You know what they say; the kitchen is the heart of the home. Which is why its foundations deserve a bit of TLC. Your kitchen flooring is a key element to making your kitchen look amazing. With thousands of colours, styles and materials to choose from, we’ve made choosing the best kitchen flooring for you, a breeze – with a selection of kitchen flooring ideas.
With kitchen flooring, there are now more options than ever before. With engineered wood, laminate, LVT, EvoCore, and vinyl being amongst the best kitchen flooring options.
Moreover, the wide range of kitchen flooring options offer a range of prices to cater for all budgets, designs and styles; so choosing your kitchen flooring has never been more personal.
The range of options on offer provide the opportunity to try something a little different in your kitchen, with patterns, or even zoning if you have an open-plan space.
Functionality is another important consideration when it comes choosing your kitchen flooring, with factors such as:
- Water resistance, ability to withstand temperature fluctuation to prevent distortion
- Underfloor heating compatibility if necessary
- Durability to prevent wear damage
- Ease of maintenance in a kitchen environment
When it comes to the installation, DIY is an option with some flooring’s offering a click system for an easy installation. Alternatively, a professional is another option for fitting your flooring, though will incur an installation charge.
Quick Links
Which Flooring Can You Use?
- Carpet
- Solid Wood Flooring
- Engineered Wood Flooring
- Laminate Flooring
- Luxury Vinyl Tiles (LVT)
- EvoCore Essentials and Premium
- EvoCore 360
- Vinyl Flooring
Budget
Design Ideas
- Find a Colour Palette
- Modern or Traditional?
- Wood, Tile, or Something a Little Different?
- Create Flooring Zones
- Trending Kitchen Floor Designs
Think About Function
- Water Resistance
- Temperature Fluctuation
- Durability
- Underfloor Heating
- Maintenance
- Installation
Which Flooring Can You Use?
There are many different types of flooring. You’ve got your laminate, your engineered wood, your LVT and so many more options to choose from.
Like anything, the suitability for flooring can differentiate room to room.
So, we’re going to focus on what is the best kitchen flooring, while hopefully inspiring some kitchen flooring ideas for the heart of your home.
At a Glance
Kitchens are frequented rooms of the home, most commonly used for cooking, washing, laundry and sometimes entertaining.
Kitchen flooring has to handle a lot of activity, from general wear and tear of high-traffic, to the effects of moisture exposure. Some types of flooring are compatible with a kitchen, and some aren’t. Below is an overview of these.
| Flooring type |
Suitability |
| Laminate |
 |
| Solid Wood |
 |
| Engineered Wood |
|
| LVT |
|
| Carpet |
 |
| EvoCore |
|
| Vinyl |
|
With all flooring types, we recommend underfloor heating systems, don’t exceed 27°C to protect the longevity of your flooring.
Carpet
Whilst it’s doable, carpet is arguably the most unsuitable flooring for your kitchen.
Meal preparation and cooking can often be a messy task. Spillages and residue mishaps are inevitable in a kitchen environment, and often your kitchen flooring can bear the brunt of such accidents.
EvoCore 360 Tudor Oak
For this reason, it is beneficial to have an easy to clean flooring such as laminate, solid wood or EvoCore, where those mishaps are solved with quick wipe.
Of course the answer to this could be a darker shade carpet, so those spillages are easier to hide. However, you must take into consideration that with food, comes odours.
Spillages could leave lingering smells if unable to clean fully, and whilst that may cause hours of curiosity for the dog, it could result in a premature flooring change due to unpleasant smells. Though if you’re familiar with young children and play dough, this just be another clean up on the to-do list.
Being a high traffic area of the home, a kitchen floor also needs to be durable to ensure it lasts. A carpet will wear down a lot more in this environment, as opposed to hard flooring.
When it comes to kitchen flooring ideas, we’d leave carpet out of the conversation and opt for a more suitable alternative.
Solid Wood Flooring
Solid wood is another flooring option that is usable as a kitchen floor. However, we would advise against using it for this purpose.
This type of flooring is exactly what the name suggests. It’s solid wood. This means that it is susceptible to natural movements and distortion from exposure to heat and moisture.
