Kitchens have come to mean a lot more than they did some decades ago. It used to a place meant for cooking purposes alone back then. Compared to the traditional closed kitchen, an open-plan kitchen comes to serve both cooking and social purposes. Large enough to serve as a dining and meeting place too, kitchen extensions nowadays require attractive tiles and other decorative elements like fixtures and fittings to shine gracefully.
Concentrate on the tiling requirements for now, and the great variety on offer to suit every budget and taste.
Tile substances
There are several reasons to support the argument that ceramic tiles are the best choices for kitchen floorings. In wet areas like kitchens, ceramics can tolerate high humidity and make the safest choice. Get ceramics in endless colors, shapes, and designs besides decorative finishing. The wood and stone look-alikes are based on enhanced printing technology to perfectly replicate such surfaces. Make sure that grouts and sealing are well done. Ceramic tiles would last and last a lifetime and put up with heavy foot traffic and harsh spills and stains that are easily cleaned.
Another excellent choice is the vitrified tile. While porcelains and ceramics are mainly made up of clay, the vitrified variety also has other substances like silica and quartz. By the vitrification process, the tile becomes very less porous, meaning that it is quite resistant to water. Vitrified tiles can resist scratches and stains and make good installations in kitchens where spills and stains are commonplace.
A variety of finishes
Choices of finishing should be guided by certain considerations of advantages besides attractive appearances. Matte finish tiles suit the kitchen needs very well. You get a good grip on matte and the floor gets a natural appearance with a rustic feel. Glossy tiles would slip and do not suit kitchen needs. Put glossy tiles on kitchen walls and countertops since they are easy to clean and reflect light well in a bright environment.
Choices of Patterns
Along with substances and colors, designs make a great difference to the ambiance too. A few popular designs are the herringbone, honeycomb and checkered. Use designs singly or a combination of borders indulge the imagination regarding shades and designs. Decide upon an esthetic charm, making it perhaps the most attractive section of the home. Avoid overdoing the colors and designs. Install patterns either on the floor or the wall to create a focus. The open-plan kitchen is getting very popular with no walls between the cooking, dining and living sections. If such is the situation, perhaps the same flooring could run throughout for a unified and larger look.
