Once you have decided to build your ideal custom home in Calgary, one of the most exciting stages is the selection process. This is the moment when you get to customize your home the way you have always dreamed of. As experienced Calgary inner city home builders, we know every room of your new home is unique, but indeed, the kitchen is nowadays one of the busiest spaces, especially if you have decided to go for an open space that integrates into the living room.
Open Concept Kitchens and Flooring
Kitchens are no longer just for cooking, but they serve as the scenario for family gatherings. They also allow the cook to participate in what is happening in the living room area, which is perfect for entertainment lovers. That being said, flooring selection plays an important role when it comes to the customization of your kitchen area. Good advice from custom home builders in Calgary is that you try to match your kitchen’s floor with your first storey's overall design.
Durability, Style, and Functionality for your Flooring
Another important consideration is that kitchen floors should be durable, easy to clean, while still giving a nice visual to your home. As professional Calgary custom home builders, at Sunset Homes we have experience building and renovating homes with our homeowner’s ideal kitchens fitting perfectly with their style and taste.
When it comes to flooring selections for this high-traffic room, most of our homeowners look for durability, functionality, and style. Furthermore, their two favourite options are tile and hardwood. We believe that both floor options can dramatically change your kitchen, take a look at some of the reasons.
Durable Tile for your Custom Kitchen
Tile is one of the most suitable flooring materials for kitchens because of its durability and easy maintenance. Tile flooring has a tough surface and it can't be scratched easily. The most common types of tile on the market are ceramic and porcelain. As a Calgary infill home builder, we find that porcelain tile has many benefits for homeowners as it is even more resistant to heavy traffic. Porcelain tile is basically an upgraded version of regular ceramic tile because it is fired at high temperatures which results in a stain-resistant, harder, and less porous material. Since the kitchen is a room where spills are likely to happen, a flooring option with a very low moisture absorption rate will help you to keep it perfectly clean.
Tile Style and the Open Concept Layout
Another detail you may take into account is the finishing of the tile you choose. Porcelain tile can be either unglazed or glazed and depending on your custom home's style, you may select one or the other. On the one hand, unglazed tile shows the colour of the clay mixture, which is usually an earthy tone that can provide a neutral look to your kitchen, so it perfectly blends with your living room floors. On the other hand, glazed tile has a glass-like coating. The most significant advantage of this coating is that it can be customized to the exact colour of your preference, and even emulate a specific texture. At Sunset Homes, Calgary’s bespoke home builder, we believe that glazed tile can be a great option to give your kitchen character since you can play with tile colours, textures, and patterns, providing an elegant yet fun look to your new Calgary custom home.
Advantages of Tile Flooring
Tile also has the significant advantage of low maintenance, as you don't even need particular products for it. By keeping the dust away and cleaning it with water, it will withstand heavy use over time. And since the porcelain tile colour runs through the tile and it is not only applied in the surface, you don't have to worry about discoloration. Finally, if you are worried about tile been too slippery for children or elderly members of your family, there is a variety of porcelain kitchen flooring tiles that are certified to be slip-resistant.
Hardwood for Your Ideal Kitchen
The primary option chosen by our homeowners when it comes to kitchen flooring is hardwood. Since this is usually the material selected for the rest of the first storey, homeowners don't have to worry about their kitchen floor mismatching their living room. The most significant advantage of hardwood is that it quickly brings a warm look to any room, but you can also imprint your personal style by choosing the exact wood tone of your taste. For example, you can check a variety of tones such as walnut, maple, oak, cherry, and acacia, until you find the perfect one for your ideal kitchen. To help you, as experienced custom home builders in Calgary, we offer you the possibility of visiting our trusted suppliers, so you can actually see and feel the materials to get a better idea of the perfect hardwood flooring option for you.
Solid vs. Engineered Hardwood for your Custom Kitchen
If you are considering hardwood for your kitchen, it may be a good idea to compare solid hardwood flooring and engineered hardwood flooring. The first kind, as its name suggests, is made from different types of natural wood, while engineered hardwood is made of both natural wood and pressed plywood. This means their top and bottom layers are made of wood, and the centre layers are made of plywood.
Advantages of Engineered Hardwood
Many years of experience as Calgary inner city home builders have shown us that engineered hardwood flooring can be a perfect option for kitchens due to its durability and low maintenance. Another plus is that it is usually less expensive than solid hardwood and that it can be repaired quickly if necessary.
Another thing you have to keep in mind when choosing the perfect hardwood for your new custom kitchen is that solid hardwood tends to shrink and expand as humidity levels change. This means that with shallow humidity hardwood floors shrink, while the air moisture makes them expand. Engineered hardwood flooring, on the contrary, is not affected by humidity, which makes it a more resistant and stable option. It can also be cleaned quickly and refinished many times, so it keeps its looks for many years. And since Sunset Homes is committed to the environment, we also recommend engineered hardwood flooring because it is an eco-friendly and cost-efficient option.
Ready to build your new custom home and ideal kitchen? Contact Sunset Homes today! We want to learn more details about your dream custom home and prepare a class 3 summary budget for your project.
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Too Long Didn’t Read (TLDR)
If you are planning to build or renovate your ideal kitchen, flooring is one of the most essential selections you will have to make. As experienced Calgary inner city home builders, at Sunset Homes, we believe that both tile and hardwood flooring are two options that can dramatically change your kitchen’s look.
