Calling all designers!! A loyal From the Floors Up reader is in need of some advice and I thought it would be fun to give her different perspectives and opinions. Please read below to learn more about her project.

Some information about the house and style of the kitchen:

House is from the 1870s, more a farmhouse style than ornate Victorian. Floors throughout 1st floor are all original heart pine, except the sunroom off the kitchen which is a marmoleum click checkerboard. There is an unfinished basement below most of the kitchen, the rest (by the sink) used to be an outdoor porch (therefore we can not reuse the original wood). We would like some form of radiant in-floor heat as currently the room is unheated, but are unsure whether to go with staple-up hydronic or electric mats as sometime in the next few years we want to update the whole home heating system (either to electric heat pump/AC or geothermal). We have three growing boys and a dog and need a  kitchen floor that will hold up to them and last a LONG time. I believe the square footage of the kitchen/laundry is approximately 350.

The kitchen will have sort of an unfitted look, with a separate hutch, separate pantry cupboard, and only two upper cabinets on either side of the sink window. As mentioned previously, the lower cabinets will be off-white; the double oven cabinet, two uppers, and hutch will be blue; and the hood, refrigerator panels, and pantry will be green. So all 3 colors have to look good next to the floor. There is also an antique exposed brick chimney that runs floor to ceiling.

As you can see, our backsplash is kind of a statement piece, and while the soapstone sample is quiet, we are hoping the slab we ultimately choose will have a more dramatic veining. All of this makes us think we need a “quiet” floor but maybe we are wrong?

Our reader has gotten a couple of opinions from other designers with blogs, but I am curious to see what other opinions we can offer her! Any advice or opinions would be greatly appreciated as this is just a fun exercise in opinions and perspectives! She has already shared with me that she is considering cork as well as ceramic hexagon mosaics, but don’t let that sway your answers! If you would like to see photos of the samples of other items she has chosen, please email me at shannon@dcspg.com and I will forward them to you.

Thanks!