AIBU to think this is a difficult flooring problem to solve? .....

[lowfatcherryyoghurt]

I've been in a state of paralysis over this for a long, long time, so I'm hoping to be bounced out of it by some Mumsnet advice .....

The attached photo shows the join between my kitchen tiles and the wooden flooring in my living room.

The 60cm kitchen tiles were very badly laid by the building company that installed my kitchen - the underlay has too much "bounce" so the tiles are now cracked. Unfortunately they "went bust" aka set up elsewhere under a different name before fixing it. The tiles look a mess and I want rid of them, but my kitchen units are installed on top, which complicates things. I don't want to spend a fortune as we may move within the next couple of years - but I would like it to look respectable in the meantime, not least to enhance its appeal to potential buyers.

The Living Room floor boards are old, possibly original (its a Victorian house). But although they attract admiring comments from friends who are into shabby chic, I don't like them - especially in contrast with the modern look of my kitchen. They are cold in winter, smell ever-so-slightly dank and dusty (or at least the space underneath does), and have rather too many rodent-sized holes for my liking.

I would like to install good quality (probably hybrid) wooden flooring over the top of both floors, so that I have consistency between both rooms. However, it would have to be fitted around my existing kitchen units and the fitted cupboards in the Living Room too (which have a curved edge as shown in the photo). My living room also has fancy skirting boards which couldn't easily be removed.

I know you can get beading to cover the joins between wooden floors and skirting boards/cupboards etc, but I'm scared it will all look a bit naff. I did once get a quote from a flooring company, but they hesitated long enough over the curved cupboards to make me nervous, and I never followed up on their quote.

So, to move the decision forward, I need some impartial advice. What would you do Mumsnetters?

Hmm. A good carpenter should be able to sort out cutting a curve into a piece of flooring surely? Those cupboards are beautiful! I would call a carpenter rather than a flooring company and ask about it. We went with a flooring company and the floor looks good but the finish is awful and annoys me pretty much every day. It means my husband doesn't like downstairs!

Honest answer - rip out the bad and do the job properly.

Anything else will inevitably be a shoddy compromise in some aspect and you'll end up regretting it.

Fair enough ripping out the kitchen to redo the tiles isn't on the cards, but you should be able to remove the kick boards in the kitchen, bash out enough of the tiles to lay some new flooring under the kick boards, and re-fit. result will be a mostly new floor, with any old bits hidden by the units. it'll also have the benefit of getting closer to the height of the floor in your sitting room too.

Can the curved skirting be removed on the fitted units in the sitting room? Again I'd go for removing that, get the flooring done under it and the skirting bit re-fitted on top to hide any rough edges. Any competent flooring company ought to be able to do that to reasonable standard.

I'm half way through renovating my own house so I feel your pain!

I'm sure there is a tool that can slice the bottom off skirting boards to allow the flooring to slide under, without removing the whole thing.

The kitchen units may not actually be sat on the tiled flooring - usually just the kick-plate, with the units stood on the sub-floor (wood floorboards I expect). Take one of the kick plates off to see.

As you are looking at moving then surely keep the costs down.

A simple option would be to leave the living room as floorboards and replace the kitchen floor. Tile-effect lino is cheap but looks pretty good, it is warm to the feet and has some give. Downside is it gets holes when you drop a knife!

If you really want to change the living room then carpet is the traditional answer! And just about due to come back into fashion.

The wood floor boards that form the underlying floor of my kitchen had to be replaced after a water leak. They managed to do it without affecting the cabinets that are resting on them. I was impressed, but wasn't around to see how they did it. (At that time I got rid of tiles and replaced them with vinyl.)

Usually the plinths of kitchen cupboards pop out and back in again to allow for the tiling to go under.

I have good quality wood effect laminate throughout the downstairs - I had the skirting removed/replaced after it was fitted and the kitchen was fitter afterwards - but it does sit on 'legs' with a kickboard so replacing the flooring wouldn't be a huge issue

fitted not fitter - although it was certainly nicer than what was there first

Thanks all. Some good ideas there. Rollercoaster, with the lino, would it but neatly up against the kitchen cupboards, or would we need to cover the join with beading?

In answer to your other point, its a C-shaped kitchen and there is a kick plate on the inside of the C, under the front of the cupboards, so that should be ok to slide flooring underneath. But on one counter the cupboard backs are exposed under our breakfast bar (so no kick-plates, but less visible too) and there are also two cupboard-sides exposed at the ends of the "C", which don't have kick-plates.

Also, could the lino go straight on top of the tiles without removing them?