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Flooring Design Dilemma Kitchens

flooring options for a living room to kitchen transition

2 years ago

Hi all I'm working on a kitchen Reno for a 1948 house. The house has original wood floors with an orange stain and glossy finish that I'm planning on sanding and refinishing to a natural/flat finish. The kitchen has an old school plastic type of tile floor that I'd like to swap with a wood to match the rest of the house.

I was wondering in others experience if you were able to get a close enough match with the wood floor that made you happy with the transition from old to new flooring or think it would look better to go away from wood in the kitchen and maybe do a lighter tile to try to flow with the natural wood color. Thanks in advance for any input.

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Comments (5)

Sean
Original Author
2 years ago
Photos of the current flooring and the type of floor I'm trying to achieve. The wall between the dining area and kitchen is being removed so the transition area will be much larger than just the doorway
Erica Langley
2 years ago
The answer to this greatly depends on how messy you are in the kitchen. I have 2 kids and between them there is always water on the floor. Plus the dogs water dish has water around it constantly. So I would do tile personally. Now if your a clean a tidy family (pets and all) you could do wood..
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I have sort of the same thing but without the curve. Just a straight line down then cut at a 45 degree angle to the wall. If you think that might look a little *off*, then perhaps you could either take it straight from the wall down (past the curve) and finish with an L to the other wall. Or - take it from the end of the cabinet to the wall. I can tell from your tiles that that almost lines up exactly. Except I'm not sure if that would cut off your kitchen area too much. Play around with a large measuring stick or two.
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I totally feel your pain! Remodels aren't cheap and it's not easy for everyone to picture what something will look like before its done. I had a similar situation - I just didn't feel that I could afford to redo the tile in the entire house - so I only did part of it. Huge mistake. I "solved" the problem with carpet squares. You can buy just what you need, get pretty creative and install them yourself. I'm sure there are many companies, I used Flor. I recommend getting samples - as it's impossible to accurately assess color from the computer monitor. (Samples are free during promotions and sales are frequent.) I would also suggest that moving the sofa to face away from the kitchen will not only cover up some of the transition, but also define the space in a way to enhance the separation of the rooms.
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kandrewspa
2 years ago
I agree with the poster above, I'm not a fan of wood floors in a kitchen. I have them now in the house we moved into two years ago and would rather have porcelain tile like I had before. That being said, if you want to do wood it is possible to have the two match if you are also refinishing the other floors. You do need someone who is good at their job, but I did get this to work in our previous house after doing an addition. Finding someone who is good at the job is sometimes easier said than done. :-)
Sean
Original Author
2 years ago
This is probably deserving of a separate post but on that topic I'm in over my head when it comes to design of the space. I'm in the process of taking down some walls and redesigning the kitchen.

Can anyone recommend some affordable options for a complete home redesign. I've been poking around fiverr, but wondering if someone had any other recommendations or someone they've worked with. Heres progress on the kitchen. I'm in this LA area.
theresa21
2 years ago
I've had 3/4" hardwood flooring in all my kitchens. I wouldn't have anything else in a kitchen. There was never a problem. As a matter of fact I had a few accidental floods where the wood warped, but then it dried out fully and flatten back into shape again.

Since you plan on refinishing your floors anyway, now is an excellent time to add more wood flooring to match. I've done that a number of times in many houses I've owned. Don't allow your contractor to install a raised threshold between new and old. Keep it level. Make sure you hire someone with proven skills.

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