Kitchen flooring inspiration

[Flymeaway4]

House is grade 2 listed and we’re planning a kitchen extension. Despite offering up several options (ie. retain, but relocate), we’ve been told we’ll have to keep the current flagstones in the old part of the kitchen. The flagstones are lovely, but are proving impossible to match exactly for the new part of the kitchen, so what should we use for the new part? Do we get new flagstone to match as closely as possible? Or something different eg. wood? Honestly, I feel likely either option will look ridiculous and despite googling, I’ve not found an example I like the look of. The new kitchen island and cabinets will go over the top of both the old and new floor, which I think will make it look even worse. Any ideas or inspiration very welcome!

Are you able to post a photo of the flagstones / area or find a similar one online to give us an idea of how it looks?

Are you able to rearrange your kitchen so the units are either all on the flagstone bit or all not? I agree that is the bit which makes it tricky.

Some photos attached. The extension will come out from the wall with the window, about doubling the size to 8x5m in total.

I can't really see a way to rearrange the plan for the kitchen really, but maybe that's because it's been in my head so long I can't see it any other way now?!

Have you tried cleaning the flag stone professionally and getting them sealed? Might help see what they are like originally

Can you google the local stone to your area? That might bring up a few marches or try a reclamation yard or stone mason

I think we might struggle to match too @LittleOverWhelmed. But our planned kitchen layout will make it hard to blend 2 types of flooring. I’ve attached some diagrams to show what I mean (one a blank plan with just the windows and doors, the other with the layout I have in my head). Unless you can think of a better layout? All plumbing, electrics, ducting etc will be brand new, so we have few restrictions on layout (a nice position to be in, but i have little imagination, which makes it hard!)

@BluebellsGreenbells that’s a very good point! Will do that next week (cleaning and visiting reclamation yards)

Planning to have a small second sink with pot filler right next to the range for exactly that reason (was just trying to keep the diagram simple). Big sink will be just for washing up.

I wasn’t keen on a tv in the kitchen, but fiancé wants one, so we are. It’ll go in the tall cupboard by the sliding doors (so I can hide it away too!)

You might be right about the kitchen designer though, maybe I’ll look into that. Although, I’m still not sure how they could split the kitchen, so that 2 floorings, as above, would look right?!

Can you look at local reclamation yards - to try and find a close match for the existing floor?

I had to live with two “toning” floors in the same room, always detested it, it never looked right.

You will only do the floor once - so well worth trying to match what you have - if you can

Op can you ask th planners if you can lift the flagstones and use them to make a central square on the kitchen floor and then border with something else, Ie flagstones in a darker shade ? This way you retain the old and blend with the new.

Sorry I should also say you can cover the flagstones up as long as you don’t damage them, so you can board over and then lay a new floor.

I’ve not thought the cupboard through that much yet, to be honest! Just thought it would be good to hide it away and would be a better use of space, if there are cupboards above and below it instead of empty space.

You might be right about walking around the island a lot, but is that not always the case with an island?! Or is this island just a bit big, do you think? It would be just an island; we don’t want a sink on it as that inevitably means dirty dishes will pile up right in the kitchen focal point and we really want a range, which wouldn’t work very well in an island either.

That’s what I’m worries about @SynchroSwimmer. Unless it’s exactly right it’ll just look wrong.

@Bluntness100 they will let us lift them, in order to insulate and fit underfloor heating (although we may be changing our mind about that), but want them put back where they were. We suggested using them as a patio outside and also moving them to replace the same flagstones in an outbuilding (which are all shattered and will need replacing anyway), but they said no. I think we’re leaning towards covering them with something else, so it’s all the same type of flooring throughout, which is such a shame because they’re beautiful old flagstones!

Are you allowed to lift the flagstones, mix with some reclaimed ones, and re-lay so the old are mixed with the new to create a random effect in the new bigger room. My friend did this with her kitchen - old house (not listed), had the stones cleaned and removed, they were then mixed with new and relaid. The floor person that did the job was careful in selecting which stone was to go where, so there are no definite light or dark areas, but it is definitely 2 shades of stone, but because they're mixed up you don't realise that it's not always been like that.

That may be an idea @Ariela, I don’t suppose you have a photo so we can see what it might look like?

