Guest Blogger: Creating a Dream Kitchen with Modern Materials

 Guest Blogger #966, Entry #2454, May 24, 2013

What’s the most frequented, family-oriented space in the home?  It’s the kitchen, the heart of your home and in-house socialization.  What’s better than being in your kitchen?  Being in a better looking kitchen!

But, you’ll have to research and learn of the latest modern implementations found in today’s homes.   Would you like to do something groundbreaking without harming your wallet?  Consider the following chic and economic kitchen implementations.

Image via: Jonathan Parks Architect

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Wood

Wood is earthy, great looking, and most popular in modern times, featured in rooms throughout the home –even the kitchen.  Fine wood is expensive, yet homeowners evade costs by searching for refurbished or ‘used’ wood.  Reclaimed wood, taken from demolished constructs and recycled materials, looks and functions like new – the reason it’s often preferred by consumers green minded and pennywise.

Bamboo

Bamboo flooring is not entirely common, yet makes for beautiful, enduring kitchens.  Stalks are cut and split into strips then glued.  Being versatile, designers are able to cut bamboo flooring in vertical or horizontal strips.  Additionally, to create a completely unique style, random pieces are woven together, creating light and dark combinations.

Backsplashes

Backsplashes, artistically-styled tiling, are currently popular in bedrooms, bathrooms, and family kitchens.  While traditional, square tiling is common, backsplashes introduce a diversion from basic patterns, featuring colorful, asymmetric, and multi-textile components.  While a backsplash is a small implement, it greatly influences color balance and accentuation.

Image via: The Sky is the Limit Design

Linoleum

Visit a tailor, and ask about a classic look.  Experienced tailors champion well-fit suits, popular for decades.  The look is classic.  Why discontinue a good thing?  The same philosophy is applied to linoleum flooring.  Linoleum is organic, allergy-free, and reasonably priced.  Though thin in width, linoleum is incredibly durable, some floors lasting over 50 years.  Traditionally, linoleum is offered in square, one-foot-by-one-foot cuts, but alternatives are available.

Exposed Concrete

How many concrete-floored kitchens have you been in?  Concrete can be found throughout a home’s foundation but quickly becoming posh.  Ladies and gents are deciding to implement finely-polished concrete in the kitchen as partitions or complete walls and floors.  In addition to a number of varieties, homeowners choose varying stains, pigments, acid etching.

Natural Rubber

Do you have joint pain or young children in your home?  You may benefit from natural, softer flooring in your kitchen, made possible by the para rubber tree.  Natural rubber is not the synthetic material used in car tires; rather, natural latex is fabricated from the sap of the para tree, providing a durable, safe, and comforting floor to your home’s most-frequented area.

Image via: Ogawa Fisher Architects

Recycled Tiles

Think backsplashes but creating a much bigger effect.  Achieve function and incredible design through recycled tile implementation.  The melting pot of colors and textures allow for an array of creative and durable designs.  Recycled tiles are applied in multiple areas of one’s kitchen, creating a unique and customized motif.  Feature recycled tile on floors, counter surfaces, saving smaller samples for wall hangings to establish a uniform and flowing appearance.

A reader and to-be home designer now has seven kitchen flooring and decorating ideas to ponder. What would look and serve best in your kitchen?  Two heads are better than one; share with a friend, getting more opinions, views, and ideas.

Rebecca Wells is studying interior design and enjoys working with different materials and textures. Her articles mainly appear on home design and home owner blogs.

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