A Guide to the Best Kitchen Flooring Options for Irish Interiors
Introduction
Your kitchen is one of the most used spaces in the home, trampled and spilled on time and time again – from daily meal prep to dinner parties, feeding the kids, dogs and cats, and cleaning up after their mess.
Knowing which flooring is best for a kitchen can be challenging, given the unique stresses a kitchen floor is exposed to.
Whilst it’s important that your kitchen matches and elevates the rest of your home’s interior design aesthetic, it is equally important that whatever kitchen flooring you choose is durable, water-resistant, and easy to clean.
Follow our guide to the best kitchen flooring options available in Ireland today, to find the perfect flooring solution for your next interior renovation!
Which Flooring is Best for a Kitchen?
There are lots and lots of materials to choose from when it comes to kitchen flooring, from ultra-minimalist concrete to natural stone and beyond. But are they all what they’re cracked up to be?
The Tile Merchant Sales Team has a long history of helping customers up and down the Emerald Isle put together kitchens which last. We’ve turned to them to help us pin down the top 5 best kitchen flooring options in terms of price, style, and durability.
| What is the Best Flooring for a Kitchen? | PRO |
| Laminate Wood Flooring | The most affordable kitchen flooring option |
| SPC Vinyl Flooring | 100% waterproof |
| Porcelain Tiles | Naturally water-resistant |
| Wood Effect Tiles | Naturally water-resistant |
| Ceramic Tiles | Relatively water-resistant |
Laminate Wood Flooring
Laminate flooring used to have a bad rep when it came to kitchen and bathroom flooring.
Though cheap, it was prone to scratches and tears, quickly ruining the overall look of the installation.
These days, however, laminate’s back in style, and for a good reason. Tile Merchant’s Laminate Wood Flooring is constructed from composite fibreboard and is finished with a hyper-durable wear layer for extra longevity. It exhibits good resistance to tears, scratches, spills and moisture, making it perfect for busy kitchens.
Moreover, our Laminate Wood Flooring comes not in those unsightly rolls we were once used to, with laminate, but in photorealistic wood-effect planks. This makes laying laminate flooring much easier, giving it a remarkably life-like wooden appearance once installed.
Available in a staggering range of colours, finishes, and natural wood styles, Laminate Wood Flooring is the Irish homeowner’s most affordable and versatile kitchen flooring option.
Pros
- Your most affordable kitchen flooring option in Ireland
- Photorealistic wood finish
- Easy to install (including DIY)
- Relatively long-lasting and water, tear, and scratch-resistant
Cons
- Slightly less visually appealing than other options
- Requires a quality underlay for full waterproofing
- Relatively less durable compared to tiles and vinyl flooring
SPC Vinyl Flooring
SPC (Stone Polymer Composite) vinyl flooring is a type of rigid core flooring that combines limestone and stabilizers to create an extremely durable core. This flooring material is known for its robustness, water resistance, and ease of installation.
SPC vinyl flooring is made from a combination of natural limestone powder, polyvinyl chloride (PVC), and stabilizers. This creates a rigid, waterproof core that’s highly durable.
The layers in between include a high-definition, photorealistic wood film, a wear layer, and a double UV coating, ensuring that the extraordinarily vibrant wood-effect finishes stay perfectly preserved for years – no matter what your kitchen throws at them! Installation is also effortless thanks to an innovative slide-and-click groove-edge design.
On top of the vinyl layer there is a transparent, protective layer that guards against scratches, stains, and wear. SPC is 100% waterproof, making it ideal for kitchens, bathrooms, basements, and other moisture-prone areas.
Even more durable than laminate flooring, SPC Vinyl Tiles from Tile Merchant are available in a similarly diverse range of natural wood finishes, allowing you to create a traditional wooden interior for your kitchen without having to worry about sealing or waterproofing the material.
The plank construction of SPC Vinyl Tiles also offers you versatility when it comes to choosing a pattern for your kitchen floor – from herringbones to a more traditional design.
Pros
- Ultra long-lasting
- Photorealistic wood finish
- Easy to install (including DIY)
- 100% waterproof
- UV-resistant so that the look never fades
Cons
- More expensive than laminate kitchen flooring
Porcelain Tiles
The pièce de résistance of kitchen flooring, porcelain tiles are one of the most tried-and-tested, historically dependable and fashionable of kitchen flooring options.
Porcelain is a naturally waterproof, and thus slip-resistant, material, making it ideal for one of the biggest splash zones in the home. Somewhat more brittle than other tile materials, porcelain remains strong enough to endure heavy foot traffic when installed with care.
Available in the widest variety of styles and finishes, colours and sizes of all kitchen flooring materials, porcelain tiles are a solid choice for the indecisive among you.
One of the things which attracts many Irish interior designers to porcelain is the material’s impressive ability to mimic other, less easy-to-use or more expensive materials, such as marble and natural stone.
The Tile Merchant indoor porcelain range, for example, features porcelain with photorealistic concrete, marble, onyx, and mosaic effects, to name but a few.
Pros
- Naturally water-resistant
- Relatively durable and long-lasting
- Can replicate almost any material to a photo-realistic finish
- Most diverse range of colours, finishes, shapes and sizes of any kitchen flooring option
- Easy to install and keep clean
Cons
- More expensive than laminate kitchen flooring
- Slightly more brittle than ceramic tiles
Wood-Effect Porcelain Tiles
If you liked the sound of our indoor porcelain kitchen tile range – and why wouldn’t you? – then we’re confident you’re going to love the look of our super popular wood-effect porcelain tiles.
