# trying to choose a floor color and countertops



## DIY-Her (Feb 19, 2012)

my sink is a Blanco Silgranitt color Bisquit


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## girlsrope2 (Jun 16, 2016)

What are you using for backsplash? I could see some taupe colored glass subway tiles for backsplash with travertine floors and granite or quartz countertops with some taupe and darker brown color within to bring together the cherry and bisquit cabinets. Brushed Nickle faucet. My other thought is a little darker with slate floors and darker countertops. Good luck!


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## DIY-Her (Feb 19, 2012)

thanks for your input , haven't decided on back splash, that will probably be last.
I also started to think porcelain wood look tiles and a brown with a greyish tone, sort of like this?
http://www.southcypress.com/Flooring/Storka-Lodge/Lodge-8-x-48-Valley
I like the idea that the grout lines for those tiles can be a lot thinner than standard non rectified tile. Anything for easier floor clean up. Want to change the bathroom tiles eventually too because of the small tile and so many grout lines. Don't want to get down on my hands and knees the older I get lol

This whole process is daunting 
The cabinets are antique white, but not as yellowish as some antique whites can be.


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## DIY-Her (Feb 19, 2012)

that's strange, the link no longer works


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## DIY-Her (Feb 19, 2012)

here is a better link


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## DIY-Her (Feb 19, 2012)

forgot to mention, all my faucets, lights, cabinet handles and knobs are oil rubbed bronze. Bought them all Summer 2014 when we thought we were going to finish the kitchen.


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## DIY-Her (Feb 19, 2012)

Ok, changed my mind on the wood look tile color 
I found a style that doesn't have as much grain texture to the actual tile. Figured that would be harder to clean, almost like thousands of grout lines.
So found Dal Tiles Forest Park in color Sugar Maple that seems really nice and somewhat neutal and still warm and not greyish.









Here is someone who used the same floor. She chose the 9x36. I'm trying to figure out if I want to do the 6x36 or the 9x36 tile.


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## Two Knots (Nov 12, 2011)

I like that floor very much, I think you'll be very happy with it. 
it's not too light or not too dark. It well blends well with the bottom cabs.


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## DIY-Her (Feb 19, 2012)

thanks, I saw a small piece from one of the stores I checked out, but ordered 2 6x36's so I can see a larger area on my floor and how it will go. So far I like what I'm seeing and as long as it took me to decide, more than a year, almost 2 because of what happened to us Sept 2014, but it gave me a longer time to really think and not jump at something I thought I liked and bought it 1 month later.


What I'm wondering, what are the advantages or disadvantages between a 6" x 36" or a 9" by 36" tile. Thinking to go diagonally to be different from the other rooms in the house with real wood, but will have to ask more questions on that too.


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## Two Knots (Nov 12, 2011)

You have hardwood floors in the rest of the house?
Would you consider matching the existing floors with the
same hardwood in the kitchen?


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## ryansdiydad (Aug 16, 2015)

+1 on the real hardwood..


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## ZZZZZ (Oct 1, 2014)

I'll go -1 on hardwood.:smile:

I love hardwood, but not in the kitchen. Too much chance for water damage, food spills, stains, muddy footprints, etc, especially if you have lots of young kids and/or pets.

I think wood-look porcelain is a very good compromise.

Just my 7 cents (2 cents after taxes and inflation).


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## ryansdiydad (Aug 16, 2015)

So having had hardwood in my kitchen for 11 years with that same hardwood in the kitchen for 20 years before I bought and being in several other house with hardwood in the kitchen I can say all these fears of water damage and staining are a bit over exaggerated. My hardwood doesn't show any staining or wear or water damage at all. Even after more than its fair share of spills - dropped dishes.. dirty feet... 

I would be more worried about stains in tile grout, cracked tiles, cracked grout lines, than any potential issues with hardwood. 

Hardwood floors are classic.. wood look tile could be a short lived trend that will make your kitchen look dated in 5 years...