Though this type of flooring looks the part, it doesn’t necessarily mean it can play the part. But that’s okay, because there are plenty of other options; solid wood can still be used in other areas of your home to spruce up your living areas.
Engineered wood flooring offers a similar effect to solid wood, whilst holding the capability to withstand the demands of your kitchen environment. We’ll talk more about that next.
Engineered Wood Flooring
Engineered wood is a good option when it comes to best flooring options for your kitchen, providing it’s well maintained. For those of you who have your heart set on the solid wood look, but don’t want the possible movement and distortion issues, then engineered wood is most likely the choice for you.
Engineered wood flooring is multiple layers of timber combined with a solid wood veneer. This allows for wood expansion and has a higher moisture tolerance level, meaning you get all the compliments from the appearance of a natural solid wood floor, without the concern of having to replace it from expansion deformation.
Additionally, this type of flooring comes in a range of styles, species and finishes. Whatever your style, there will be something for you.
Though this flooring can be used in a kitchen, this is under the conditions that spillages are cleaned up immediately to prevent altering the appearance of the floor, and to maintain that natural essence. Because a ketchup stain doesn’t always compliment even the highest quality wood flooring.
Laminate Flooring
Next, we’ll look at laminate. This product is a perfect alternative to real wood or tile.
Coming in different styles, sizes and thickness, this type of flooring can deliver the needs of any room of the home, with a range of budget options, too. It really caters for everyone, and everything.
Laminate offers a wide variety of designs in comparison to other flooring because it uses a printed image to get the wood effect. Therefore, whatever your style preference, or colour schemes, laminate flooring will have an option to suit and makes for great kitchen flooring ideas.
One thing to consider with laminate flooring is AC ratings. Standing for “abrasion class”. AC refers to a floor’s durability against a number of key factors. The higher the AC rating, the more durable the flooring is.
| AC1 |
Suitable for moderate traffic areas with little foot traffic |
| AC2 |
Suitable for general traffic areas such as dining rooms |
| AC3 |
Suitable for heavy traffic areas. Generally usable in all areas of the home. |
| AC4 |
Suitable for moderate traffic in commercial spaces |
| AC5 |
Suitable for heavy traffic in commercial spaces |
When used in a kitchen, we recommend an AC rating of AC3 or above. This is because this will cater for the high traffic within this area of the home, protecting from wear more so than AC1 or AC2 laminate flooring.
Luxury Vinyl Tiles (LVT)
Another possible kitchen flooring idea is Luxury Vinyl Tiles (LVT). There are two types of LVT flooring: Click LVT and Gluedown LVT.
Both types of LVT are similar in their quality, though there are distinctive differences between them both.
Click LVT Flooring:
This type of flooring requires underlay and is laid as a floating floor. It clicks together to ensure the flooring is firm and connected.
- Easy and quick to install
- More expensive, although thicker, than gluedown
- Cheaper to fit than gluedown
- No glue needed
- Best for DIY
Gluedown LVT Flooring:
While click is laid as a floating floor, with gluedown LVT the flooring is glued to the subfloor with an adhesive, aiding in the prevention of lifting and movement.
- Cheaper product than click
- Needs a flat subfloor for installation
- Use feature strips to create borders
- More expensive to fit than click
In terms of being a best kitchen flooring option, LVT makes for a great option. With click LVT, comfort will be optimal from thickness and underlay.
Alternatively, gluedown is less likely to move, as well as feel the effects of high traffic in the kitchen as it’s attached to the subfloor.
Moreover, both types of LVTare durable, water-resistant and has the appearance of real wood or tile, as well as being compatible with underfloor heating. Therefore making for a great option for kitchen flooring ideas.
So, when it comes to an all-rounder in the kitchen department, LVT is a perfect option.
EvoCore
Next, we’ll look at the most versatile flooring on the market: EvoCore. Offering benefits such as durability, stability and versatility amongst many others. It’s home-wide suitability means it is an ideal option for your kitchen flooring.
EvoCore Essentials and Premium
The EvoCore ranges – Essentials and Premium boast many benefits that make them one of the best kitchen flooring options.
