If you have a kitchen/living/dining in one what flooring did you go for ?

[woodforthetrees]

We're about to start work on our scary big project turning our 70's ugly house into hopefully something a bit more modern. We're having a living/dining/living room built on the back - one of those with sliding doors so light and open plan.

It'll be about 7m x 5m. I've chosen a modern style gloss kitchen but I'm having a flooring dilemma. What worked for you?

If we have wood throughout (we've been eyeing up that engineered oak flooring) then how does that work in the kitchen. If you have it tiled throughout is it too cold (even though we're having underfloor heating) - but more does it "feel" cold.

Do you think it would be ok to have the kitchen dining room bit in tiling and the rest in wood? It's a clear split in terms of the kitchen/Dining end and living room end...

My mum was saying that she thought the wood might not wear well in the kitchen end. I'm erring on the side of tiling throughout but someone said that those slate type tiles which are uneven in finish which I quite like are a sod to keep clean.....

Just don't know what's for the best - oh and obviously for the budget !! We're hopefully going to get our kitchen in the sales and are surfing the net trying to find the best deals on flooring at the moment - January sales coming up means we might get some needed bargains....
Thanks !

[Elibean]

Will watch with interest, because we're about to build an extension onto the back of a house we've just bought....current kitchen/dining area is the same as the rest of downstairs, ie engineered oak. Have to admit it looks beautiful, modern but warm and doesn't jar with the style of the house (1920s).

If I was starting from scratch, I'd be tempted to go for bamboo throughout because we had it in both bathrooms in last house, and it was beautiful, and coped entirely well with water, small children, dropped things etc.

[herbgarden]

we had bamboo in a rented flat we had once and I remember having to be really careful with it ?.....I'm googling photos ! I wish I could find somewhere where I can see lots of photos of stuff to give me an idea of overall look. We're having to make so many decisions at the moment - it's great but hard to pin one thing down particularly when you have to live with it in the long run

[FiveGoMadInDorset]

If I was going open plan then I would go with wood throughout, my parents have open plan and they have tiles in the kitchen and then wood in the dining/lving area which works as well.

[FiveGoMadInDorset]

Which is really no help at all.

[fanjolina]

Same throughout definitely. Amtico or Karndean is good.

[woodforthetrees]

thanks for your replies - might have a look at amtico or karndean - someone mentioned those to me the other day..........

[noddyholder]

I have ceramic grey tiles throughout.It is a warm area though and has 3 radiators and 2 open fires I only ever have 1 fire lit and one radiator max and mostly just one radiator.

[EndangeredSpecies]

a friend of mine has recently redone her house (open space) and has gone for a combination: parquet throughout, except around the kitchen units/fridge where she's put ceramic tiles in a complementary colour, kind of gently curving and contoured rather than in a straight line. It looks absolutely beautiful and resolves the cleaning problems/wear and tear in kitchen area.

[CybilDisturbance]

We have fab solid oak from B and Q, it looks aged like an old school floor, not smooth and fake like some woodfloors. We have underfloor heating in the kitchen part.

[cece]

amtico

[Ruthiebabes]

We had an extension last year and have a kitchen/living/dining area. After a lot of research and advice we opted for Pergo. Its a top range laminate made in Sweden. Very durable, a must with young children. Looks good, and have had lots of positive comments about it.

Certainly not a cheap option, but buying online it is more affordable.

[TheShowMustGoOn]

Oak engineered flooring and tiles in the kitchen area.

[Quattrocento]

We have slate floors - which look lovely and are marvellous in terms of maintenance and have stayed looking nice for years.

The rest of the house downstairs (barring the studies) is oak floored. Also nice but doesn't wear so well. The slate is only fractionally colder than the wood. Both are quite a lot colder than the carpeted areas but the carpeted areas are the most high maintenance.

[nearlybeans]

We have the slate-type tiles in the kitchen - a porcelain version of Brazilian riven slate. They are very easy to keep clean, non-slip, and incredibly hard-wearing. The benefit of porcelain over ceramic is that they are the same colour all the way through so if one should chip, which is unlikely, it would not show.

[victrixludorum]

Ah but tiles not so helpful if you drop plates or the like in kitchen.

[Francagoestohollywood]

I'd go for wood throughout.

[navyeyelasH]

I went for Da Vincci karndean welsh slate with UF heating - love it!