Kitchen Floor Remodeling 2022: What Hardwood Flooring Works Best

In 2022, kitchen revamps are the eighth trending home improvement projects for style and ROI. All major and minor kitchen changes can affect your home's overall look, feel, and value. But no revamp project can add more value than installing or refinishing hardwood flooring in this area of your home. While installing this flooring option is full of benefits, it also comes with numerous challenges. Read on to find out which hardwood floor works best on kitchen floors.

What You Need to Consider

Most people believe that the kitchen is the heart of every home. Kitchens are also one of the most used rooms around your home. Being one of the high-trafficked areas, you need to have beautiful wooden flooring that can withstand the daily wear and tear of the room.

Unlike other flooring options, kitchen hardwood floors are the trendiest choices that massively impact a home interior’s overall feel and design.

Because of its high selling value, deciding which hardwood is best is a difficult challenge for many homeowners. To narrow down your options, here are some factors you can consider when choosing hardwood flooring for your kitchen.

Type of Hardwood Floor

Different types of hardwood floors have varying durability, resistance, and unique features to offer. When choosing kitchen flooring, you need one that can withstand the wear from daily foot traffic and has high resistance to moisture and water.

Solid and engineered hardwood planks both bring advantages to your kitchen floors. Depending on your preference, you also have to consider if you want unfinished or prefinished hardwood. Solid unfinished hardwood strips are ideal as homeowners can sand and refinish them any time they want. However, having one requires you to sand, stain, and finish them upon installation.

Pre-finished solid hardwood floors are less time-consuming and are widely available to most hardwood manufacturers. The only downside of this choice is that you can’t change the color stain during installation.

Engineered hardwood planks are the best option for homeowners on a tight budget who would like a more durable option. In addition, engineered hardwood has higher moisture resistance that can handle erratic humidity changes and spill frequency. Moreover, its core offers more stability to uneven subfloors.

Hardwood Species

In recent years, there are more than 20 kinds of domestic hardwood floorings available in the market. With the increasing popularity of hardwood floors, remodelers now have more choices with the boom of exotic hardwood.

Each hardwood specie offers unique features, ranging from its durability and appearance to its strengths and weaknesses. Whatever wood specie you choose can affect the cost of your project and your floor’s toughness. Wood species can also impact what stain, texture, and finish you can use for your flooring.

In choosing your hardwood specie, keep in mind your lifestyle and aesthetic. Households with pets and children may need species that can handle floor stress from daily traffic and activity. Seasoned house party hosts can also benefit from sturdier hardwoods like hickory, oak, and maple.

Homeowners who want rich, vibrant colors should check on softer hardwood species. Woods like pine, ash, and birch have lighter colors and shades. They also fit well in kitchens dealing with less foot traffic or activity.

Color and Texture

One of the mistakes many homeowners make when choosing hardwood floorings for their kitchen is disregarding the wood’s color and texture. The wrong color and wood grain can massively impact the feel and appearance of your kitchen. Contrary to popular belief, hardwood flooring shades influence the area’s overall look more than any other remodeling project. The colors of your chosen floor help visitors identify and define your aesthetic.

For example, hardwood with lighter colors like oak and maple brighten up and give rooms a larger feel. They also pair well with modern interior designs. Classic, homey preferences would go for darker-shaded woods like cherry and walnut. Many kitchens in Kansas use dark hardwood for their remodeling projects, while many Californian kitchens have whitewashed or naturally stained floorings.

In addition to color, the texture is also an essential factor for kitchen hardwood floors. Like the color of your hardwood, they can enhance the entire feel and appearance of the flooring. They can be smooth, wire-brushed, hand-scraped, or distressed.

Smooth hardwood textures are best with contemporary house styles and are the most common floor textures in US households. Wire-brushed textures give floors a more natural and aged look, while hand-scraped and distressed textures give more personality to the room.

Hardwood Considerations for Your Dream Kitchen

Kitchens are one of the areas in every house often used by every household member. Because of that, a remodeled area offers a higher ROI than most rooms. It's essential to install the right hardwood flooring to get a trendy and high-value kitchen. With more choices available, picking the most suitable hardwood is challenging. By using these three main factors, homeowners can consider which flooring fits their style, budget, and needs.

Contact Kelly Hardwood Floorings today for a consultation!

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