15 Kitchen Flooring Ideas

House 3 min read

03 Aug 2020

House2Home: The Complete Guide to Renovating or Redecorating

Walk into an Irish kitchen nowadays and it's unclear whether you’ve stepped into the portico of an old Spanish mansion, a Victorian tea-parlour or a giant factory of polished concrete with chic, exposed metal pipes. Whatever happened to good ole’ white tiles?! Well, they’re still knocking around, but alongside some funky and interesting new trends, as we Irish get some serious kitchen-notions.

As part of our House2Home Series, where we bring you expert advice, tips and resources on renovating and redecorating, we’ve given you some great ideas on kitchen floor designs and styles to kick start your kitchen design plans. You can also read our blog on 10 Trending Kitchen Design Ideas, or interior designer Roisin Murphy's take on what's hot right now in Irish kitchens. 

For more home renovation advice from budgeting to design ideas - you can catch up on on all of our House2Home content by visiting our landing page or browsing through the home section of our blog. If you do need financial support, don't hesitate to get in touch with your local credit union

Patterned Tiles

 Patterned kitchen tiles as seen in historic Mediterranean and Victorian interiors are making a comeback in Irish kitchens, and really create a beautiful, exotic feel and textured splash to lift any space.

It is a good idea to always think about the colour scheme of your cabinets and paint before choosing your tiles. Modern porcelain tiles tend to be the most hard-wearing choice for kitchen flooring, as they are waterproof, stain resistant and scratch-proof, as well as easy to clean.
 

1. Victorian-Style Kitchen Tiles

Tile Style.ie

Victorian style floor tiles are on trend, with beautiful patterned designs and textures. The above showcases a pop of gemotric squares - you could pare it with a solid dark colour to contrast the light tones. It is a porcelain tile from Tile Style - who say the above product can be used indoors and outdoors with it’s anti-slip and frost proof properties.
 

Patchwork Style - Tile Style.ie

The above tiles have gorgeous features of neutral grey, brown and natural tones that re-interpret the Art-Deco and Victorian style of the early 20th century. 

 

2. Bohemian Encaustic Tiles

Bohemian Encasutic, Tiles.ie.

Encaustic tiles are ceramic tiles in which the pattern or figure on the surface is not a product of the glaze but of different colors of clay. With echoes of Bohemian Paris of the 1920's and '30's, these tiles are from Tiles.ie and are made from hard wearing porcelain. 

 

3. Spanish Kitchen Tile Design

Spanish Style, Tile Style

Spanish design is slightly different again, with more intricate, smaller patterns. The above tile is an eye-catching decorative black and grey glossy brick of Spanish design. (Although this is a splash-back, the patterns could equally be considered for kitchen flooring)

Stone Flooring

Stone gives that natural, rustic look to a kitchen, and there are many variations to choose from. Natural stone will last a lifetime if properly installed and treated, but it’s porous and must be sealed.

4. Porcelian ‘Stone effect’ Tiles 

Marwari Collection, Tiles.ie

A current trend is ‘mimica’ porcelains, which recreate the look of natural materials, while offering an easy-to-care for finish.  You can get ‘mimica’ tyles to mimic most materials, including marble, limestone and wood.

As they are made from hard wearing porcelain, 'stone-effect' tiles, like the collection above from Tiles.ie, is an alternative to natural limestone tiles, as it does not require any ongoing maintenance. 

 5. Modern Slate Kitchen Tiles  

Tiles.ie 
Simple, beautiful and muted, modern slate tiles from Tiles.ie are stunningly perfect, with no bumps or indentations that natural slate has.

6. Limestone Kitchen Tiles

Honed Limestone, Tile Style.ie

Deep grey tones, charcoal highlights and distinguishing fossils characterise these limestone tiles from Tile Style.ie.

 

7. Marble Kitchen Tiles

Dark Marble, Tile Style.ie.

Dark marbled kitchen tiles give a luxurious and rich finish to any kitchen, like the ‘Dark Emperador’ seen here from tile style.ie.

 

8. Polished Concrete Kitchen Tiles

Industrial Collection, Tiles.ie

Concrete is gracing Irish kitchens left right and centre, perhaps due to its cool, minimal look and also easy maintenance.
 
Above, from Tiles.ie describes their ‘Industrial chic’ collection – a: ‘highly innovative tile collection combines fragments of metal, concrete and stone to create a truly eclectic wall and floor tile collection.’
 

9. Kitchen Vinyl Flooring

Vinyl Flooring, Luxury Flooring.ie
 

As mentioned with the mimica porcelain tiles, vinyl flooring can mimic wood, stone and tile so it is completely identical to these materials. It is easy to put down, more hardwearing, durable and importantly, easier to clean!

It comes in variations of thickness, starting from 1mm – thickness does indicate quality, so look for 3.5mm and up. Above is glazed Vinyl flooring from luxury flooring.ie – mimicking black marble.

Wood Floors

You can get wood floors in a variety of different types. 'Wood effect’ flooring looks like wood but is in fact porcelain.

Engineered wood flooring is finished in a hardwax or UV lacquer and is designed to withstand heat and is less likely to warp than solid wood flooring. Solid wood might not be treated.
 

Wood Types

10. Oak Flooring

Oak is one of the most popular wood floor types and is liked for its durability and grain.
 

11. Walnut Flooring

Floor Store Direct.ie

Walnut is richer, is more reddish/cherry in tone. It is generally darker, so is beautiful as a floor option with lighter surrounding colours, foe example cream cabinets, to set contrast.

12. White Ash Flooring

Wood Floor Warehouse.ie 

A light wood, white Ash features more subtle graining while Black Ash has a dark grain that can also set a nice contrast with lighter coloured surroundings.

13. ‘Wood Effect’: Porcelian wood tiles

Wood Effect Tiles, Tiles.ie

Encore is a range of wood from Tile.ie - it is 'wood-effect' as mentioned above. It is the reproduction of five natural woods in a range of contemporary styles; including Chevron, Herring Bone and Traditional floor boards. The result is a collection of natural wood effect porcelain stoneware.
 

Patterns

14. Herringbone Flooring Patterns

Wood Floor Store.ie

Traditionally limited to the grandest Victorian and Edwardian homes, the Herringbone style kitchen flooring is a pattern created by laying short boards in an interlocking V-shape. has seen a huge surge in popularity in many Irish homes.

Wood Floor Store.ie have the Konig range of engineered herringbone floors are more affordable – this one here is the brushed oak herringbone.

 

15. Chevron Pattern

uipkeswoodflooring.com

This pattern is like herringbone, but instead of interlocking, boards are cut on a diagonal so their ends align.

 

Planning a home renovation? Keep up to date with all the latest articles from Roisin Murphy on our landing page and keep an eye out for #House2Home across out Facebook, Twitter, or Instagram for more great advice on planning, budgeting, as well as design and style ideas and inspiring stories – so you can turn that house into the perfect home.

 If you need any help with budgeting or financial support with your project, (big or small) don’t hesitate to contact your local credit union - we’re here to help.