Wood Flooring (hardwood floors, granite countertops, Home Depot, Lowes)

[tsimono]

I have stained oak trim in my home. I laid mahogany flooring in my LR. The trim and floor look great. Now we are going to do the kitchen. We are thinking about select hickory cabinets in natural color. Any thoughts about floor species? Will adding a 3rd wood be too much and should the wood (flooring) match in speices and/or color to the trim? Any thoughts would be greatly appreciated!!

[sbbet]

Hardwood can be tricky in a kitchen. Good advice here.

Hardwood Floors in the Kitchen, Yay or Nay?

[desertsun41]

Originally Posted by tsimono

I have stained oak trim in my home. I laid mahogany flooring in my LR. The trim and floor look great. Now we are going to do the kitchen. We are thinking about select hickory cabinets in natural color. Any thoughts about floor species? Will adding a 3rd wood be too much and should the wood (flooring) match in speices and/or color to the trim? Any thoughts would be greatly appreciated!!

I appreciate your love for hickory but after 30 years selling fine cabinetry, hickory being among them, not everyone likes it as much as they initially think they like it. If you saw a pretty door sample on the wall it may not be representative of the whole.

I can name several national builders who have taken hickory out of their model homes because of all the stress. Blame the Superintendent or blame the Realtor sitting the tract but what happens is we put in a hickory kitchen and it has the most wildest display of colors. A 5 piece door may have 5 colors. So the Super or Realtor starts picking out doors and says they are too wild, get rid of them and replace them with more plain doors. In the end the unsuspecting consumer loves the kitchen with gently changing colors, then when theirs is installed in their home they see what hickory really is and complain that it's not what is in the model home.

I love hickory but I love wood. Most people do not despite what they all say. A high percentage of people complain about any grains. I say if you want to live with mother nature then you have to learn to accept it's faults. If people want a perfect shade of pale then they should just order boring ol out of style white.

So I would like to see you look at a whole kitchen rather then to pick out a hickory door and say you like it.

Floors. As a top national designer I am not only trained to steer people away from wood floors but to educate them why wood floors are not a good idea in the kitchen. That being said, I put solid wood plank floorng in my own kitchen which matches the cabinets exactly. But as I said, I love wood. You might think wood floors and cabinets are too much wood for one room. If you drop a utensil or anything you will dent the floor. Dirt and crud get caught in the grooves and so on. But me personally would not have it any other way.

On another note. DO NOT buy your cabinets from Home Depot or Lowes. They charge full list price. You would not pay list price/MSRP/sticker price for your new car so why pay it for cabinets. In addition they do not employ certified designers CKD. They instead give a minimum wage clerk a 3 day training course on the CAD program. These sales people, not kitchen designers, are only trained to fit boxes the most easy way. You will be cheated because you will have no idea what is available or what design possibilities are available to you.

Go find a kitchen showroom that advertises those magic words 35-50% list price. Most everyone is doing that today. I been doing it for near 30 years now they all copy my business plan so they can survive this economic depression. This small showroom will have CKD people which in almost all cases will come to your home and scribble a basic plan at no charge. If they feel you are a customer then they will draw 3D drawings so you can see your new kitchen before you buy.

Good luck

[CHTransplant]

I've had wood floors (oak) in my past two houses for about the past 15 years and never had any issues of any kind with them.

[motormaker]

^^ In the kitchen too?

[CHTransplant]

Originally Posted by motormaker

^^ In the kitchen too?

Sorry, I should have been more clear. Yes, in the kitchen too - throughout the entire first floor.

[tsimono]

Thanks for all of the replies! I have seen an entire kitchen in hickory made by an Amish man in our community. It's BEAUTIFUL!! It's definately what I want. With black granite countertops. I know all of the reasons why I shouldn't put wood in my kitchen and/or bath, but I love wood as much as you, so we are definately putting in wood. I just don't know if I can put in a different species other than oak or hickory and not have it look... broken up maybe? I don't know the right word... If I did do a 3rd type of wood (oak trim and hickory cabinets) in my kitchen should it match the trim color. Or should it match the trim species and maybe be a different color, or should we just go with oak and match the color as well.

[brightdoglover]

I have oak floors and my builder put extensive trim around doors and windows- pine- and stained it oak to match. No need to pay for hardwood up off the floor, and it matches the floors nicely.
I had oak floor in my tiny tiny condo kitchen (and whole tiny tiny condo). I think the only issue was water/liquid spills. It looked beautiful. It matched the oak trim of the white cabinets (the kitchen of the 1980s!)
I'd say go with what you love, but know that resale might not work as well. If you're not looking to sell in the foreseeable future, I think you should have what you really like.

[CarterSwing]

I think this could work fine for the entire rooms in our house. As it is inconvenient to install new system to each room it is better to install all at a time.