Great Kitchen Flooring Options

The type of flooring you choose when designing your new kitchen is one of the most important decisions you can make, because it will greatly affect the look and feel of your kitchen for years to come. There are so many flooring materials to choose from that you'll need to balance beauty and durability with budget and lifestyle. We've gathered some of the hottest flooring trends and tips from our kitchen experts to help you select the right flooring for your new kitchen design.

• Pine floors offer a golden glow that adds warmth to your kitchen and blends well with darker woods like cherry and mahogany.
• The versatility and durability of stained concrete makes it a popular alternative to stone or tile. For a distinctive Old World charm try a brown stain and black marble tile.
• Go green and create a natural glow with bamboo flooring. Because it looks good, grows fast and abundantly, bamboo is becoming very popular for people looking to build an eco-friendly kitchen.
• Dark wide-plank walnut floors create a unique style, which works well in an over-sized traditional or contemporary home.
• Ceramic floor tiles remain a classic choice for many kitchen floors because they are moisture and stain resistant and are bountiful when it comes to selection of styles, colors and patterns.
• Slate is a popular flooring choice for heavy-traffic areas, because it has a dense, smooth texture that makes it durable, moisture-resistant, and impervious to most stains. They require minimal care and are suitable both vintage and contemporary styles.
• Walnut flooring adds warmth to any room with its smooth, straight grain. Planks cut from the heartwood are naturally dark in color so they don't need to be stained.
• White pine with its intricate graining and trademark knots are a great selection for country or rustic kitchens, especially since it ages to a warm orange-yellow.
• Vinyl kitchen floor tile is affordable, flexible, durable and stylish with hundreds of colors and patterns to choose from.
• Laminate floors are available in a variety of woods, are easy to maintain and much less expensive than hardwood. Because it is relatively affordable you can opt to extend the laminate from your kitchen area to your dining area to create an open space.
• Slate tile is a popular flooring choice due to its durability, slip-resistant texture, and natural color variations. Note: because it's a porous natural stone, slate flooring requires a protective sealant.
• For a really rich color, try Brazilian-cherry planks. It is open-grained like oak but more than twice as hard and feature dark brown or black streaks that contrast with its base color which ranges from dark orange to reddish brown.

	Gone are the days when the kitchen was just a woman's domain. Today the entire family enjoys sharing this space, so your kitchen design should compliment the tastes and needs of all your family members. Your kitchen flooring is an important element in your kitchen design, because it needs to match, yet maintain the rigors of daily traffic. Your kitchen flooring should match the tiles, the backsplash, the lighting and the furniture. Whether it's the cabinets, countertop or appliances, everything should merge together with your flooring to create a well-balanced and functional space for you to enjoy for years to come.