In a kitchen, timber floors produce a warm ambience that offsets the coldness of surfaces on fridges, dishwashers and whatnot. Because wood is so charming, many faux wood alternatives have emerged over the decades, increasing the flooring options for custom kitchens. Several options are explained below.

Solid Wood

Solid timber floorboards add character, and they provide a sturdy feel underfoot. You'll have various species to choose from, such as Tasmanian Oak, Spotted Gum and Blackbutt in shades such as tan, chocolate, cream and pink. Floorboards come in varying widths. Narrow planks cause more joints, while wider boards create smoother flooring with fewer seams. Solid wood, though, can present problems. It expands and contracts as temperature and humidity fluctuate, affecting the evenness of the floor. Plus, it can rot and warp if moisture seeps inside. For this reason, some people avoid solid timber flooring in kitchens, bathrooms and laundries.

Engineered Timber

Engineered timber planks resolve many of these problems. These boards contain a resilient core of plywood, coated with a hardwood veneer in varying thicknesses. The depth of this top wood slice determines how many times you can resand engineered timber. This flooring covers your home in natural wood, but its stable inner core reacts less to water and temperature. Thus, you can install engineered planks in areas that might wreck solid timber.

Laminate Planks

Laminate floorboards look like authentic timber — however, they're not covered with wood. A photograph creates their faux wood appearance: it's printed onto a decorative paper layer on top of the planks. A plastic film protects this photo to form hard-wearing flooring that you can install in various areas. Some laminate planks are more waterproof than others, so check which products suit kitchens. Because laminate comprises a photo image, the planks come in diverse wood species, even expensive ones that might be out of your reach if they were real.

Vinyl Planks

If you would love wood flooring in your kitchen but are worried about splashing water, you could install luxury vinyl planks. These floors offer various wood tones and patterns, so you can harmonise them with different decors. Similar to laminate, vinyl planks consist of a photograph of timber, but the image is imprinted onto a thin vinyl layer on top of a hard vinyl core. Vinyl is water and scratch-resistant, durable and rugged. You can install it anywhere that experiences splashing water without a problem.