thinking we could do a dark cork to match the color of the rest of the house and that would give me the warmth I needed to go with my kitchen 'vision'... and I could add some type of border along the edge of the kitchen to dress it up a bit. But I am still stuck with the fact that it looks like cork, it has a Brady Bunch feel to it for me. I have yet to see a cork floor that I love to sway me.

And the other alternative is some type of ceramic stone looking tile. I figure if I choose something in a dark brown that might give me a similar warm feeling that the hardwood gives me and it would also go with the kitchen vision. My concern here is that it is hard to stand on, and also it is not the hardwood that I had my heart set on when I started this journey.

The kitchen is 20x13, and this is not our forever house. We have 2 messy kids and 1 neatfreak cleanfreak husband.;)

Any input would be appreciated!

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Comments (4)

amrad
15 years ago
I would go with the hardwood, although you might also want to consider a high end vinyl if cost is really a concern.
cork2win
15 years ago
Go with the hardwood. That's not a bad price and nothing else is going to match it the way it sounds like you want things to look.

We have cork but I can see why some people wouldn't like it.
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sass2050
15 years ago
You mentioned that you thought about tile. I saw this floor in a magazine and knew right away that I wanted it in my newly remodeled 60 year old house. It combines tile and hardwood for a warm feeling but not the same as the rest of the house that has dark hardwoods. It was not difficult to do either. My builder and I did this one.

Here is a link that might be useful:
angeldolly
15 years ago
We just put in a cork floor ourselves, and I love it. We chose a design with a lot of burl in it, and after it was finished, it's fairly dark. I especially like the feel when you walk on it. Only been done a couple weeks, so can't tell you anything about how it'll wear.

Need help picking floor for kitchen, hardwood, cork or tile?

Comments (4)

amrad

cork2win

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sass2050

angeldolly

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