Nowadays, you can choose from a wide selection of flooring choices to enhance the look of your kitchen floor. When searching for a new floor for your kitchen, you have to be careful and consider about upkeep, look and the ease of installation. These criteria are important as it will help you cut cost and fulfill your budget. At the same time, suitable flooring for your kitchen will also help to achieve other objectives such as environmental consciousness. Cork is the newest flooring option in the market. This green product which not only looks great but at the same time will benefit to your body parts such as the leg and feet. The surface is soft providing low impact that will lessen the stress to your ankles and knees. Cork flooring is easy to install and available in variety of colors that can suit your choice. Cork flooring is durable and beautiful however you may not want to use this flooring if you have pet in your house. The pets can damage the cork flooring since their nails may mark the cork by their nails. Here are some of the flooring types that you can use for the kitchen floor for your home with the pros and cons.
Ceramic tile
This is a popular flooring choice for the kitchen. Ceramic tiling offers you the ability to combine the interesting colors and patterns into your designs and a variety of decorator looks at the same time. You can design to tie into the floor and heightens the value of your kitchen by tile backsplashes. The cons about ceramic tile is that the hardness of the ceramic surface. It will be a backfire for your glassware if they fall on to the ceramic tile as they will shatter. It will also aggravate you when removing the stains from grout lines if you drop food on the floor. Although, it is a hard surface, it does make an easy surface to clean especially the ceramic backsplash. If you opt for a Southwestern style, ceramic tile provides you the best option and a more traditional feel.
Hardwood flooring
Hardwood flooring becomes increasingly appealing to many consumers nowadays. Wood flooring is friendly to your joints and ankles, easy to clean and warmer than ceramic tiles. All you have to do for cleaning is simple by using a wet mop to clean hardwood flooring. Kitchen with hardwood flooring gives you the most natural feel. You can choose different types of hardwood flooring in the market and it is a great addition to the most used room in the house.
Bamboo flooring is the growing demand for a “green” design. As a renewable resource, bamboo flooring is a good way to save the environment and incorporating the warm feel of wood in your kitchen area. However, too many woods will overwhelm your kitchen design in a matter of design perspective if you are planning to fill your kitchen with wooden cabinets and tables. At the same time, some of us might not like the “hunting hut” look from the bamboo flooring.
Hardwood flooring has different graining patterns and too much can create problems. For example, the Hickory and Oak flooring show the most graining and the most erratic itself is the Hickory wood. Darker stains will help to tone things down and reduce the effect of the grain.
The best tip for choosing the right flooring for your kitchen is heading for contrast. If the cabinets are lighter, your floor should be dark and the counter tops should be medium to dark color. Lighter color for the floor will tend to make the room appear larger and will not show more dust as darker room will apt to do. You can use a light to medium stain on the wood flooring. Use a darker stain to contrast the cabinets and then, use a light to medium color to the counter tops to give a rich, nice look to your kitchen.
Additional reading:
http://www.ehow.com/how_4703320_choose-right-flooring-kitchen.html
Image Credit:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/lara604/202229800/