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## DIY-Her (Feb 19, 2012)

it's not overrated  it's a fact. 
If a sink leaked on a wood floor when you were not there, it would all be destroyed.
We have 2 dogs and add my husband to the mix with grass filled sneakers when he walks from the garage or kitchen door from the yard, it all comes into the kitchen. My dogs continually spill water, and most times when they know they are about to get sick, seem to run to the kitchen floor. Probably because if we are there when it happens, we quickly scoop them up and run them into the kitchen tiled floor.
We aren't home on a continual basis as most people with animals, or even though without. 
So we need tile 

btw, guessing you aren't aware, I just learned recently, that there is now something you can put into the grout before it goes down that prevents it from ever staining. Wood floors damage much faster from a lot of traffic than tile floors, especially Porcelain tile that is supposed to be stronger.


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## DIY-Her (Feb 19, 2012)

RE: Hardwood floors are classic.. wood look tile could be a short lived trend that will make your kitchen look dated in 5 years..

I would bet when tile first started being used for homes, or even wall to wall carpet, people who only knew about hardwood floors probably said the same about tile, or wall to wall carpet.


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## DIY-Her (Feb 19, 2012)

here is a photo I took 2 months ago with our new area rug, and it shows the oak "gunstock" color wood. The family room is a step down from the kitchen.


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## DIY-Her (Feb 19, 2012)

and here is the 1st floor plan from the builder 1995.
You can see how the room is layed out. I plan to rip out the pantry closet (no real use for storing anything to get to it easy) and instead put a base cabinet and wall cabinet with better storage higher than the closet door.

All the current kitchen tile floor is getting ripped out which right now only goes up to the cabinets, but under the stove, dish washer and fridge.
The new tile will cover the whole floor and all the cabinets we bought 2014 still stored in our house will be installed into the kitchen, then new counters etc.

oh, the new tile floor is going to continue into the laundry room and the laundry room closet.

Powderroom will probably have the real wood floor continued since the doorway touches the foyer that is all wood


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## ryansdiydad (Aug 16, 2015)

DIY-Her said:


> it's not overrated  it's a fact.
> If a sink leaked on a wood floor when you were not there, it would all be destroyed.
> We have 2 dogs and add my husband to the mix with grass filled sneakers when he walks from the garage or kitchen door from the yard, it all comes into the kitchen. My dogs continually spill water, and most times when they know they are about to get sick, seem to run to the kitchen floor. Probably because if we are there when it happens, we quickly scoop them up and run them into the kitchen tiled floor.
> We aren't home on a continual basis as most people with animals, or even though without.
> ...



Your reasoning for needing tile in the kitchen would mostly apply to why you shouldn't have wood anywhere in your entire house.. If your sink leaks bad enough to destroy your wood floor, you have a bigger problem on your hands than just your floor.. 

I am also very aware of grout sealers and aware that you need to reapply them every 1 to 5 years depending on the surface and the amount of traffic you get.. A quote from a manufacturer of a well known tile and grout sealer is below...

"Resealing will vary depending on porosity, density, hardness, foot traffic and the elements (indoor or outdoor) the area is exposed to. As a general rule, medium to dense surfaces exposed to heavy foot traffic can be resealed
every 1 - 3 years. Very hard surfaces exposed to heavy foot traffic can be
resealed every 3 - 5 years"


Carpet in and of itself is not trendy. But styles of carpet like Shag certainly was trendy.. Why not put some Shag carpet in? Tile also in and of itself is not trendy.. Tile has been around for thousands of years.. But particular styles of tile well could be..

It's your house and its clear you are already fully rationalizing your decision.. Good luck..


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## Two Knots (Nov 12, 2011)

There is hardwood that has a slight rough ribbed look...
our daughter has it in her kitchen. Her den is also a step down from the breakfast room.
She has all hard wood in her house ( with the
exception of the mud room, laundry room and powder room. 
It's all the same color.
however, two floors are cherry, the den is American cherry and the dining
room is African cherry. The rest of the rooms are oak. 

