before photos: need help deciding on flooring

5 years ago

Please help me decide on flooring in the new kitchen part of great room. Please note, these are BEFORE photos.
I am redoing my kitchen in a coastal waterfront, beach area home. Exterior of house is white siding and grey roof. Decorating has been influenced by the blue water of the bay and greener water of the canal almost surrounding the house. I will be keeping the existing Santos Mahogany in the rest of the great room. Besides the wood floors I have a lot of different woods used as furniture and art throughout. The new kitchen will still feature white cabinetry. ( with possibly walnut accents) and glass. It is a total gut job and the kitchen will double in size,and will extend into the part of the room to the right of the existing kitchen in the photos (which now currently has a pool table. ) Angled island will be replaced by larger rectangular island. Dining area will be made larger. I am not replacing the wooden floor on the rest of the space. The floor in the current kitchen space is unattractive porcelain tile. Obviously my first and obvious choice would be to weave in more Santos mahogany throughout. The cons against this choice are that unfortunately it’s not a solid wood plank Secondly it shows every cat footprint, footprint, strand of hair, fur, droplet, smear, scratch, mark and smear. When I use a wet swiffer it just shows every swiffer smear when dry. In the kitchen area there are constant spills and drips. I have always had easy to clean ceramic or limestone tile in my kitchens and we are now talking about the possibility of putting tile into the new kitchen area. Yes, I know the Property Brothers would be horrified at not having consistent flooring throughout. (But they don’t live here with cats and a constant stream of messy, hungry houseguests .

All polite, helpful and non sarcastic comments and advice appreciated.

Featured Answer

kim k

5 years ago

I love the look of a patterned tile just in the kitchen.. there are so many amazing choices and you can see examples where they transition to wood floors nicely. It will help define the kitchen space in an open layout too.

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Comments (22)

waverly6
Original Author
5 years ago
Nobody got any thoughts, ideas, advice, comments, opinions????? Helllllllllllloooooooooooo out there.

Someone?????
yvonnecmartin
5 years ago
For what it's worth, I think that your current tile is great with your wood floors.
waverly6 thanked yvonnecmartin
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Jeanne Seefus
5 years ago
last modified: 5 years ago
I like the idea of the wood all the way through but totally get the paw print thing.. Maybe like a nice gray large scale tile. Or maybe since it's such a small area, a great black/white pattered tile. Btw love your decor
waverly6 thanked Jeanne Seefus
PRO
Millworks Construction Services, LLC
5 years ago
're starting to see more and more patterned tile being used in kitchens and bathrooms, as kim k mentioned, and there are some BEAUTIFUL options available - take a look at this bathroom floor: https://www.instagram.com/p/BrOuN60ltFT/?utm_source=ig_web_button_share_sheet.

Here in the high country, we also get a lot of questions for homeowners that have dogs and kids that are constantly running in and out of the house through mud and snow. The best solution we've found to hold up to all of that is hardwood floor tile. We get a lot of requests for the Emerson Daltile - take a look at a few examples of it in the below examples.
waverly6 thanked Millworks Construction Services, LLC
kariyava
5 years ago
last modified: 5 years ago
I would use the same wood throughout. I know you don't like the upkeep, but if you are keeping the wood elsewhere, it is only marginally more difficult to have wood in the kitchen as well. I would also find a better wood cleaner -- you shouldn't have streaks after cleaning. I use Shaw floors r2x hard surfaces flooring cleaner, and it's fantastic.

PS You have a beautiful space
waverly6 thanked kariyava
h1basic
5 years ago
Great room! What about bluestone or slate? It's by far my favorite everyone-friendly flooring and I try to use it wherever I can. (We have Pyrs and Newfies and pools.)
waverly6 thanked h1basic
jpp221
5 years ago
Whatever I did, I’d tend to use the same flooring throughout. Personally, I don’t like the disjointed, chopped-up business of changing flooring materials in an open plan. So, in this case, I’d do either (a) wood throughout—but you are not a fan, ok (b) ceramic in a wood pattern—it’s being very beautifully done of late (c) a dark stone, like slate. (An unconventional choice for a living space but for a casual, coastal-style home, I think it would look great.)
waverly6 thanked jpp221
jpp221
5 years ago
PS I know you said these are the “before” pics. Don’t do anything on the floor until you plan it all out. The kitchen could use some help and if you do the floor first, you will undoubtedly regret that there’s some bit of something you moved and darn it you should have laid more tile or laid it in a different pattern of something.
waverly6 thanked jpp221
waverly6
Original Author
5 years ago
Thanks to all who commented.

YvonneCmartin. that tile does work well with the floor because it's in the same color tone but the area that it currently covers won't be the same footprint as the new kitchen. funnily enough it does match the mahogany but the original wood there was Ugly Oak and it didn't work well with the tile which is also original to the house.

Jeanne, I'd love to use a grey tile if I can just get used to the idea of transitioning to another material in the same room. I'm planning on going with a black and white granite with a lot of movement so the black and white stripey will fight it. Thank you for the compliment. I have redone everything in that house except for the kitchen.