These benefits include:
- EvoCore is 100% waterproof
- Built-in underlay backing
- Anti-slip surface
- No expansion or contraction when exposed to heat and cold
- Pet-friendly
- Durable and hard-wearing
- No glue needed for installation, due to its easy click-lock installation feature
- Real wood look and feel
- Scratch-resistant
- Compatible with underfloor heating
- Hides subfloor imperfections
- Can be laid over existing flooring
- Eco-friendly
Though both suited for kitchens, the ranges differentiate in their quality, with the Premium range being classed as more luxurious out of the two. Furthermore, EvoCore Premium range are embossed so that the texture on the surface matches the printed design, giving a realistic wood look.
This means you can have a flooring suited to the practical needs of your kitchen whilst reaping the benefits of style and luxury.
Just look at that list of benefits. How could this not be a possibility in your kitchen flooring options?
EvoCore 360
Having seen major success with the Essentials and Premium ranges, EvoCore has evolved further, giving you even more choice when it comes to one of the best kitchen flooring options.
Another extensive list of benefits are coming your way, because EvoCore 360 whilst possessing most of the advantages as the Premium and Essentials ranges, also has its own outstanding features.
For instance, those patterns commonly desired in kitchens, such as herringbone and tiled designs, are now available in EvoCore 360. And not just that. These designs can be mixed and matched too. Not sure on which colour herringbone? That’s fine. Use them all. With both wood and tiled designs there’s plenty to choose from.
This range allows for intricate designs, so not only do you have flooring that plays the part, it also looks the part with bespoke options to maximise creativity and uniqueness in your kitchen. EvoCore 360 caters for mixing and matching colours for a unique look as well as joining wood to tile seamlessly.
Still need more kitchen design ideas, don’t worry. We’re not finished yet.
Vinyl Flooring
Now, we’ll look at vinyl flooring. This type of flooring comes in rolls, with various designs such as tile and wood effect. This is a common option for kitchens as it offers durability, it’s easy to look after and is suitable for all rooms of the home.
Offering a wide range of styles, colours and thicknesses, vinyl flooring provides the style you want, to the budget you have.
Ordinarily, vinyl flooring is stain resistant and water resistant, which means it’s perfect for a kitchen. With all the potential for spills and thrills, the easy clean up that accompanies this flooring is a bonus.
As well as this, vinyl has a cushioned backing for more comfort underfoot, giving a luxurious feel with every stride.
Budget
Different flooring has different costs. Style, quality and material are just some of the factors that affect cost of flooring.
One thing to note: Depending on the type of flooring you choose, there is always the potential to fit it yourself which could reduce costs in installation. However, you can also hire a professional to do the job.
Design Ideas
With every interior, you need to consider the design as a whole.
Colours, patterns and furnishings are just some of the factors that need to be incorporated in your vision of the finished product. Starting from the bottom up, flooring is another one of these considerations.
Being the surface of the entire space, this needs to complement everything else in the room. However, this can be a long task given that we’re pretty spoilt for choice when it comes to colour schemes.
To help inspire you with possible colour schemes for your kitchen, we’ve constructed some popular schemes. Give your inner interior designer a head start when it comes to planning with these ideas…
Possible Colour Palette For Kitchens
One look that’s proven popular in recent times is grey tones with a hint of mustard.
This gives a stylish tone with a pop of colour to draw the attention. Whilst this offers a simplistic vibe, a complementary flooring comes in the form of something more stand out such as a patterned wood or tiled effect.
Below are some possible flooring options we think would look amazing with this colour palette.
Another colour scheme that has made its way to the top of the kitchen trends is blush pink coupled with black and silver tones.
This is another sleek colour scheme that allows for a rustic element to be brought in, coupling a modern and vintage vibe, giving a new contemporary look.
Flooring’s that could couple with this design include:
Modern or Traditional?
When it comes to kitchen flooring ideas, the design of your kitchen as a whole plays a big part.
For instance, a traditional kitchen interior often bears the need for darker wood or tiled flooring designs to add to the authenticity of the look.
On the other hand, a traditional design is often best complemented with greys or white flooring tones. Light and airy is currently on-trend, making for a more welcoming space.
