Soft Warm and DURABLE flooring I have a chance now to do what I want

[hummingbirdkiss]

If you were me what would you use?

 

 

Soft Warm Durable flooring for a very  Small pullman kitchen please? What do you reccomend I am very excited to say I have officially turned off everything dangerous and begun stripping the cabinets and moving my cooking out of doors...

 

 I cook barefoot, stand for hours, am extremely messy and drop shit all the time ..not one of those things will change ever

 

 

I do want to install a heated floor... ..but do not want to electrocute myself if I drop a knife on it? 

 

 

 

 

I am so excited and have looked but not found what I need in the way of advice for flooring ..I am willing to use anything that will support a heating pad ..make my feet happy and not kill me ..so be creative please and thank you for any and all advice! 

[radtek]

I cook barefoot too. And I have spilled/splashed/dropped, you'd think a pair of crocs ought to be the way to go...

 

This isn't exactly what you're looking for but just to get the juices flowing: http://www.amazon.com/dp/B000BR0M32/ref=psdc_510182_t1_B000079896

[palo]

Barefoot?

 

Consequences of dropped knife vs electrocution?

 

A lot of good/bad outcomes.

 

I'd vote for in-floor electrical heating and shoes.

 

p

[Deryn]

I would love a kitchen floor entirely made out of Wellness mats (no substitute - the cheaper versions are just NOT as warm and comfy).

 

Seriously though ... electrical in-floor heating with a wood floor on top should work for you - both softer and warmer - if they are technically feasible in your house. I have wood floors (love them) and no in-floor heat - and even here during winter in the frozen north, my bare or socked feet are not cold in the kitchen. I have often dropped things (including knives) and never had them even scar the floor (and have luckily never hit my toes).

 

Wood floors are easy to clean and look great in a kitchen in my opinion. If you get a decent quality engineered wood (or, better yet, real hardwood), they will last many, many years.

 

If wood doesn't appeal to you, you might want to look at real linoleum (marmoleum) - again, very easy to clean, natural product, definitely durable, great colours these days and I think you may be able to install those with an in-floor heat pad as well if you use some kind of subflooring or linoleum tile.

Edited April 7, 2015 by Deryn (log)

[radtek]

Alas, I only have tile floors and have been known to leap backwards from dropped knives and pans. Heavy pans have cracked quite few tiles in the kitchen workspace. Have to replace those and might do some sort of mosaic...

 

It's a little uncomfortable in the winter so I understand the desire for heated floors. There are plenty of impervious kitchen mats out there that would cover the aforementioned mat-heater option. Just an option...

 

I agree something under the floor would be ideal- well done, nice and clean and no worries.

[Smithy]

Another barefoot cook here. First of all, consider floor covers that don't conduct heat easily, because they'll feel warmer from the outset. Cork, linoleum, vinyl and wood - in that order, I think - all "feel" warmer to the foot than tile. I looked hard at cork because of its flexibility and claimed durability, but couldn't make it fit the budget or pass the spousal approval test. You're looking at a small space, you say, so it may work for you. An additional advantage is that cork, linoleum, vinyl and wood are all softer landing spots for dropped objects. Wood can dent. Vinyl may dent or puncture. Cork and linoleum can be torn or punctured, but they tend not to show it as easily.

I'm pretty sure that a heated underlayer is designed not to electrocute you if you puncture it. However, I wonder whether the same heat-insulating value I mention above may be counterproductive. Heat will pass through tile, for instance, more easily than through a layer of cork of the same thickness.

How exciting for you!

[Mjx]

Simplest and most effective solution would be to install floor heating, and put the mat of your choice on the floor. It won't be warm as in 'toasty warm' but definitely comfortable, and you won't need to worry a bit about dropped anything causing damage to the system, since the flooring itself shields it. If your kitchen is small, it should be relatively reasonable install.

