Avoid This Flooring Trend if You’re Renovating Your Kitchen (Do This Instead)

Hardwood remains a popular flooring choice in homes, so it’s tempting to carry the house’s hardwood through to the kitchen during a renovation. Before you call a contractor and start ripping apart flooring, consider the cons of extending hardwood floors to the kitchen.

According to the experts at Homedit, hardwood is not the worst flooring choice for a kitchen, but it’s not the best either. Carpet sits atop the worst-choice list because water and spills get trapped between the carpet and subfloor, which can cause mold growth.

Alice Moszczynsk, a New York-based interior designer at Planner 5D, says that hardwood is a high-maintenance choice for high-traffic kitchens. Hardwood floors are prone to scratches, stains, and water damage. The good news is that there are better options to give your kitchen a trendy, modern look without creating unnecessary maintenance.

Choose Ceramic or Porcelain Tiles That Resemble Wood

If you like the hardwood look but are understandably concerned about how well they will hold up in your busy kitchen, consider installing ceramic or porcelain tiles that resemble hardwood.

According to Forbes Home, although ceramic and porcelain tiles are similar, the former is even more durable than the latter. Both are waterproof and easy to clean, so the only real concern is the grout between the planks.

If you choose a color that lends itself to a gray or darker grout, it will be much easier to keep clean than white grout. Either way, sealing and waterproofing the grout during installation will spare you from scrubbing out grout stains following some future kitchen spillage.

Other Flooring Options That Resemble Hardwood

A professional should install ceramic or porcelain tiles to make sure they are done properly. If you’re a DIY type, there are alternative flooring options that resemble hardwood and are comparatively easy to install.

According to Forbes Home, luxury vinyl planks are trendy, waterproof, and can resemble hardwood or stone… until you step on them. Vinyl is softer than many other flooring materials, which means that heavy appliances can dent or scratch them.

Laminate flooring can resemble hardwood and is easy for a DIYer to install. Many of the durable planks now come waterproof, so check to make sure before you choose laminate for your kitchen.

A relative newcomer to the kitchen-flooring party is cork. Although not for everyone and certainly the least hardwood-looking option mentioned so far, cork is cheap, absorbs sound, and feels springy to the step.

However, anyone who has uncorked a wine bottle knows that cork can stain if liquids are not wiped up immediately. If your cork kitchen floors get stained, they can easily be sanded down and revitalized with stain and sealant.

If you have a high-traffic kitchen but love the look of hardwood, at least there are several options available today that can give you the aesthetic that you desire without all the fuss involved with maintaining real hardwood.