Our little farmhouse kitchen got a BIG makeover! This week I’m sharing the flooring we chose and how we like it in our new kitchen… you can catch up on the rest of the kitchen makeover series here!
I love hearing all your feedback on our kitchen makeover, and I think probably the #1 question I’ve received on the blog and social media is what we used for flooring and where it came from. All your questions will be answered today, my friends!
Do you remember what was in here before? Awfulness… pure multi-color speckled awfulness.
We decided to go with this porcelain tile from Lowe’s that looks like old, rustic wood planks. The exact name from the Lowe’s website is Style Selections Natural Timber Whitewash Glazed Porcelain Indoor/Outdoor Floor Tile, if you’re curious. I knew exactly what I wanted for most of the kitchen, but the flooring was a big, fat question mark for awhile. The kitchen floor butts up to the wood flooring that is in the rest of the lower level in 3 different places (by the dining room, living room and playroom), so I wasn’t sure if I should go with flooring that would match up with our existing wood floors or do something totally different to break up the space.
The wood flooring in our house is lovely, little thin planks, but has a super warm, almost orange stain on it that I REALLY don’t love. After going back and forth for awhile I decided that if I’m spending all this money on a new kitchen floor, I should put in something I’m totally in love with, and maybe down the road someday we can refinish the wood floors with a different, less 70’s orange, stain color. I had no idea how we would transition between the different flooring, but that was for my contractor to figure out later.
After all the demo work was done, they started laying the tile floor. This part of the renovation went really fast because they had to have the tile down to install the cabinets, and they had to have the cabinets in to measure for the countertops, which could typically take anywhere from 3-5 weeks for delivery.
Okay, so in the photo above you can see where the old kitchen floor stopped and the wood flooring started. Actually, the kitchen flooring originally ended where the brick chimney was (which is now gone), leaving the seam between floors right in the middle of the hallway and the opening to the living room. That was not going to fly. Heath, my awesome, amazing contractor, talked over a few options with me, but in the end we decided to rip out the wood floor in the hallway and lay the tile all the way down the hall to the bathroom. We needed some extra pieces of the wood flooring anyway to feather in where we opened the wall up, so this just seemed like the best solution. Side note, the wood underneath the hall floor was kind of pretty…
After the floors were finished and the last coat of white paint I’ll ever have to do on this house was up, I was so pleased with how it all turned out. For the transition between the kitchen tile and the bathroom, Heath added a piece of bullnose trim tile from our backsplash. It matched the bathroom tile pretty closely and made a perfect transition between the two.
We went with a warm gray grout to blend with the rustic wood floors, and I love how much character each piece of tile has. Each one is a littler bit different, with various shades of gray and brown running throughout. Now I have to admit a dirty little secret to you guys… the ONLY thing I liked about the ugly speckled kitchen floor was that you literally couldn’t even tell if I didn’t sweep or vacuum for a week. Or a month… if I’m being totally honest. I was kind of worried that with the new floor you would see every crumb that fell on the floor, but I’m happy to report that you TOTALLY can’t. (insert cheesy smile here)
I’m actually way more motivated to keep the kitchen clean now that it looks all new and sparkly, but if a few days go by that I don’t have a chance to sweep, it doesn’t look like a herd of animals ran through here. Seriously though, if you ever want your floors to look like old barn wood planks… this is the flooring to get!
I am a big fan of the long 6″ x 36″ tile because it adds to the wood plank look, but I will say that if your home is old, you are most likely going to run into spots that aren’t level and long tiles are tough to lay on an uneven floor. Heath did everything he could to make them perfect, but there are a few corners that stick up slightly. It’s not anything I’m overly upset about, but it is definitely something to note when you’re picking out tile. I’m still 100% happy with our choice and wouldn’t change a thing.
The tile runs all the way into this little wash sink area too, in case you were wondering.
Okay, so for the transitions between the wood and new tile, Heath picked up some wood reducers that match our existing wood floors pretty closely. Even though it still bugs me how orange those darn floors are, Heath did a great job making the flooring flow throughout the house. Someone want to come volunteer to refinish all my wood floors for me? Any takers?
I hope that answered all your questions! Next week I’m sharing details of the cabinets we chose for the kitchen… stay tuned!