Wood-Effect Porcelain Indoor Kitchen Tiles come with all the same qualities and benefits as regular porcelain but with the added bonus of realistically replicating natural wood. Read the Benefits, Uses, Styles and Tips of wood effect porcelain tiles.
Whereas hardwood and engineered wood tend not to make great kitchen companions, porcelain wood tiles do, because they retain porcelain’s natural water-resistance.
These are the perfect tiles for the homeowner who loves the look of Laminate Wood and SPC kitchen flooring, but wants something with a bit more substance, style, and dependable durability.
Porcelain Wood-Effect Tiles are easy to install, easy to clean and maintain, and comfortable underfoot.
Pros
- Naturally water-resistant
- Relatively durable and long-lasting
- Replicates various natural woods with a photo-realistic finish
- Easy to install and maintain
Cons
- More expensive than laminate kitchen flooring
- Slightly more brittle than ceramic tiles
Ceramic Tiles
The fifth and final pro’s choice of kitchen flooring is, of course, the classic ceramic tile.
Ceramic tiles have been around since the dawn of pottery and tiling, and remain a classic to this day.
Made from natural clay, ceramic is hard-fired to create a super-durable and wear-resistant material absolutely perfect for those heavy foot traffic areas of the home, such as the kitchen.
Available in a huge range of colours, shapes, textures, finishes and sizes, Tile Merchant’s Kitchen Ceramic Tile range boasts everything from glossy sky blue and rich matt black to pure white, Terrazzo style, marble effects and more.
Perhaps a little less glamorous than some of the SPC vinyl flooring or porcelain kitchen tile options available in Ireland today, ceramic is nevertheless a budget-friendly and undeniably dependable option which no DIY-savvy designer should gloss over.
Pros
- Relatively water-resistant
- Super durable and long-lasting
- Available in a multitude of colours, shapes, sizes and finishes
- Easy to install and maintain
Cons
- Less waterproof than porcelain by a small margin
- Fewer options available for mimicking other materials
How to Choose the Best Kitchen Flooring Material
So far, we’ve presented you with a range of kitchen flooring options which can help you elevate your kitchen’s aesthetic and durability in the long run.
But how to choose the best kitchen flooring for your unique needs, taste, and budget?
Let’s take a quick look at the key considerations you need to be making when selecting a material for your kitchen floor
Durability
A kitchen floor needs to be durable, but how durable exactly?
Depending on the foot traffic in your home, you can potentially afford to be a little less scrupulous when it comes to longevity.
A house full of children and pets, for example, will need a more durable kitchen flooring option. Whilst the kitchen floor in a quieter home can survive just as well with a more brittle or less kitchen-friendly material.
Tip: Placing area rugs under the sink, stove, and prep areas adds an extra layer of protection against spills, scratches, and dropped utensils. Just choose washable and durable rugs that complement your overall kitchen design.
Aesthetics
Naturally, you’re going to want to ensure that whatever material you choose for your kitchen flooring installation looks the part.
Take a moment to think about the colours, shapes and patterns which already exist in your home and, most importantly, in your kitchen and/or dining room.
Do you want a kitchen floor finish which matches these, or contrasts them? Do you want to create a minimalist aesthetic with some plain ceramic tiles, or opt for something a little more traditional, with wood-effect porcelain?
Ease of Installation
The materials we listed above have all also been selected as flooring options which are easy to install.
However, depending on your DIY experience, if you choose to install your new kitchen flooring yourself, you might want to opt for a material designed for beginners – such as our striking SPC Vinyl Tiles with their slide-and-click construction
Maintenance
Keeping kitchen floors clean can be a daunting task, especially in busy households with young kids and/or pets (or chefs who’ve yet to learn how to clean as they go!).
When choosing a kitchen flooring option, you’ll want to keep an eye out for materials which are easy to wipe down, such as porcelain tiles, laminate, and SPC floor.
Cost
Last but not least, cost consideration will undoubtedly be of top priority to most.
At the end of the day, your budget will play a large part in dictating which dream kitchen flooring option you can – and can’t – afford.
Luckily, all of the kitchen flooring options listed above are relatively budget-friendly. Some, though, more than others.
If affordability is your top concern, then make sure to check out our ranges of wood-effect porcelain tiles and laminate wood flooring
Conclusion
Tile Merchant has been proudly serving Ireland’s home renovation community for many years now, and in that time we’ve built up an expertise in everything flooring. When it comes to choosing the best kitchen flooring material for your home, we’re confident that we’ve got you covered!
From laminate wood flooring and SPC vinyl tiles, to porcelain, wood-effect tiles, and ceramic, one of the 5 top kitchen flooring options described above is guaranteed to help you create the kitchen of your dreams.
Be sure to shop online with Tile Merchant today to find for yourself your own dream kitchen floor material.
If you have any questions, don’t forget to give us a call. And if you would like to see our flooring options in person, be sure to pop into one of our gorgeous showrooms – located in Dublin and Ashbourne, County Meath.
Why Tile Merchant?
Tile Merchant Ireland offers extremely competitive pricing on our entire range of tiles and likewise.
Tile Merchant stocks a huge range of wall and floor tiles and our prices are competitive for retail and trade. Our stock is widely available in our tile stores in Dublin and Ashbourne (Co. Meath) which are open 7 days a week.
Alternatively, if you’d prefer to shop our tiles online, we can supply you with samples delivered for free.
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Article written by Calum
Cal Bannerman is a freelance writer, editor, podcaster and voice actor from the Scottish Borders. He runs the storytelling podcast "Stories from the Hearth" and lives in a wee Glasgow Flat with his partner and their cat".