Though there are certainly types of flooring that cross over the modern and traditional boundaries. These make for great kitchen flooring ideas, as you have the freedom to curate your own style.
For instance, herringbone flooring, whilst offering a traditional design, bringing it into contemporary settings gives a modern twist on timeless classic, thus modernising this style.
Let’s take a look at possible flooring ideas to parallel your traditional and modern designs:
Traditional
As previously mentioned, traditional flooring usually requires darker wood to give the bona fide classic aesthetic. Using rich colours such as browns, golds or even charcoal tones can add a luxurious feel to your kitchen. And with colour, comes style, texture and materials to consider. Below are some possible design ideas to help inspire you with your kitchen flooring ideas.
Modern
Designs that fall into the contemporary aesthetic are seeing a lighter flooring, commonly white and grey, bring finish the room with a stylish foundation.
Open planned, light and airy spaces are all the rage, and white and grey flooring’s are a perfect match to home designs such as these.
Of course we couldn’t leave you uninspired, so below are some possible options to give you some kitchen flooring ideas for your modern kitchen design.
Wood, Tile, or Something a Little Different?
Deciding on a style can be a tough decision when there are so many to choose from. But in this case, that’s not necessarily a bad thing. Sometimes, more is more.
There’s never been so many options when it comes to flooring!
LVT, laminate and EvoCore 360 all come in both wood and tiled designs so your options are endless.
Looking for something a bit different?
What about trying a herringbone or chevron pattern to add more depth and texture to your kitchen?
Or what’s more, have all eyes down and make your flooring the feature of your kitchen, with something a little more out there.
Valencia Tile – Retro Blue Grey
Create Flooring Zones
Some homes have multi-use spaces. One of these uses often being the kitchen with desired modern designs typically compromising of an open-plan layout creating a light and airy vibe, as well as adding a social aspect.
Flooring zones can often be a way to create distinctive areas depending on usage and distinguish between areas whilst still housing them in one space.
Take an open plan kitchen diner for instance. Zoning can be a great way to separate the two, having defined areas with their own vibes. In addition, adding a tiled flooring in the kitchen, flowing to a wood flooring in the dining space of the room could be just one of the many kitchen flooring ideas that could enhance your space.
Mix colours and seamlessly transition between wood and tile with EvoCore 360
Trending Kitchen Floor Designs
On the topic of trends, one flooring we’re loving at the minute is our EvoCore 360 range.
When it comes to really making your house your home, with your own touch, this is the way to do it. It allows for bespoke designs, zoning, practicality in the kitchen and looks amazing.
Think About Function
When it comes to kitchen flooring, while we want it to look amazing, functionality plays a part in your decision.
We’ve briefly touched upon which flooring’s cater for which functions, however we will cover the whole range of functionalities to consider when making your kitchen flooring purchase:
- Laminate
- Engineered Wood
- LVT
- EvoCore
- Vinyl
Water Resistance
Water resistance is a big consideration when in relation to kitchen flooring ideas.
Kitchens are hubs for moisture, being a place people cook, clean, do laundry and wash dishes.
With certain types of flooring, this moisture can cause expansion, movement and sometimes lifting. As a result of this, it can often cause the need for a new flooring to be installed.
For this reason, water-resistant flooring in the kitchen should be top of the list when it comes to functionality.
Temperature Fluctuation
As well as excess moisture, kitchens see fluctuating temperatures too. Cooking or even making your cup of coffee on a morning can cause the temperature in your kitchen to rise.
When this action is complete, this heat will disperse and the temperature will drop again. Though these aren’t too significant, extreme temperature fluctuations can result in damage to flooring such as solid wood.
Solid wood flooring, being made of natural materials, sees the effects of heat and moisture. It can distort, move and expand more so than any other flooring. This makes choosing a more reliable flooring such as: EvoCore, laminate, LVT or engineered wood a more compatible option.
Many kitchens feature underfloor heating which also aids in temperature fluctuation, and therefore needs to be catered for with the correct flooring type, but we’ll talk more about that, next.
To aid in preparing your flooring to get used to the temperature of the room it will be installed in, acclimatising your flooring is a way to prevent some of the issues caused by temperature fluctuation. This is a great technique to use with the exception of EvoCore as this doesn;t require acclimatisation.
