I Can’t Believe It’s Not Tile {Floors}

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Yesterday we dished about 10 budget-friendly kitchen ideas, and today my friend Kelly is here to discuss another way to save a bit of money on your kitchen flooring .  But, be forewarned– because this post is all about the ‘V’ word.  😉  ~Carrie

Of the many decisions that needed to be made when renovating our kitchen, for some reason flooring was the most difficult. There was just no obvious choice that stood out.

Hardwood? It’s beautiful, but it didn’t seem right for us. There is a lot of maintenance involved with keeping hardwood looking good – especially in a kitchen. Plus, the dogs and boys would have scratched it up in no time.

Tile? I don’t know… to me it just seems cold and hard. And since we had expanded the kitchen to be the size of two rooms, the cost of heating the floor would have been astronomical.

After ruling out these two choices, we found something else that was stylish, practical and durable. I am really happy with our decision! But, this is where I might lose you. If you are a die-hard decorator and flooring aficionado, I’m going to have to ask you to leave the room now.

(Are they gone yet?)

For the rest of you, brace yourselves because I am going to use the V-word.

Vinyl.

Vinyl {yes, vinyl} FlooringI’ll give you a second to fan yourself off and wipe the sweat from your brow. Stay with me –  because this is not your grandparents’ vinyl. You won’t believe how far this product has come in the last few years.

We chose Armstrong Alterna, which is highly rated in Consumer Reports, easy to find in flooring showrooms, and to my non-professional eye looks almost exactly like tile. It has even fooled some contractors who have seen it installed in our home. I’m not kidding.

The style and color we chose is Mesa Stone – Chocolate. It’s a great color because it has so many gradations, it can match just about anything. Armstrong has a huge array of colors and styles; you wouldn’t have any problem finding a match for your home.

Armstrong Alterna Mesa Stone Chocolate

Here are what I find to be the overall pros and cons of vinyl flooring:

Pros:

  • Easy to clean and maintain
  • Doesn’t get extremely cold
  • Just enough “give” that things don’t shatter when dropped
  • Easy installation and repair
  • Less expensive
  • Updated styles can look very much like tile

Cons:

  • Has the potential to look cheap, but not always (the Alterna tiles do not)
  • Can scratch easily if something drags across it, but easy to repair – even with a Sharpie
  • Can get dull if not maintained
  • It’s got the stigma of being, well… vinyl.

 Armstrong Alterna Mesa Stone Chocolate

Like everything else in our homes, there are preferences for some that wouldn’t work for others. But don’t rule out this choice because you remember the vinyl of yesteryear! I would recommend today’s vinyl flooring to anyone who is replacing a floor.

(Armstrong did not sponsor this post, nor provide any product. I just happened to find the Alterna product during our renovation and loved it.)

 Thanks, Kelly, for sharing your budget friendly {yet sexy} flooring!  From the photos I could swear that’s stone tile.  Considering what our hardwood floors look like after just 9 months, I wish I’d researched our choice a bit more and considered installing ‘the v word’ instead.

What do you guys think– would you consider using vinyl in your kitchen?  Any words of wisdom when choosing materials for kitchen floors?

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