Kim C, I love that first photo you posted as that is so similar to the layout that I will have where it transitions to the dining space and that transition really doesn't look bad at all.
waverly6
Original Author
5 years ago
Millwork, I love those Emerson daltile grey wood look tiles you posted, I used something similar in a downstairs laundry area I have just created. This kitchen and living area is on the 2nd floor. So you don't think the transition from wood to tile and the reddish color to a grey color will be too much of a transition in one great room? I'm not too crazy about the geometric patterned tile which has become so popular now. I think it is too busy for my personal taste ( Serenity now.......) The only busy thing I want in the kitchen is the granite countertop ( and a maid, but that's another issue. :) ) And it just reminds me too much of the patterns we had in tile and fabrics in the 70's. Btw, I love the architecture and natural materials available in Colorado. I love all the wood and rock used in building there. I used to have a house in the mountains in Colorado and some of my wooden pieces are from that house mixing in with the coastal style.
waverly6
Original Author
5 years ago
Kariyava absolutely, I agree with you and my original idea was to have all the same wood. I just don't think it will be practical. Not just the cleaning but I have ALWAYS had refrigerators which have leaked, from Sub zero to Uline to maytag to Frigidaire. Or a/c units Or roofs, or windows in noreasters. Plus with plumbed steam ovens, I'm just worried about the practicality of it. Thanks for the suggestion of Shaw . Definitely going to look at it. And thank you for the compliments.
waverly6
Original Author
5 years ago
H1basic. thanks also for the kind words. Love the idea of bluestone or slate. Slate is one of m y favorite materials but I have always worried about it in a kitchen due to the shaling or flaking and also because sometimes it can be uneven and then furniture needs to be shimmed. Or have things changed and it's very uniform and level? I think I have bluestone out by the patio and walkways so it may have relate to the exterior. Definitely something to think about. Thank you for the suggestions.
waverly6
Original Author
5 years ago
JJP221 I do like the idea of a dark stone. I saw a black slate lookalike (it did have texture but was pretty uniform that i was going to use in my new laundry room. (which is actuallya laundry/cat room. ). I went with the grey wood look floor there because it is the color of cat litter...... (if you can't beat them, join them...) What color wood look alike would you recommend with that reddish floor?
PRO
Beth H. :
5 years ago
no wood, unless you match what you have.

I like the idea of a gauged black slate tile. I have slate in my kitchen (almost 14 years now) and it doesn't flake (well, maybe once or twice it did. but my slate was home depot slate, before I knew any better!) I seal it every few years and have never had any other issues with it.

you could do the planks for a herringbone look.

another great option is basalt. comes in different finishes (honed, flamed, polished) is super strong and looks great

feather it in w/your wood.

or do a white or gray hex

Another option, below, porcelain tile that looks like a slate. this is from Tilebar, 30x30 Arkim Persian black. it's a very nice choice as you will get thin grout lines.

Tilebar has many other porcelain floor tiles that would work. take a look at them and get 5 samples for $5.

Paris Gray Limestone (I think this is Tilebar too)
waverly6 thanked Beth H. :
waverly6
Original Author
5 years ago
last modified: 5 years ago
JJP definitely not doing anything until the plan is finalized and all my ducks are in a row and swimming like little sailors on duty. I am taking a year to plan my kitchen ( been thinking about it for 5 years, actively planning for 6 months so far and will start renovations in the fall. (Definitely not messing up my summer. ). It's a terrible kitchen in many ways. I have always said that it was designed as a take-out kitchen. it's got enough counter space ( and all it's good for ) is to set out the take out containers. My comment last week was "trying to cook in this kitchen is like trying to build a house with a nail file and a pair of scissors. "
waverly6
Original Author
5 years ago
Beth. those are all great choices . Thank you so much for taking the time to dig up so many photos. Hadn't thought of feathering it in like that. It does look good and not like it's an afterthought
waverly6
Original Author
5 years ago
Just had another thought. I don't have a plan of the footprint handy which I can post but will post it tomorrow. For the most part the tile will not be too visible to the rest of the room. From the sitting area, one won't see any of the tile, There will only one aisle of stone/tile visible. from the staircase area. It will be most visible from the dining area where there will one aisle between the back wall and is land. area,
PRO
Beth H. :
5 years ago
last modified: 5 years ago
That's fine. Oh, let me suggest the quartz tile. I'm actually thinking of getting this for my own space, I love it so much! I have all four samples of the colors. white, gray, black and a blue. order the samples!

24x24

Nebula Ash, white quartz, below

https://tilebar.com/white-quartz-24x24-tile.html

Nebula Toffee

white quartz

and they have one in black w/blue nuggets
waverly6 thanked Beth H. :
jpp221
5 years ago
I would do the wood look-alike INSTEAD OF, not alongside the red wood flooring, and I’d do the whole room. Porcelain wood alongside real wood will never look right.
waverly6 thanked jpp221
waverly6
Original Author
5 years ago
Beth, interesting alternatives. thank you. for the suggestion.

Jpp, I appreciate your answer. Unfortunately replacing the floor is just not in the budget. It was all replaced a few years ago. and covers the entire great room (30 By 30 )with the exception of the small kitchen area, the stairs and most of the downstairs.
PRO
Beth H. :
5 years ago
last modified: 5 years ago
jpp221- they aren't ripping up the wood flooring in the living area. and I certainly wouldn't take out real hardwoods and put in 'wood-look' tile, not for what the cost would be.

for that money, I'd do stain on site white oak.
waverly6 thanked Beth H. :