This gives the flooring time to adapt to the room’s natural temperature and moisture levels, and can prevent warping, buckling and splitting in the long run from it contracting and expanding through heat.
Durability
Another functionality factor to consider is the durability of your flooring. Kitchens tend to be high-traffic areas of the home, and with a large family this is all the more true; the need for a more durable flooring is greater.
Durability plays an important part in choosing the right kitchen flooring for your kitchen. Your flooring needs to take the wear of this foot traffic to prevent altering the appearance and premature replacement.
Flooring such as EvoCore, engineered wood, LVT and laminate (AC3 and over) are just some of the most durable kitchen flooring’s out there and therefore, are some of the best kitchen flooring ideas when it comes to durability.
Underfloor Heating
Got underfloor heating and not sure on what kitchen flooring is best? We can help!
Underfloor heating is growing more popular, and so is the need to know which flooring is compatible with it.
In terms of kitchen flooring types that are compatible with underfloor heating, we recommend:
- Engineered Wood
- Stone and Tile
- Laminate
- LVT
- Vinyl
- EvoCore
These floors are great contenders when it comes to what flooring to choose with underfloor heating because they’re able to withstand temperature fluctuation, are efficient in conducting the heat so the benefits of underfloor heating are achieved and their appearance isn’t affected by it.
On the other hand, flooring types we don’t recommend using with underfloor heating are:
In relation solid wood, it’s ability to withstand temperature fluctuation is not great, often resulting in damage to the appearance of the flooring.
With thick carpet (over 2.5 tog), the heat of the underfloor heating can struggle to transfer, so the benefits of underfloor heating are non existent when it comes to this flooring. If you were to use carpet with underfloor heating, ensure it’s under 2.5 tog.
Finally, cork is a natural insulator and could therefore lessen the impact of your underfloor heating.
Answer your question?
We hope so, however, if you need to know more, we’ve got a whole blog dedicated to the best suited floors to underfloor heating to help you further.
Maintenance
When it comes to floor maintenance, certain floors require instant cleaning to protect from these mishaps.
Generally, laminate and real wood flooring need to be cleaned with caution because they can be prone to lift with excess water presence, as well as possibly scratch if care isn’t taken when cleaning.
However, hard flooring is incredibly easy to clean making maintenance an easy job. All it takes is a brush of any dirt, followed by a clean with a slightly damp mop. Or alternatively, for real wood flooring you can use an all in one maintenance kit that includes reviving wax, making your flooring look amazing for longer.
Installation
So you’ve found your perfect kitchen flooring? Now it’s time to install it. When it comes to installation, flooring can be a difficult job if it’s not something you’re experienced in.
However, there are flooring types that offer an easier installation if you care to try your hand at fitting your flooring yourself.
Laminate, click LVT and EvoCore 360, these all have click systems, providing an easier and quicker installation. As a result, those of you DIY experts should have no trouble installing these types of flooring, and those of you who aren’t experienced shouldn’t have too much trouble.
Your flooring can be fit at the ‘click’ of your fingers.
Glue-Down LVT is also another option when it comes to recommended kitchen flooring’s, providing the correct adhesive is used.
For those of you who aren’t confident in installing your kitchen floor, hiring a professional fitter is an alternative option.
Though this will have an installation cost, you will have the assurance your flooring is fit correctly. But trying your hand at a new skill never hurt anyone. In fact, it makes for a great boast when completed!
Wrapping it Up
To conclude, there is more than meets the eye when it comes to choosing the best kitchen flooring for you.
Whilst appearance, colour and style are all initial considerations, there are practical elements such as temperature fluctuation and water resistance, to account for when it comes to this room of the home.
Though these practical elements may be a lot to take in, it’s better to know the right kitchen flooring to invest in now, before purchasing something you’ll have to replace in the near future.
After all, the heart of the home deserves all the love you can give it, so you can love the time spent there.
Hopefully you’re now an expert in the field of kitchen flooring and are filled with plenty of kitchen flooring ideas, however should you have any more questions, get in touch with our flooring experts, and they will be more than happy to assist with your flooring needs.
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