Sources:
Dove White cabinets – KraftMaid purchased at Lowe’s
Cup cabinet pulls – Hickory Hardware
Cabinet knobs – Hickory Hardware
Quartz countertops – Silestone by Cosentino purchased at Lowe’s
Natural timber porcelain tile flooring – Lowe’s
Gray grout for tile floor – Lowe’s
Wall color – Du Jour by Valspar
Slate electric range – GE Appliances
Slate dishwasher – GE Appliances
Slate bottom freezer refrigerator – GE Appliances
Slate over-the-range microwave – GE Appliances
Matte black pendant lights – Amazon
Pendant light above sink – Wayfair
X back wood dining chairs – World Market
Sheer white curtains – Walmart
Bronze curtain rods – Walmart
Small jute rug by sink – Home Goods
Matte black sink faucet – Delta
Stripe kitchen towel – World Market
Woven plant pot – IKEA
Round wire basket – Walmart
Faux greenery in glass jug – Hobby Lobby
Hallway lantern light fixture – Lowe’s
Soap dispenser by wash sink – Target
Blue striped towel by wash sink – IKEA
Blue stripe apron – tutorial
Antiques, secondhand finds, and handmade items:
white and wood dining table, drop cloth table runner, glass jug, grocery sign, wood stool
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I’ve been going back and forth on what to tile my entry way and foyer with and instantly when you said this was porcelain tile i was sold. I am going to lowes this weekend to get an estimate and this is where my tax refund will go toward!!! Thanks so much for all the pictures and info
Looks amazing! I love what you’ve done thus far. I have wood floors a bit darker than yours (but a bit orangey as well) and I’ve decided to just embrace them for now. They’re in great shape and I too recently reno’d many rooms. We chose porcelain tile 12×24 for the laundryroom in a gray stone-wood look and I love it!! I have read that wood floors are similar to jeans–they kind of go with everything as long as the wood is horizontal (meaning on the floor lol). So….I too have done my best to make the transition smooth. So far so good. Enjoy your new space! There are so many great choices out there that it’s mind boggling! Glad you found the one for you! Take care.
So beautiful!! Can’t wait for your post on the kitchen cabinets! I’m shopping for some now and love white shakers! Please if possible, discuss your thoughts on their quality thus far and costs. Thank you!
The kitchen looks beautiful. We just recently renovated our kitchen to all white and have the same appliances as you! I was wondering where you got your hardware. I’m having trouble finding bronzed cabinet hardware I really like and yours looks beautiful with your kitchen.
Thank you, Genevieve!! I’ll be posting about our cabinets and hardware soon! 🙂 Don’t you just love the slate appliances?
They are so beautiful! I feel really lucky to have them 🙂
I’m a new subscriber. You’ve done a beautiful job on the kitchen and the other spaces you’ve updated as well — it’s why I subscribed.
Just some tiny, hopefully not offensive / annoying / unsolicited advice. This? “Awfulness… pure multi-color speckled awfulness.” Is so grating. When bloggers trash the befores rather than honor them for what they were — someone picked out that faux marble formica and speckled floors when they were at the height of fashion. They were just as excited to get their new kitchen as you are to get yours. Could we not crap all over their decisions just because they are old and out of fashion now? We can see that your kitchen needed updating (though I hope you donated or sold those cabinets they looked like they were in excellent shape, retrorenovation.com would die of sadness if you just dumped them), but I just think it’s so unnecessary to throw everything former owners did under the bus. It comes off sounding so out of touch. Many of your readers might HAVE out-of-date kitchens that they either can’t or don’t want to update, and you’re running the risk of insulting them and what they live with as well.
I’m in the process of building a new home so I’m sticking around. But do consider being a little gentler with generations past. It’ll make you look much more refined than the competition, I assure you. Yours was the sixth blog in my feed this morning harshing on older fixtures and I don’t know, I guess I just snapped.
Feel free to delete / ignore, or publish and mock.
Best,
Jane
Hi Jane,
Thank you for taking the time to share your feedback. I can certainly understand your point of view and never want to come across as putting down anyone’s style or choices in their home. I will keep this in mind in the future! Thank you again!
All the best,
Liz
My house, built 1916, has the exact same wood floors. You cannot replicate that patina, or so I’m told. So I have the same issue with what to put in the kitchen. I LOVE what you chose. You did a great job. Thanks for sharing this.
I love the floor you choose. Looks amazing.
Love it all!!
These look so good! Wood look tile had gotten better and better in the last few years, and I love how this so closely resembles old barn wood. Beautiful kitchen reno!
That looks beautiful! 😉
Nice remodel! Just wondering when you do refinish your wood floors, what will you stain them? To match tile?
Good question! I will probably stick with a cooler stain color… something that will blend more with the kitchen tile and not have the orange tones that our current wood floors have. I actually really like the look of super light, almost raw wood, so after I see the floors stripped down, I might just decide to keep them nice and light! I think I have awhile to decide… I can’t imagine trying to empty the entire house to sand every floor right now. 🙂
I love your kitchen remodel! I want to put the same flooring in my kitchen and was wondering what warm gray grout you used. The link keeps taking me to the bullnose tile. Thank you!
I would love to know where you got your kitchen chairs! I love how your kitchen turned out.
They came from World Market! Thank you so much, Lindsay! 🙂
Such a wonderful job! I mean I just can’t pick one thing and I have not questions… wonderful writing and wonderful design!