Hootie hooo! The cork floor in both the kitchen and the laundry room is finished at last — well, mostly finished. We still need to add shoe molding, install thresholds, and apply a durable sealer, but the hard part is done: the rooms finally feel whole and settled.
Photographing the color accurately has been a challenge. In person the cork reads as a rich mocha, almost like brown leather with a soft, flowing pattern rather than distinct shapes. The videos we shared previously give the truest sense of the tone and texture, but we think the images here are getting closer to what it actually looks like. We’ll keep practicing our photo techniques until they match reality.
Finishing the corner where the kitchen meets our tiny laundry room followed the the same approach we used earlier when corking the main kitchen. To avoid running out of material, we mixed in remnant planks along the left wall — leftover cuts from the kitchen — which kept the layout consistent and ensured we had enough boards to complete the space.
We finished with about four planks to spare, which was reassuring because the project came dangerously close to running out of material. Once we add multiple coats of protective sealer these floors should be very resilient. Cork can be sanded, restained, and resealed over time, so it’s possible to preserve and refresh it for decades — there are examples of 40+ year-old cork floors (and even older) that still look great.
The transformation in the laundry room is especially striking. We loved the work we’d already done there, but the new floors add warmth and depth and make the space feel much more intentional.
We typically enter the house through the laundry room, and it’s such a pleasure to walk in and feel the rich cork floors greeting us. Small touches like this make a big difference in how a home feels day-to-day. (In case you’re wondering about the laundry basket in these photos: it’s currently in the bedroom with washed clothes that still need putting away.)
This post is mostly a big, relieved exhale now that the last major kitchen flooring task is wrapping up. Beyond shoe molding, thresholds, and sealing, we have a few smaller finishing touches left: adding decorative molding to the back of the peninsula, deciding on a window treatment for the sink, possibly painting the stools, doing something creative to the side of the pantry, and bringing in a chair and rug on the fireplace side of the room. We’ll share plenty of before-and-after photos, plus a budget and timeline, once we truly call the kitchen done — a project we’ve been tackling in stages since October 5th.
Looking ahead, we want the flooring throughout the house to feel cohesive. Our plan is to refinish surrounding hardwood floors in a similar rich mocha tone to create a more seamless flow between rooms. Some areas will remain cork and others hardwood, but using a consistent tone should reduce the visual choppiness and make the whole layout feel more unified.
Functionally, we’re already big fans of the cork. The deep color brings warmth to the previously pale space, the surface has shown no scratches from our dog’s nails, and it resists dents from occasional drops. Cork is softer underfoot and kinder to backs and knees than many hard surfaces, and once sealed it should be even more durable. It’s also an eco-friendly material and helps reduce noise, which is a real bonus in an open layout. We’ll report back after sealing and living with it longer to share updates on wear and maintenance.
We wrapped up the final cork boards right before a weekend of rest while recovering from a brief household bug — so the last few finishing tasks are on pause for now. But the new floors have already boosted our spirits and made the home feel more like ours. Onward!
More Flooring Projects
- Refinishing Hardwood Floors 101
- How To Install Hardwood Flooring Yourself
- How To Select Hardwood Flooring
- How To Install Hardwood Floors Without Nails
- How To Paint A Floor
- How To Stain A Concrete Floor
- How To Remove Carpet