10 of the Best Wooden Floor Kitchen Ideas You Can Try

Are you thinking about installing a new floor for your kitchen? Do you know the design you like? What is the best floor for kitchens?

There are a lot of options from which to choose. We recommend hardwood floors for the kitchen because they bring timeless, natural beauty and add value to your home. Additionally, hardwood stands the test of time and will last a lifetime or two. With a little maintenance, it will stand up to spills and traffic. If the finish wears down, you have the option to refinish it for an entirely fresh look. 

There is an unlimited combination of wooden floor ideas for kitchens. To narrow your search, we have selected ten kitchen floor styles to help your kitchen look impeccable.

1. Unstained, Natural Wood

Do you like warm natural wood tones for your kitchen floor? Go for unstained wood. 

It looks good with white kitchen cabinets and light countertops. Unstained wooden floors with natural wood grains will create a beautiful contrast. A clear polyurethane finish coat will seal and protect the wood.

2. The Rustic Look of Gray for Your Kitchen

Consider a gray-toned wood floor to create a rustic look, especially for farmhouse kitchens and ultra-modern ones too. Gray is a neutral color that complements any other color that you choose for your kitchen. It’s a blank canvas for kitchen designers.

3. Dark Stained Wooden Kitchen Floor

Want to highlight those new stainless-steel appliances and granite countertops? 

Select a dark stained floor. Alternatively, you can choose a naturally dark wood like walnut or cherry. A dark color is a design counterpoint to white cabinets. It can also make a large kitchen with dark cabinets look cozier. Dark wood floors show less dirt and wear than lighter floors.

4. Whitewashed Floors Add Light and Space

One of the best ways to make your kitchen look bigger and brighter is to use a whitewashed floor. The white adds light to any area and gives a feeling of openness. It’s a fashionable look for beach homes and smaller galley kitchens with no natural light.

5. Birch Hardwood for Beauty and Durability

Birch is a hardwood that comes in three species, Paper, Yellow, and Sweet Birch, which is harder than maple or oak. Birch is unique for North American hardwoods because of its two-tone appearance. The sapwood on the outside is light, while the heartwood tends to be a dark red or brown like cherry or walnut. 

Decorators love the contrast in colors because it can match any cabinet or countertop.

6. Reclaimed Wood for an Authentic Rustic Kitchen

No floor has more natural character than reclaimed wood. It’s been walked on, gouged, and dinged for years. Sanded and finished, every board tells a story and adds character you can’t get with a new wood floor. It is perfect for antique restorations or summer homes with lots of traffic.

7. Diagonal Wood Kitchen Floor

Who said that floors must be parallel to a wall? Dare to be different and install your wood kitchen floor diagonally. Typically, a diagonal floor runs at a 45° angle from the longest wall. It takes more time and material, but the results are stunningly beautiful. This technique works well with wider planks and can create a new, one-of-a-kind kitchen for any home. 

Diagonal floors make an ordinary tract house stand out.

8. A Herringbone Pattern Looks Royal

Herringbone adds an elegance that you find in many European castles and stately homes. The boards join each other at a 90° angle. The boards are rectangular but installed by staggering the pieces so that one side touches the end of the other, resulting in an eye-catching zig-zag pattern. 

It looks luxurious in any kitchen.

9. Chevron Hardwood Floors Add Elegance

A chevron pattern has a more organized look than herringbone. Unlike the boards in a herringbone floor, the ends of the boards have a 45° cut. When joined, they form a 90° point with a straight, continuous seam running the length of the floor. 

It’s an elegant look fit for upscale kitchens, and it’s an excellent choice for narrow galley kitchens too.

10. Decorative Parquet Kitchen Flooring

Parquet floors allow for many designs and artistic touches. Parquet floors were hand-placed by craftsmen for nobility and elite families during the 16th century. Today, many parquet floors use modern construction techniques to create a variety of pre-made tiles. 

