Houston, we have liftoff — we finally ordered new kitchen flooring. To back up a bit: we had hoped to find hardwood beneath the kitchen linoleum (after discovering it ran under the fireplace side of the room), but when we removed the transition between the kitchen and the adjacent office we found plywood instead. No refinishing option — we had to start from scratch.
Early on we ran into a few constraints. The previous owners warned that the subfloor couldn’t support tile without costly reinforcement, so tile was out. Installing traditional hardwood worried us because it’s heavy and less forgiving on a less-than-perfect subfloor. That narrowed our DIY-friendly choices to three realistic options:
- cork
- floating wood-look laminate (like Pergo)
- vinyl or linoleum/marmoleum
Initially we flirted with the idea of a chic, eco-friendly linoleum in subtle tone-on-tone stripes — something you might see on a design show — but we couldn’t find a product or sample that felt right. We also didn’t want the floor to be the one thing that undermined all the other upgrades. Ultimately we decided the floor should quietly support the rest of the room: paint colors, textiles, fixtures, and art.
That left us deciding between a wood-look click floor (Pergo-style) and cork, the latter being much lighter than hardwood or bamboo. We visited several stores and narrowed the field to two finalists.
One choice was a whitewashed laminate from Lowe’s (about $3 per square foot, called “Driftwood Pine”). Its plank size and tone matched the rest of our house’s flooring, only lighter — which could have been an interesting contrast in the kitchen. The other option was a rich mocha cork from Lumber Liquidators (“Porto” by Lisbon Cork) that was on sale for about $3.26 per square foot — a very competitive price for cork.
After comparing samples, we realized we’d been slightly biased toward the whitewashed laminate because its tone matched the existing kitchen vinyl our eyes were used to. But thinking ahead to painted white cabinets, stainless appliances, and other updates, we preferred a warmer, richer floor to avoid an overly cool, monochrome kitchen. That eliminated the graywashed Pergo.
Scrolling through our Pinterest inspiration boards made it obvious: many kitchens we loved featured deep, rich floors. That pattern helped tip the scales in favor of the mocha-toned cork — tone-wise it reminded us of the darker hardwoods we’d used in a past kitchen, which we still miss.
We chose the mocha cork. Cork has appealing practical qualities: it’s warm, quiet, naturally resistant to fire, water, and bacteria, soft underfoot (easy on knees and dishes), and environmentally friendly. Drawbacks include susceptibility to scratches and dents from heavy furniture or appliances, but like hardwood, cork can be sanded, restained, and resealed if needed. Those tradeoffs felt manageable given our familiarity with hardwood maintenance.
Still, to be sure, we asked four friends who have cork about their experiences and asked them to be blunt. They all reported being happy with the choice, so we felt comfortable moving forward.
We ordered 265 square feet to cover the 25′ kitchen and the adjacent laundry room, including roughly 10% extra for cuts and mistakes. After a little negotiating with the store we paid around $848 for the lot. The product is a click-and-lock floating floor, so it should be straightforward to install without adhesive, which made the DIY route appealing. At roughly $3.26 per square foot, the cork landed at a price comparable to what refinishing existing hardwoods would have cost, so buying new cork felt like a reasonable investment.
Installation will happen late in the renovation sequence (floors usually go down near the end to avoid damage during demo and other work), but the price was right, so we pulled the trigger. Before laying the cork we still need to complete several tasks:
- Alter or replace some cabinets and relocate appliances
- Order and install new appliances to create a cohesive look
- Open the doorway between the dining room and kitchen (working on permits/contractors)
- Create a peninsula using secondhand, custom-built, or purchased cabinetry
- Upgrade counters (we’re considering DIY concrete if the subfloor can support it)
- Redo the backsplash (we have a fun plan for that)
- Paint existing and new cabinets white for a seamless appearance
- Add open shelving to complement the new backsplash
- Completely upgrade lighting — goodbye fluorescent tubes
We may not have finished kitchen photos immediately because several other projects must come first, but we’re excited to see how the mocha cork anchors the space. Have you installed new flooring recently? Tried cork or whitewashed wood alternatives? Noticing recurring themes in your inspiration images can be surprisingly helpful when making design decisions.