By room
Kitchen
The floor around a sink and dishwasher takes more standing water than any other room in the house. The finish either shrugs it off or swells at the seams.
The best flooring for a kitchen is a waterproof rigid-core vinyl or porcelain tile, not laminate, whatever the showroom sample suggests. Laminate’s core is HDF board, and HDF swells at the seams the first time water sits in a joint overnight, which in a working kitchen near a sink and dishwasher is a matter of when, not if. The same standing-water problem rules out solid hardwood, so a kitchen floor comes down to a genuinely waterproof core: SPC rigid-core vinyl, or porcelain tile over a proper underlay for comfort while standing at the counter. Above the counters, the same logic applies to paint: flat finish holds grease from the stove in its own texture and never wipes fully clean, so kitchen walls take a scrubbable eggshell or satin instead.
What This Room Has to Survive
What goes into this room, what stays out of it, and why.
| What the room has to handle | What that rules out | What we’d install |
|---|---|---|
| 01Splashes and standing water at the sink and dishwasher | Laminate: the HDF core swells at the seams once water sits in a joint | SPC rigid-core waterproof vinyl, or porcelain tile |
| 02Grease in the air, settling on walls near the stove | Flat or matte paint: grease sits in the texture and will not wipe clean | Scrubbable eggshell or satin |
| 03Standing for long stretches at the counter | Hard tile laid straight over concrete with no underlay | Vinyl over a cushioned underlay, or heated tile |
What We’d Put in a Kitchen
- Blinds Light control is the actual functional decision: a blackout roller solves screen glare a sheer never will. See the range
- Carpets Fibre is what actually determines durability here: nylon and triexta wear the longest under daily traffic. See the range
- Flooring Every plank or tile here is chosen for what the room has to survive first, and how it looks second. See the range
- Paints Sheen is the functional decision here: a hallway that needs to be wiped clean takes a different finish than a bedroom ceiling ever would. See the range
Questions About Kitchen Work
It depends on the core. SPC (stone plastic composite) rigid-core vinyl is waterproof through the whole plank, not just at the surface: a spill can sit on it overnight with no damage. Cheaper flexible LVP is water-resistant at the top layer only, and water that reaches a seam can still get underneath. For a kitchen, the core material is what to check, not just the word 'waterproof' printed on the box.
It's possible, but it's a maintenance commitment. Hardwood expands and contracts with humidity, and a kitchen sees bigger swings than any other room from cooking steam and dishwasher heat. Engineered hardwood handles that movement better than solid wood, but for the zone right around the sink and dishwasher specifically, most kitchens are better served long-term by a waterproof vinyl or tile that doesn't need that upkeep.
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