 

Floor heating is now the default in Denmark, and it's easy to see why: From what I've seen it's possible to install it under any sort of floor, and even when it's installed under something typically cold, like brick, it's amazing to walk on. We split our time between London and Denmark, and every time we come back to Denmark, we revel in the floor heat, even mid-winter.

[Katie Meadow]

A wood floor would be softer and warmer than a tile floor, and feel better to bare feet (at least in my mind) than a vinyl or linoleum floor. I have to agree with several posters: barefoot cooking is a risky activity. Underfloor heating is wonderful, but not cheap. Also it isn't a cheap fix when it breaks. Perhaps it is more common on the east coast, but here in the west there aren't that many contractors who install it or maintain it, so do a lot of research before committing.

[cookingofjoy]

We have linoleum (Armstrong, I think it's marmorette) in the kitchen.  It's been really nice as far as clean up and not breaking anything, and it does feel warm and soft and matte (not shiny or sticky).  We had wood floors in our last kitchen, and we have wood floors in the rest of the house, but it would have been too difficult to match.  It was a little tricky to find an installer here, but forbo marmoleum has click if you're a diy-er. 

[hummingbirdkiss]

this is so great and thank you so much I have to ruminate on this now that is the best part..since I have no real budget I am ruminating a LOT! 

 

we are going to go ahead and try to pour a concrete counter on the sink side and put a a heating cooling mat under an area for baking if it doesnt work I am not out much but I have two grown men ready and willing to do what I want with this project ..they have been pouring fountains for practice. 

 

I 

[hummingbirdkiss]

Ok you guys thank you! I am going with cork the choice is made. 

 

soft 

warm 

durable enough ..it cleans really well and if I buy a better "end" I get a super good surface

I am not putting furntiture on it at all and that was the only drawback if you had a heavy table it can sink down 

just bare feet

it heats fine (YAY) 

 

and the best part it looks so pretty! different enough from my oak floors so I do not "compete" 

but keeps the warmth of wood

 

if I drop a knife and it chips ? oh well I can repair it (I looked it is doable but if it also with the right looking cork not even noticable if i do not take a big chip out) 

 

Good the choice of material made and thank you honestly I was not even thinking of cork as an option but the more I read the better it sounds 

 

back to the real drudge work  ..just waiting for my husband to get the solar tube in before figure out the real colors and design of this …so much to think about but for now just the prepping for the prep and ripping down and repairing … how do I want to reface the cabinets (DIY) ..bulkheads or not …panel the ceiling or not …appliances …$$$$$$$$$$ oy vey LOL! one thing at a time ..

[hummingbirdkiss]

Well I finally have my flooring  …the OBVIOUS solution came when I was showering the other day on a floor I had made out of stones! LOL!  it is blissful on the feet,  why not put it in the kitchen? ..and voila!  , a perfect solution for the kitchen floor is one i have already done…but I do want heating pads under it. , Pebble floors are  comfortable, sturdy and easy to clean. ….best of all they are dirt cheap material wise. 

 

so as soon as my counters are poured and sitting…  I am going to prime the wood well and install a heated pebble floor, one stone at a time. 

 

thanks so much for the dialog

 

for now I am just making tiles out nickels and pennies to put on the backsplash areas as well as priming cabinets. Slow going but a true labor of love 

 

photos hopefully to come when I get started 

[TicTac]

I was going to suggest stone - though perhaps not pebbles...

 

I would rather go a slate route - you actually dont want soft floors for the health of your feet (and back) but rather a harder (and textured) surface.

[lindag]

I have tile floors in the kitchen and bathrooms.  Re-did two bathrooms a couple years ago and added in-floor heating (mind you, it's not cheap to do).  Heated floors in the bathroom is a must now, makes a huge difference in the room temp in the middle of winter!

Since I would never consider going barefoot, I doubt that I'd put the heating into my kitchen floors.  I have tile there now and I don't really like it but the thought of having all of it ripped out makes me swoon.  Thank goodness, I've never broken a tile although there are a few with tiny chips; almost impossible to see.