by State Library and Archives of Florida

Installing ceramic tile flooring in the whole bathroom is often done without even blinking an eye. But, when someone suggests installing these same tiles as a kitchen floor, suddenly red flags sprout up all over the place. Ugh, I’m not really sure if I want to do that. This is going to take a little thinking about.

Ceramic tiles, we probably would all agree are beautiful, and easy to clean. They definitely are strong and durable. Have you ever tried to purposely crack one? Maybe these reasons are precisely why they create such a magnificent kitchen floor. Consider for a moment the huge variety of colors and patterns that are available for the average homeowner to utilize when designing their “one of a kind” new kitchen tile floor. There are floral designs, geometric designs, stripes, even cork circle designs and etc. Every primary color, secondary color, and in between shades of the rainbow are available. A quick walk through your favorite ceramic tile dealer’s store will probably amaze, as well as confuse you.

There is no other room that receives as much foot traffic as the kitchen does. The kitchen usually is the meeting place for every member of the family. Visitors, too, like nothing better than to hang out at the kitchen table; just sipping their coffee while gossiping, I mean discussing, the rest of the world. Kitchen ceramic tiles are scratch resistant and, most important, they are fire resistant. They also have an oven baked glaze on them. Therefore, everything from ordinary water to spilled grease can be easily wiped away.

Ceramic tiles do have one drawback. They are meant to be permanent. Therefore, devote some quality time to the selection of your new tiles.

They will be very difficult to remove at a later time.