They offer unlimited potential for floor designs and patterns.

Other Considerations

Hardwoods are the best choice for kitchens since the floor must endure the most traffic and spills. If you are curious to know how hard a wood species is, you can look at the Janka hardness test scale. It measures the density and hardness of all wood.

When coming up with wooden floor ideas for the kitchen, there are many variables. Here are some of the choices you need to make.

Species of Wood

The most popular wood is white oak, and it’s in the middle of the hardness scale along with hard maple and bamboo. 

For comparison, black walnut and cherry are not as hard as white oak. Fir and yellow pine are even softer, about half as hard as oak.

Hardness is only one factor in choosing a species. It’s all about the grain and color of the wood. It should accent the walls and cabinets for a luxurious, seamless appearance. 

The width and length of the boards also affect the final result. Wider planks work well in rustic kitchens while narrower boards look sleek, modern, and contemporary. Parquet floors use the smallest pieces of wood for an artistic, decorative style.

Types of Finishes

Most kitchens use a high-gloss polyurethane finish to protect the wood for a classic look. It’s easy to wipe up spills but requires the most maintenance to keep that beautiful shine scuff-free. However, it’s not the most practical. If you have a high traffic kitchen, lots of kids and pets, consider going with a satin or matte finish.

Technically speaking, luster is the term used for the shine of the finish. The measurement of how much light the finish reflects determines the luster, and it looks like this:

• High-gloss – 70%
• Semi-gloss – 55%
• Satin – 40%
• Matte – 25%

The lower the shine or glossy appearance, the more you can hide small scratches and dust. It’s more practical for daily living. High-gloss floors require much more maintenance and will need refinishing sooner.

Textures Spice Up Your Wooden Kitchen Floor

Textured wood floors have become an excellent way to enhance the look of kitchens. Rather than the traditional smooth, glossy finish, you can choose from hand-scraped, distressed, and reclaimed wood for a unique look. These styles of floors work well for restoring old homes or creating an antique look.

Hand-Scraped for An Old Wood Appearance

Hand-scraped wood adds a rugged, worn look to floors. The technique uses a blade to remove slightly varying amounts of wood from each plank. You can have a craftsman scrape the floor onsite or purchase pre-scraped lumber. Hand-scraping recreates the look of an original hand-built floor that’s a hundred years old or more.

Distressed Wood Brings Out the Natural Variations of Wood

Distressed wood is like hand-scraped in that it recreates an old-timey look. But distressing takes the wear look further by adding fake wormholes, deeper gouges, and possibly burn marks. There is more variation in the planks. It’s the perfect look for an antique restoration project. 

For more information about textures read, 9 Examples of Seamless Wooden Flooring Texture.

Stencil and Paint for Artistic Effect

If you already have a hardwood floor but want to change the look on a budget, you have two options. 

The first is painting the floor using stencils. It creates a custom, artistic look that takes the focus off the original floor and on the stencil design. You can incorporate patterns and colors to match the theme of the kitchen. 

The other option is to paint the floor entirely. It’s less expensive than refinishing, but you’ll still need to do prep work to make the paint last. Painting gives you the option of using any color, pattern, or stencils. It provides a fantastic fresh look to a floor that may be too old or damaged to save otherwise.

To see how to take advantage of this technique, watch this video - How to Paint a Pre-finished Hardwood Floor.

If you want to put in the floor yourself, you have one more consideration.

Start with a Solid Oak, DIY-Friendly Floor

For a do it yourself project, keep it as simple as possible. Choose a floor that doesn’t require screws, glue, or nails. That way, you can take up one or more pieces if you make a mistake. Look for pre-finished lumber. You can walk on it right away, and you won’t have fumes permeating your home for weeks. 

Easiklip has the best solution for DIYers who want a solid oak floor in their kitchen. They offer two smooth finishes and two rustic finishes to complement any kitchen decor. You can order a sample pack to help you visualize your wooden floor kitchen ideas.

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