Why We Used Solid Wood Flooring In Our Kitchen

You may have seen our recent kitchen reveal post on the blog, showing off our beautiful new kitchen and dining room that we’ve been working on over the past few months.

You may have also spotted we used solid wood flooring in this room too

A family of five and a dog, we must be mad!! But I wanted to share with you why we decided to go for solid wood flooring and even after a wobble about having it, we stuck with it. It’s what we always wanted and I am so glad we stuck with what we love. 

Why Use Used Solid Wood Flooring In Our Kitchen 

We decided we wanted to use solid wood flooring in our new kitchen dining room very early on in our design decisions, the kitchen was designed around it and the warmth of the floor allowed us to go for a cooler tone kitchen units. 

However, midway through the build and just before we placed our order for the solid wood flooring, I had a massive wobble! I took to Instagram and asked my followers 

Are we mad having solid wood flooring with 3 kids and dog, and if so what other flooring could we use? 

I got a mixed response, some people said yes you’re mad but many others said no go for it, it’s what you love and want. I did some more research and a lot of places said that it’s not a good choice to have in the kitchen. So I ordered lots of samples of engineered wood flooring, luxury vinyl tiles and laminate. But nothing came close to my beautiful piece of solid wood flooring sample I had at home and had matched my kitchen too. 

So here are some of the issues that cropped up whilst I was researching, and how we’ve dealt with them

Con: It’s not good in places where water is often splashed 

So this was a big reason why it’s suggested not to use solid wood flooring in the kitchen. You have to be aware of water splashed from the sink, dishwasher area and cooking. This can leave the flooring marked easily and make the wood warp, expand and contract.

Our Solution

With 3 kids they’re not going to constantly think about where their hands are being splashed or when filling their drinks up from the tap. So I got a lovely rug that was a low pile and placed in front of the sink area. 

I also made sure glasses and juice for drinks we’re near the tap area, as it meant the kids didn’t need to go far away from the rug area. 

I also placed the hand towel to dry your hands near here as well, so drippy hands don’t need to walk across the room! 

Also, make sure you oil the solid wood flooring as this can protect the floor. Make sure you do it even if it’s arrived pre-oiled as this gives it another layer and set a regular time throughout the year to add more oil. I can see the difference to the floor that we oiled and didn’t. 

Con: It can scratch easily 

With a large dog and three kids, there is a lot of footfall in the house, the dog’s paws and stones in shoes could easily scratch it. 

Our Solution 

Accept it’s going to get scratched!   It’s not going to stay pristine with a busy family house, accept that the floor will get scratched and but it will have character over time, the character of your household. 

The biggest solution for us was the solid wood flooring can be sanded. We picked one that was 20mm thick, meaning we can sand it quite often without worrying. Engineered wood flooring only has a small top layer which means you wouldn’t be able to sand it much before you went through to the backing boards. 

You can see in this picture there has been a doormat at the door so the colours are different already, a big blob of staining as my daughter was allowed to make slime on a mat but some dripped off. So it’s really not going to stay pristine, but I’ve learnt to accept that! 

Pro: It’s Beautiful 

The solid wood is really beautiful, I love how natural looking it is and how every piece is different. It brings instant warmth to the room and coupled up with our light blue kitchen units and pink accessories I think it’s such a calming room and I’m so pleased we went for it. 

Pro: Last For Years 

It’s going to last years and years! Being able to sand it down and re-oil over allows you to have this floor down for years and years. It can be costly in the first place but make sure you look around and price each one up individually, as the boards are different widths and lengths, they cover different areas and affect the pricing. I did see quite a few engineered wood flooring that was more expensive so don’t right off solid wood flooring straight away due to price. 

Pro: Installation 

We did it ourselves! We had a quote to have this laid professionally and it was the same price (maybe even a bit more) for the flooring!! We couldn’t justify this, well couldn’t have afforded it. So we did our research and laid it ourselves. It was quite easy once you got into the rhythm. Me and Hubby installed it together and I think we did a great job. 

Overall

We are over the moon with the solid wood flooring in our new kitchen dining room, it’s perfect for the room, warms up the space and creates a practical inviting room to be in. I would 100% would have it installed again in our house. Make sure you compare all different types of flooring for your home and weigh up all the different options that would work for your family.