Kitchen and Living Room Wood Floors Done Right

When designing a home, choosing the perfect wood floors for high-traffic spaces like the kitchen and living room requires careful consideration. The flooring must be beautiful yet able to withstand daily wear and tear. By prioritizing functionality in the kitchen and allowing more design flexibility in the living room, you can achieve wood floors that both rooms deserve.

Functionality Should Be Prioritized in Kitchens

Kitchens endure heavy daily use, whether it's meals being prepared, family and friends gathering, or spills happening. This means durability and moisture resistance should take priority when choosing kitchen wood flooring.

Top options like porcelain tile, natural stone, and engineered hardwood stand up best to high traffic. The layered plywood construction of engineered wood makes it more stable than solid wood when exposed to water, grease, or shifting humidity levels that cause expansion and contraction.

Going with an engineered wood floor for the kitchen is therefore ideal. The finish layer resists abrasions while stability prevents gaps from emerging between planks over time. Brands like Shaw, Mohawk, and Bruce specialize in engineered wood floors perfect for kitchen installations.

What to Look for in Kitchen Wood Floors

• Durability to withstand drops, scratches, spills
• Water resistance from sealants and layered construction
• Easy cleaning and maintenance
• Moisture barriers if below or partially below grade

Living Rooms Allow More Design Flexibility

Since living rooms and family rooms experience less abuse than kitchen spaces, they offer more leeway in both material and style options. Solid hardwood floors made from oak, maple, and exotic woods help create a warm, welcoming aesthetic in living areas.

Homeowners can opt for wider planks versus narrow strips or even distressed, hand-scraped looks full of character. From a sleek contemporary space to a cozy farmhouse style, living rooms give you creative freedom.

Living Room Flooring Perks

• Ability to refinish solid floors multiple times
• Wider planks for dynamic visual statement
• Stains, gloss levels, and finishes to personalize
• Natural material patina over time

Important Considerations For Harmony

Even though the kitchen and living room floors may consist of different materials, they should still feel cohesive. Using light-colored woods can help small rooms appear more spacious. Meanwhile, richer mid-tones or darker stains add drama to larger living rooms.

It's also key to coordinate undertones so variations of brown accompany each other nicely across both rooms. Contrasting plank sizes and styles prevents a monotonous look as visitors flow from space to space.

Create Harmony With

• Consistent undertones
• Contiguous floor flow
• Contrasting textures
• Complimentary colors

Moisture Protection Differences

One area the kitchen and living room floors will differ is in moisture protection. Engineered hardwood contains layers helping minimize swelling and warping. Once installed, additional sealants provide a barrier against spills and dripping that kitchen floors often see.

In the living room, solid wood should be kept away from moisture to prevent irreversible damage. Consider transition strips between the rooms to further guard planks. These barriers don't take away from visual flow but do limit direct contact with potential moisture sources.

Maintenance Musts

All wood floors require proper care and cleaning to maintain their beauty over decades. Sweeping grit away routinely prevents scratches along traffic lanes while dust mops grab surface debris a vacuum would miss.

Follow the manufacturer's recommendations for cleaning products and solutions. Hardwood floors should be mopped occasionally but not saturated excessively. Letting moisture penetrate the finish can warp planks over time.

Re-coating engineered wood on a manufacturer's schedule preserves the finish durability. Solid hardwood may need fuller refinishing to prevent wear exposing the softer grain underneath for a blemished appearance. Consider costs of future upkeep in initial flooring investments.

Appearance and Design Styles

The living room floor can establish an elegant first impression with guests thanks to an extensive range of colors and plank sizes. Standard oak and maple offer a classic appeal or opt for premium exotic species like Brazilian cherry or African mahogany found through specialty suppliers for a striking upgrade.

Designers often recommend playing with different textures and grains to prevent spaces from bleeding together too matchy-matchy. For example, living quarters shine with hand-scraped solid wood while the kitchen impresses with straight-lined engineered planks in a sleek herringbone pattern.

The kitchen grain can also disguise signs of living more readily than a formal, smooth expanse. By tactfully balancing visual continuity with purposeful separation, both rooms retain their distinct charm.

Mix Up Visual Interest

• Vary textures and grains
• Custom stains and finishes
• Solid wood warmth vs engineered modernity
• Light and dark colors to define rooms

Cost Comparisons and Budgeting

While beautiful floors can lift a home's appeal significantly, they do require an investment. Cost per square foot provides insight but doesn't reflect full installation and labor amounts. Be sure to get multiple detailed estimates before committing.

Solid oak or maple may run $3-5 per square foot for materials only while exotic woods like cherry can exceed $10. Engineered wood runs $4-8 given construction complexity. Tile floors also factor grout and mortar in install charges.

Consider longevity for budgeting too. How many years or decades will your kitchen or living room floors last before replacement? Quality wood floors can provide a lifetime return through minor upkeep and careful use for improved value.

Estimate Full Expenses

• Flooring itself PS/ft2
• Adhesives / accessories
• Labor fees
• Subfloor prep / moisture barriers
• Future refinishing costs

Evaluating Brands and Manufacturers

With an extensive flooring market full of options, focusing on reputable brands ensures a satisfying investment. Seek companies utilizing responsible sourcing and sustainable harvesting for your environmental peace of mind too. This prevents purchasing products tied to deforestation or unethical practices abroad.

Assess better business bureau ratings and online reviews to compare quality constructs meeting Kitchen Cabinet Manufacturers Association standards. Excellent warranties covering extensive years reveal durable confidence as well. Consider buying American-made flooring to reduce environmental footprints from overseas shipping.

Seek Ethical Manufacturing

• Responsible wood sourcing
• Low VOC finishes
• Product transparency
• Social responsibility commitments

Going With Professionals vs. DIY

While floating engineered wood offers novice DIYers an approachable weekend project, proper installs require refined expertise. The better the subfloor prep and demolition, the better wood floors perform long-term.

Professionals properly assess moisture levels, slope variances, and tack down substrates for flawless finishes. They have specialty tools like nailers and can address idiosyncrasies stemming from old home quirks. This prevents shortcuts compromising structural integrity or longevity.

Factor experience fitting distinctive floorplans too. Proficient pros properly cut planks ensuring tight seams and optimal stagger patterns. They also handle coveted cleanup leaving homeowners with pristine new spaces to enjoy.

Professional Perks

• Subfloor assessments
• Moisture testing and mitigation
• Expansive tool/skill access
• Meticulous precision fits
• Help securing best products

By taking functionality, aesthetic flexibility, and coordination considerations in mind while choosing wood floors for kitchens versus living quarters, homeowners can achieve beautiful, enduring floors in both beloved spaces.

Priming kitchens for heavy use needn't detract from visual harmony flowing across open concept homes. Distinctive finishes like hand-scraping in natural light-filled living rooms plays perfectly against clean-lined contemporary kitchens as well for the best of both worlds.

Paying attention to special structural needs, moisture protection prerequisites, and coordinating colors and textures results in wood flooring installations checkmarking every box. Taking advantage of professional services tailors the process explicitly to your unique home blueprint for success. Follow these insights and you'll enjoy wood flooringDONE RIGHT for years to come.