Keep in mind that all the floors are the same color. 
Now she has only the rough-ish look in her kitchen and breakfast.
It is absolutely beautiful. They have it for many years, with three kids
and a golden lab, and a husband that's an over the top cook. 

If you like I'll look for pics of her kitchen floor ( on my laptop)
In the mean time here is a shot of the breakfast room and the den floor.

I have all hardwood except for my kitchen and foyer. If I was going
to do it over I would do hardwood.


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## Two Knots (Nov 12, 2011)

This is the African cherry ( and the dog) in the DR ...all the floors are stained to match.

In my humble opinion, I think your kitchen would look gorgeous
in hard wood, especially if the color matches your family room and
foyer etc...


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## DIY-Her (Feb 19, 2012)

ryansdiydad said:


> Your reasoning for needing tile in the kitchen would mostly apply to why you shouldn't have wood anywhere in your entire house.. If your sink leaks bad enough to destroy your wood floor, you have a bigger problem on your hands than just your floor..


Actually, the dogs are fine throughout the rest of the house and the grassy sneakers never go past the kitchen. 

I dust mop and sometimes use wood floor cleaner by Bruce or other product. The kitchen is another story, I always use a sponge mop, especially in the laundry room.


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## DIY-Her (Feb 19, 2012)

Two Knots said:


> This is the African cherry ( and the dog) in the DR ...all the floors are stained to match.
> 
> In my humble opinion, I think your kitchen would look gorgeous
> in hard wood, especially if the color matches your family room and
> foyer etc...


It might look nice, but believe me, not for long. When the house was built, we didn't upgrade on the flooring because even back in 1994, they wanted something like $6,000 extra. We opted to only do upgrades for larger room areas or things we could not do later ourselves without spending $15,000 or more. 
See that little bump out 4x8 in the kitchen? that extra cost was about $2,000. Had we decided to add that later, the cost would have been a heck of a lot more.
So the floor we got was the cheap vinyl knowing that one day we would get something better. At the time we expected to have kids, that didn't happen. So now we are getting tile.

Strange how all the floor tile companies I show them my layout, and let them know the wood floors surrounding it, they all said if you go with a different color wood look tile, you should be ok.
Although one store was set on telling me I needed to get a light grey wood look tile I first posted. As you can see, my decor doesn't go with grey tile.


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## DIY-Her (Feb 19, 2012)

when we are gone for any length of time, 1 hour or more, we put up baby/dog gates to block the dogs from entering any room but the kitchen. They are getting older, so if we end up getting home by 7pm when we thought we would be home by 5pm, the older dog may not be able to wait no matter how hard he tries. Just experience from our previous set of dogs where one of them lived to the age of 18.

If we went with say slate tile, or other color, it still would be not consistent with the rest of the house, so wood look tile wouldn't be much different.

I had one store try to talk me out of Viatera Quartz counters saying we need to go with the real marble. :-/ 

I also can't go with a wood floor color like we have elsewhere in the house, because its too close to the cherry base cabinets we have now stained in walnut, I need a contrasting color or lighter. I did bring in a few pieces of left over oak flooring we have set aside and put it on the kitchen floor next to the cabinet, and it looked too close almost exact during different lighting throughout the day, so its why I knew for sure I couldn't stick with the oak floor even if we didn't have to worry about dogs and water


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## KarenStein (May 30, 2016)

I'd like to throw out a few ideas for you to think about:

Those are pretty nice cabinets, with a wonderful grain. I'd make that a focal point, and try to keep anything from distracting you.

That means bland colors and muted patterns for the top and floor. I think you're on the right track with white. Maybe a fine texture, like that of tiny pebbles or chips in the white. 

The lighter your top, the more the sink will stand out. That's good - indeed, I wish the sink was a bit more colorful.

I'd also fill the wall space between the counter and upper cabinets, and behind the range, with something textured and "brown." Say, bronze tone metal tiles. Keep the white backsplash for the counter.

I like the pale blue as a wall color.

I like counters, and floors, to have some "give." Apart from comfort, this gives you some forgiveness if you tip over a glass. I like Formica for counters, and either vinyl or cork for kitchen floors. You can even find rubber floor tiles that are very light in color.


