Black and White Checker Floors- opinions

shellibean · 01-14-2009, 01:24 PM

For my kitchen (which is done in vintage/retro-ish decor, I was thinking of doing a black and white checker floor. First of all: Is this design classic or outdated? Like, does it still work or does it look cheesy?

Second, my kitchen is decent size, but I always strive for it to look larger. Would it look larger if the checker design was small or large squares?

Right now, the kitchen has brown 70s lanolium! Haha! We were thinking of ripping it up and painting/staining the concrete. I have seen that done in a few houses and it has always looked nice. Anyone here paint their floor?

Snarls · 01-14-2009, 01:26 PM

The white squares in a checkerboard pattern are impossible to keep clean, especially if you have dogs or kids.

shellibean · 01-14-2009, 01:29 PM

Hmmm...I have both. All boys- very messy... Any other suggestions? or suggestions on how to keep the white clean? A bad-ass sealant of some kind? All red? Too much?

rouquinne · 01-14-2009, 01:32 PM

i like them!

one house i looked at over the summer had them in the kitchen/dining room paired with lime green walls!

but the house was TINY and only 3 doors away from railroad tracks!

shellibean · 01-14-2009, 01:34 PM

How funny! My kitchen has lime green walls!! And you say it looked great?!.... Great look vs. gets dirty..... GOSH! I hate making decisions...

RedCatWaves · 01-14-2009, 01:39 PM

As a mom of boys, I HATE HATE HATE any sort of white flooring. HATE. I have a stupid white tumbled marble tile floor in my kitchen. Tumbled = nooks and crannies for dirt to get into and never come out of. Did I mention hate? I get all pissy whenever I have to clean the floor...which is daily. Did I mention hate?

Go with something brownish or grayish. If you have a lot of "clay" in your area, go with terra cotta tiles. It will match the dirt they bring in better.

MimsTX · 01-14-2009, 01:39 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by RedCatWaves

If you have a lot of "clay" in your area, go with terra cotta tiles. It will match the dirt they bring in better.

lmao, that's the best bit of advice i've heard on here all day.

GuardianB · 01-14-2009, 01:42 PM

Lime green? You may want to consider metallic then. I was going to post this http://www.associatedcontent.com/art...or.html?cat=54

But something as simple as this:

could either be used as an addition to the checkerboard you were talking, alone, or as a border type pattern. When using along you would probably want a few carpets or mat along the way just to break it up a bit.

I like the checkboard for the retro look but white is AWFUL to clean.

shellibean · 01-14-2009, 01:53 PM

Oooh- GB- I really like that look a lot! Thanks!

Oregano (formerly babywavy) · 01-14-2009, 02:10 PM

We had a retro style kitchen in one of the houses we lived in. Black and white, large square, checkered floor. Red countertops with aluminum edging, black cabinets. We totally loved it. This was before kids, and I had the time to obsessively clean.

The people who moved in after us had kids and a dog, and when we saw the place when they moved out, the floor was filthy. Just looked to me like they Mop n Glo'd it. Ick.

Kaia · 01-14-2009, 02:18 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by MimsTX

Quote:

Originally Posted by RedCatWaves

If you have a lot of "clay" in your area, go with terra cotta tiles. It will match the dirt they bring in better.

lmao, that's the best bit of advice i've heard on here all day.

My parents have the original terra cotta tile in their built in the 50's house. It still looks good and hides dirt really well!

WurlyLox · 01-14-2009, 02:42 PM

The black and white is classic and timeless, but I agree with everyone that the white is a bugger to keep clean - and I only have the one little dog in my avatar and no kids! I have the problem of little red clay foot prints, so I need terracotta, too, LOL.

I have white with little forest green checks (14 YO, so dated) with enough little indentions that they capture everything. Got a Shark Steam Mop, and it's a lot easier than it was. Still would like to get rid of it, though - like too many other things!

Laura Lee · 01-14-2009, 03:22 PM

If you're worried about dirt, you can definitely still do a checker pattern but not with white.

Examples:
http://www.countryliving.com/cm/coun...OVR0905-de.jpg

The above is done with cork (very nature friendly)

http://sanfranciscostuff.files.wordp...12arkansas.jpg

The above is a little hard to see, but it's like a dark cream with dark brown. Very dirt friendly

http://www.luxury-insider.com/Curren...praq-4-420.jpg

On a giant scale

I can't find a picture, but I've been in a house where it was done with different shades of blue and it looked really pretty and soft against white cabinets

Just some ideas

guinness · 01-14-2009, 03:35 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Castella

The white squares in a checkerboard pattern are impossible to keep clean, especially if you have dogs or kids.

I will second this. I had a black and white lino checkerboard installed in the kitchen of my old house, and I loved the way it looked, but hated the upkeep. The white shows EVERYTHING. Even the smallest crumb. I don't have kids, but I did have two big hairy dogs, and it was a hassle to keep clean.

I've seen some peel and stick vinyl tiles that look really nice, in various shades of earth tones. I would check those out.

misspam · 01-14-2009, 05:34 PM

I love the black & white checker floor look, but I can understand how it might be a pain to keep it clean. I don't think it's a dated look at all.

How about the same look in a Pergo or similar laminate flooring? I don't even know if you can do laminate flooring in squares. But, they would be a cinch to keep clean especially with a Shark steam mop.

ruralcurls · 01-14-2009, 08:04 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by RedCatWaves

If you have a lot of "clay" in your area, go with terra cotta tiles. It will match the dirt they bring in better.

I need to do my whole flipping house in this, clay is all we have around here.

shellibean, I love the black and white checker floor.

Astraea · 01-14-2009, 08:27 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Laura Lee

Examples:
http://www.countryliving.com/cm/coun...OVR0905-de.jpg

The above is done with cork (very nature friendly)

Love it! I'm a fan of the black-and-white checkered floor done with a twist. I also love the look of a green and white checkerboard (like, http://www.apartmenttherapy.com/uima...12.18floor.jpg) but I've never had to clean one.

Zinnia · 01-14-2009, 08:34 PM

Black/white squares on a floor hurt my eyes.

I like the idea of a stained concrete floor.

Cork is pretty, but well and easy does it clean?

What about a bamboo floor? Or a distressed hardwood floor?

I really like this one:

or this one:

Stained concrete...pretty!

more stained concrete....so pretty...

link to extra large photo

2nd link to extra large photo

JillH410 · 01-15-2009, 01:16 AM

I like the idea of painted concrete. Reminds me of a loft or a more open floor plan in a house. Of course, with a good sealant. That's actually probably what I'll get whenever I buy/build/remodel a house. If that ever happens, lol.

I thought this was pretty cool even though I'm not much of a flower fan - and if there was some type of sealant for the grooves to make it even and therefore not difficult to clean.

WurlyLox · 01-15-2009, 08:45 AM

I like the looks of many of the concrete floors, however, my house is on a slab so I now have linoleum over concrete, and let me tell you, it is hard on my feet when I do a lot of cooking.

One of my sisters has hardwood in her kitchen, and it's a lot less tiring. My hair stylist has Pergo and says it's not bad on her feet and legs at all.

My other sister has a sort of cushioned synthetic tile system that looks for all the world like real 12" stone tiles. It's sort of a taupe color that doesn't show dirt, is easy to clean, and easy on the feet because it has a slight "give". Her husband installed it himself with tile from either Lowe's or Home Depot. This looks like it might be it: http://www.lowes.com/lowes/lkn?actio...813&lpage=none They've had it about five years and even with kids and a dog, it still looks like new. It adjoins a carpeted great room and has matching stone-looking edge strips, too.