A Kitchen Design Idea You May Not Have Considered

Want to give your kitchen flooring a much needed update? Sure, you’ve probably examined the usual suspects – linoleum, vinyl, perhaps even stained hard wood – but have you considered something a little more exotic? Imagine bamboo and cork under your feet. Never thought about bamboo and cork on your kitchen floor? Here’s why you should think about it.

Perhaps the Best Kitchen Flooring Material Mom Never Told You About - Cork

Soft yet Durable

Walking on cork is almost like walking on air, giving you an almost relaxing experience when you walk in your kitchen. And just as cork is soft on the feet, it’s also soft on dropped china, possibly saving you money if you’re at all clumsy in the kitchen, like me But cork also retains its original shape, meaning you can safely place furniture on it without fear of denting.

Cork Can Match Your Kitchen Decor

Cork flooring doesn’t just come in brown, which is what you might think as a result of a life around cork bulletin boards. Rather, you can get it in a multitude of colors, including red and green.

Green Kitchen Flooring?

Further, since no trees are actually destroyed when producing cork, it’s environmentally friendly – thus, not only will you feel physically comfortable walking on it, you’ll also be able to take pride in the knowledge that you’re doing your part for environmental preservation!

A Quiet House?

Cork doesn’t reflect sound as much as other, harder kitchen flooring. This means that it will fight noise pollution in your house, which, if you have kids, is a valuable quality!

Bamboo for Kitchen Flooring?

Another “Green Choice”

Bamboo is actually not tree wood. Rather, it’s a grass. Thus, it’s harvested in only 2 years, rather than in the 50 to 100 years it takes for a tree to mature, limiting its impact on the environment as reforestation occurs quickly.

Natural Beauty in Your Kitchen

Bamboo has the color of really light beer, imparting a gold-like/yellowish glow to your kitchen. This coloring will literally brighten up your kitchen, lifting your mood when you enter it. Since there are few color options for bamboo flooring, make sure you are comfortable with its color before purchase. In addition, the bamboo often comes in the form of planks with your choice of vertical or horizontal grains, adding a rustic look to your kitchen.

A Solid Addition to Your Kitchen

Watching pandas chew bamboo in the wild, you might think it breaks easy, making your kitchen floor unacceptably fragile. But bamboo is actually stronger than oak! Consequently, it can withstand the constant pounding a high traffic kitchen is subjected to as well as easily support heavy furniture and appliances.

Perhaps Cork and Bamboo are Viable Options For You….

So if you want practical yet unique kitchen flooring, consider cork and bamboo. They each run about $5 per square foot, putting it slightly on the expensive side. But if you don’t mind the extra expense, you could have a unique kitchen you could be proud of.