What’s the Ideal Material for Kitchen Flooring?

November 2, 2022

Soumadip Dey

Designers share their views on their preferred choices and how open kitchen styles impact the choice of kitchen flooring.

The kitchen is perhaps the most used part of a functioning house. Over the years, the role of the kitchen has transformed from just a space for cooking and meal preparations to something of a social centre for the house. With the emergence of open kitchen styles, we see more integration of living room space with the kitchen. Deciding on the flooring material for the kitchen is by no means an easy task. It is not only subjected to spills and cooking mishaps but also must look good and blend in with the overall theme of the house. We at Kitchen Ideas talked with a few architects to understand what materials they prefer when it comes to kitchen floors and how open kitchen styles impact the choice of kitchen flooring.

When it comes to designing we feel that when we design houses, especially in India those are being designed for specific families and not mass housing. The kitchen plays an important social role within the family unit. While Indian kitchen styles are westernising in terms of the equipment they are using, more countertop less floor-based designs. Even when this is happening, the cultural significance of a kitchen in an Indian home is still quite high. So, there are a lot of things that a family does that are centred around the kitchen. This plays a role in refining the architect’s choice of material for kitchen flooring.

In some parts of the kitchen, performance will be a priority and the material should be clean, easy to maintain, and looks presentable but if there is a stain it is easy to remove. The material can be like stones that are hard, marble-like and can take that kind of punishment and in the long run, can be polished and repaired easily. When you are building an apartment then the kitchen is designed only for efficiency and will have an extremely hard floor.

For performance, hardiness, and ability to clean, and maintain hygiene, the harder stones are the best because you can join them seamlessly and polish them. In some kitchens people like to enter bare feet, so the stone does not work in such kitchens. Here engineered wood can be used as they are very hard and has a high-performance level. Another option that can be considered is tile; it has the largest variety of finishes and has to be chosen based on aesthetics and availability.

Madav Raman

Partner

Anagram Architects

The kitchen flooring should be unpolished. It should not be slippery because there are chances of water and spillage. The material should be easy to maintain, that is the most important factor to keep in mind because it must be easy to wipe off stains from the kitchen floor and keep it clean.

My favourite material for Kitchen flooring is anti-skid tiles. While marble is a widely used flooring material in high-end luxury projects, in my opinion, it is not really suited for a place like a kitchen. The main reason is spillage and the chances of the polish of marble getting hampered when in touch with lime. A polished material is not the best option for the kitchen floor.

If it is an open kitchen then the colours and materials must blend in. It cannot be something totally different like it is in a closed-door situation. In closed doors, you have many different options, if it is an open kitchen you need to have a scheme where the living areas and the kitchen areas complement each other.

Radhika Vishwanathan

Founder

Radhika Viswanathan Associates