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## DIY-Her (Feb 19, 2012)

thanks, I most likely will go with the counter LG Viatera - Minuet seen here from another website. So far from the small square samples I have ordered from all different counter companies, its the one white color that goes well with the antique quite cabinets and not look too grey and seems to be more of a creamy white.










The back splash I wanted to keep some type of white, cream with not much pattern so it would go with anything I might decide to paint the room later, say in 6-10 years.

I had almost ordered the chocolate sink of the same model, but then I thought I would have a hard time matching it with other tones in the room, so I stuck with the off white.

I'm avoiding any type of white floor because of wet doggy paws and even our feet from walking in and out of the garden from the kitchen door.

Glad you like the wall color. I guess depending on your screen, it can look blue, but its actually green. The color is Behr Southern Breeze


http://www.behr.com/consumer/ColorDetailView/450E-3


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## DIY-Her (Feb 19, 2012)

oh, now that I re read your post  I understand what you meant for behind the range.
I too am thinking something a bit different for that spot, or even the same type tile but create a framed pattern of some sort in a different sized tile of the same. I did mention to others on another website a few years ago about doing little bronze tone metal inserts randomly in the backsplash, or just behind the range, but was advised against it.
Ask 5 different people and you'll get 50 different suggestions


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## DIY-Her (Feb 19, 2012)

I found a wood look tile I like. The local company ordered 2 6x36 of the tiles showing the lightest color and the darkest color of the tones so I can see what it looks like.
Here is a photo of the Happy Floors Hickory style in the color Cherry.
I pasted a photo of my cherry cabinet over a photo I took at their store of the floor.


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## DIY-Her (Feb 19, 2012)

Update on my kitchen. Floor is being installed this pasted Tuesday . I ended up going with Tabula Cappuccino 6"x39" porcelain tile with truffle color grout. Changed what the countertop would be, and now will use Viatera Soprano that is more creamier and goes well with everything in the kitchen. 









And here is a close up I took today showing the tile and grout called truffle.


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## newtopchop (Dec 31, 2017)

Floor color, _*butcher block countertops*_ and cabinetry are three major components of the color scheme in your kitchen. But if you are starting from scratch with a near-vacant kitchen, a world of color choices is open to you. The most important thing to remember is to keep the color scheme simple and add highlight colors through the smaller items and accessories. This allows you to change your theme over time without incurring the high cost of replacing a major component.


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## Mike Milam (Mar 3, 2017)

DIY-Her said:


> Update on my kitchen. Floor is being installed this pasted Tuesday . I ended up going with Tabula Cappuccino 6"x39" porcelain tile with truffle color grout. Changed what the countertop would be, and now will use Viatera Soprano that is more creamier and goes well with everything in the kitchen.
> 
> 
> 
> ...


Very nice. :vs_cool:


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## DIY-Her (Feb 19, 2012)

thanks. The wall color is as you see it, SW Contented. Not much of the wall will actually show from the angle the photo was taken. The back wall right of the entrance to the dining room and the right outside wall will all be antique white cabinets. The whole left wall the base cabs are antique white, the 39"high uppers are antique white, and the 14" stacked that will be lighted antique white. The island also antique white, but the L shaped part of the base cabinet area is Cherry with a medium Walnut stain. My idea was to stick with neutrals and have the wall color that can change over time and still go with everything like the floor, cabinets, counters. The tile is all in now for the kitchen, just not the grout yet. They still have to do the same tile in the laundry room and the powder room which they already took the old tile up and put down the cement board. I'm supposed to paint the laundry and powder room for them this weekend, so hopefully I'll have energy to complete it lol.
Plus it saves me money and lets them do things we can't do ourselves. This is the largest and most envolved reno we have ever done in our lifetime. Ripping up carpet and putting down wood floors and new wood work is nothing compared to this both in time spent making decisions and money. As much fun as it was searching for what we wanted to do, it was equally as stressful.


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