We are getting ready to rip out the carpet in the formal LR and DR. First, we are changing things around. The formal LR, aka “the museum”, is pretty to look at but never has been used in 20 years. We are making the LR the dining room. Stretch out the table, put in a chandelier, etc. We’ve decided to turn the DR into a “wine” area. Wine cabinet, club table and chairs, maybe a small TV.
We do us the DR occasionally, and since we don’t have an island when I have ant sort of party, all the food goes on that table as a buffet, and people do stand around it. We think with more room, it will even be better…and with the wine bar set up and club chairs right next to it, that might even be used. Anyway, we were thinking of hard wood and a gorgeous Indian rug we just put a deposit on. Then my hubbie got the idea of faux wood tile. Not sure why that intrigues him other than trying to match the tile in the entry and kitchen color wise. I do know it’s very low maintenance, but not sure about it…plus resale. Anyway, I thought maybe someone here had an opinion.
I have wood look tile in our bathroom and I love it. It is easy to clean, no scratches etc.
Are you at all thinking of Luxury Vinyl Tile? I know they have wood look. Whenever this is asked in my local FB page, people love or hate it. It’s very practical and cheaper than hardwood. Some people feel it downgrades the house, although I am seeing it in more and more upscale neighborhoods. (Not that I care, I would get what I want).
I stayed in a vacation rental that had tile that looked like wood. It looked exactly like I described, the tile did have ridges in it. It was a beach rental and I felt that the ridges kept dirt in. It looked nice.
My son just redid his kitchen. They put LVT in the kitchen and foyer. It is very nice but it does not to me look like wood. It looks like LVT, a wood look but not real wood. I have had hardwoods in my house and my sister had it installed in theirs. I must admit that I like the hardwoods better.
But the LVT is nice and it’s very easy to clean. The kids put in a very nice kitchen so I’m sure the LVT is high quality.
We have the wood look tile and love it. We were really hesitant at first but after seeing it in a few friend’s houses decided to do it. We replaced two rooms of dark cherry hardwood (had a flood so one room was ruined) and the main open kitchen/family room area plus hallways which had off white tile that had a texture that held every little bit of dirt.
We love in Florida with a dog who is always wet from he pool and a DH who is always sandy from the beach so hardwood throughout just didn’t make much sense. This porcelain tile is s day to take care of and several people have asked if it was real. I wish we had extended it into the kids bedrooms, we may do that this year.
I like the practicality of porcelain tile and if we were keeping our current home long term I’d use it, wood look or stone look, in the sunroom to replace the slate tiles which have a history of flaking. However, I rarely care about what’s in or out.
If you read the home building and decorating forums at Houzz (formerly GardenWeb), you’ll see a lot of dislike for wood look tile from both pros and homeowners. It seems they consider it an overdone trend that was pushed by HGTV decorators. Others express concern about the hardness vs. other types of flooring, with some finding it’s painful for their knees and other joints.
If you mainly entertain adults and aren’t concerned about lots of spills, then I’d go with your original idea of hardwood floors.
Thanks everyone! I was kind of concerned about it looking face, or strange feeling. These rooms won’t be used extensively, so I’m still not quite sure why DH is so interested in it. But I have a tile company coming next week for an estimate, I’m curious.
Most all of our 96 year old home is original hardwood floors minus the kitchen and the sunporch. Several years ago we did a sunporch reno and added luxury vinyl plank . Everyone things it is hardwood. It does have the grooves like a new hardwood might. I have an area rug on it but the exposed portions look as good as the day it was laid. The plank looks more “real” than the tile offered at that point in time.
It has a more comfortable to the foot feel than ceramic tile of course.
We just put in LVP in bedrooms and hallway when replacing the old carpet. I love it. I doesn’t have quite the feel of hard wood but looks great and the maintenance is a breeze. Much easier on the feet than tile. They are making some very high end LVP these days. Some of the newer ones are water proof vs water resistant.
We have the tile that looks like wood. When we remodeled our house 4 years ago I wanted all wood floors, but we didn’t think that would be appropriate for the kitchen so we did the kitchen/dining/family area in the tile and the rest of the house in wood. We matched them so they look alike and most people don’t notice until you tell them. I love that I don’t have to worry if we spill something or if the dog gets mud all over. Sometimes I think I should have done the whole house in it, but I really do like my wood floors and the feel on my feet of wood.
We have it in one of our vacation rentals. It came with the kitchen and I understand the appeal; it has a driftwoods-y texture but mops up like a tile. My pet peeve is that anything breakable dropping on it will definitely shatter into a million pieces. The oriental rug sounds like a good idea for a wine room.
Purist here. I personally dislike the look of one material trying to pass as another. It is getting much better, but I can’t help but remember old sheet vinyl pretending to be ceramic tile. I like LVT, tile, wood, etc., and each has their place, but would ultimately choose a pattern or design that fit the material.
If you choose LVT to look like wood, there is a large difference in quality. Commercial products tend to look and wear far better than residential grade products (often found in the big box stores).
We have wood look porcelain tile in our master bathroom, and we really like it. It’s cold, though, and I don’t think I would want it in my living area in a cold climate (OTH, I think it would be ideal for a warm climate). If you get it, be sure you get rectified tile, and make sure the installer is good. The floor has to be perfectly flat in order for the tile to lay properly.
These are not the best photos because it’s getting dark so no natural light it perhaps you’d an see the LV plank lines and the comparison of a 96 year old wood floor!