Although I suspect we wouldn’t be allowed to do this either

In your situation I’d hire a kitchen planner because I don’t think your layout works for several reasons. It’s only a few hundred pounds which is peanuts compared to the amount you are spending on all of this work.

If the layout is poor it will annoy you forever. And it’s almost impossible to change later because of the cost - you just won’t do it.

We used this company and he was excellent

www.gvsdesigncompany.com/

But I’m sure there are others out there . We went to him with a similar dilemma to yours - not about flooring but “ we have decided almost everything but we can’t get this last piece of the design to work “.

He changed our whole layout including knocking down a wall into an adjacent room which was underused. He was 100% right, our kitchen works very well.

You need to decide on the kitchen design before you start work as it might affect the position of windows and doors and it will determine where services like draining and plumbing need to run.

We used a company that made the units to our sizes, so we didn’t have to work around set sizes . So if we had a 90cm wide space, we could have a base unit of 90cm, rather than an 80cm standard.

I used this to have base units 10 cm deeper so I can have prep space AND use the back of the worktop for eg a Breadbin or toaster.

And I had wall units taller than usual ( we have high ceilings ) and use the top shelves for things I don’t use often . The taller cupboards look much more in proportion to the room.

The best thing for me was having fewer but much larger ( wider ) units. So I have everything grouped together and I never have to search for anything.

Islands - we don’t walk around our island very much because the main working area is an L shape with the island to one side . So I hardly walk at all compared to my last kitchen which was smaller but badly planned.

Everything is right next to each other in work zones

1. sink, bins , dishwashers, crockery and cutlery storage
2. Food prep - fridge, knives, all equipment, small sink
3. Range and pot and over tray drawers
4. Dried / canned/ packet food all in one large pantry cupboard

So I can eg

Stack plates after a meal, scrape food waste into food bin, rinse plates , load dishwasher - all without taking any steps . Then I can unload and put everything away in the same positions.

Or I can take out mugs and spoon, use coffee machine or tea bags / sugar and fill with boiling water tap, all from the same place ( I do have to take a couple of steps to get milk out the fridge).

I can take veg out fridge, get knives and chopping Board, peel and chop, , dispose of waste into food bin and cook - all within 2-3 steps .

I know that sounds like a lot of detail but that’s the actual reality of using a kitchen for most families .

@Flymeaway4

That may be an idea *@Ariela*, I don’t suppose you have a photo so we can see what it might look like?

She moved about 6-8 years ago, there aren't any photos on Zoopla I just checked. But it did look very good, you couldn't tell it was not originally like that

OP your first port of call should be a good kitchen designer, for all the reasons PPs have mentioned! I'm sure you've spent hours poring over your design but honestly, a really good, professional kitchen designer will come up with ideas which will transform that space. Your current plan would be a complete pain. And yes to an extent you walk around an island, but when you are cooking/ prepping/ serving up you will want to be focused in one area, and not walking round the island a million times!!

You also want to get yourself down to your local reclamation yards - they'll almost certainly have similar flagstones in your local stone. Which part of the country are you and then perhaps people can suggest one or two good local ones?

I think you’re right, we need a kitchen designer, I’ll look into one. Thank you everyone.

If your house is old enough to not have a damp proof course like ours (1820) then lifting the flags and insulating with something which isn't permiable to moisture or covering the floor could lead to significant damp problems in the walls.

Thanks @Geneticsbunny, that’s a good point too. We’re doing everything we can to keep new materials breathable and/or ventilated, but it is hard with conflicting advice. We’re also redoing the roof and planning to use breathable membrane and insulation to avoid issues with condensation, but without fitting a polythene layer it apparently flags up as a damp issue (exactly what we are trying to avoid!). But what’s the point of using all these (more expensive!) breathable materials, only to put a polythene layer in anyway?! I just don’t get it!

Maybe we will have to get as close a match to the flagstones as we can and just hope it’s not too obvious. Although, surely the flagstone themselves aren’t considered permeable anyway?!

@Mummyford we considered getting one as the planning stage, but instead got an architect with better experience dealing with listed houses and he got us through. To be honest, I’m just not sure we can afford one now. Quotes for the renovation are at least 50% more than we expected pre-Covid, so we already need to cut costs. I just don’t think we have funds to add in something like that. If a kitchen designed is just a couple of hundred though, that might be doable.