Asking which kind of kitchen flooring is best for you is a bit like asking which is the best car to drive. The answer depends on your driving style, your budget, and what features are the most important to you. But if you're trying to choose the best kitchen flooring for your Edmonton home, here are 4 things to consider.
Style
You’ll want to choose a flooring style that works with the style of the rest of your kitchen. That could be something that complements or contrasts with the colors and overall style. The good news (as you’ll see below) is that you have all kinds of options.
Cost
Costs to install flooring can vary. Different styles of hardwood differ in cost. According to improvement.net, you can expect to pay about $8 per square foot on average, but they also show a variety of other wood styles and their pricing. The site also provides costs for other flooring styles, including tile, laminate, and even vinyl.
Durability
If you install quality flooring, you’ll get great durability. Yes, it’s possible to break a tile by dropping a pan, but most flooring is quite durable and will stand up to normal use. Both hardwood and engineered wood flooring will also provide years of satisfaction (although some homeowners insist that traditional hardwood has a richer feel—and isn’t as loud as engineered flooring.
Maintenance
Regular sweeping and dry mopping should take care of your floors. There really isn’t a need to seal or refinish for a long time. You will want to avoid using a lot of water or harsh detergents on any of these flooring types. And if you install stone tile, you’ll want to keep the grout clean—but it’s really not a major concern.
All of the major options (Hardwood, Engineered wood, stone/tile) can be great choices. And to be honest, with proper care they should all serve you well for years. In our experience, while cost plays a role, the decision often comes down to the look and feel of the material and how it works with the rest of the design of the kitchen. With that in mind, here’s a look at a variety of options that may help you decide what will work best in your Edmonton home.
Here’s a transitional style kitchen with a hardwood floor in a kind of “tiger-stripe” that nicely sets off the white upper cabinets and the gray lower cabinets and island.
The angled checkerboard flooring that was used in this 50s style kitchen increases the visual space. It also makes a striking contrast to the bright red elements in the kitchen—while tying in nicely with the black countertops.
This multi-generational kitchen makes good use of a hardwood floor that complements the wide shelving in the kitchen island and accentuates the space between the island and the other countertops.
The kitchen you see here is a more modern style, but the hardwood floors soften the look a bit and provide a nice contrast to the white upper cabinets and dark lower cabinets.
Here’s another example of contrasting tones. The somewhat darker hardwood flooring provides a balance between the white kitchen cabinets and the dark granite countertops.
This light and bright modern kitchen uses the tile flooring to tie the kitchen into the adjacent dining area and on into other rooms of the house.
This remodeled and updated 70s bungalow kitchen makes good use of a stone tile floor to bring out the rich wood tones of the cabinets and island.
Here’s an example of a medium dark hardwood floor that ties the dark kitchen cabinetry and the white kitchen island chairs together nicely. And you can see how the owners extending the flooring into the entranceway to provide continuity from one space to another.
