ᐅ Open-Plan Living Area with Kitchen: Which Flooring Materials Are Suitable?

Hi,

For my new apartment (which will be rented out), I need to choose the floor materials. The living room floor will be brushed oak, finished with natural oil (similar to the second photo).
Nowadays, it is common for the entire living and dining area, including the kitchen, to be fitted with hardwood flooring. However, since I’m renting out the apartment and personally prefer tiles in the kitchen area (due to water exposure), I plan to have tiles installed in the kitchen. The first photo shows the kitchen layout.
Here are my questions:

1. Does this seem old-fashioned, or are there any disadvantages to this approach?

2. What size and color would you recommend? I was thinking of 30 x 60 cm (12 x 24 inches) cream-colored tiles. Would square tiles (50 x 50 cm, 20 x 20 inches) be better?

3. What else should I pay attention to? At the transition between tiles and hardwood flooring, it is important that no tile edge is visible, as that would look really unattractive.

For rental properties in the standard price range, large-format tiles are also common in living areas. In the high-end segment, hardwood flooring is used in living areas and large-format tiles in the kitchen. Large-format tiles are defined as starting from 60 x 60 cm (24 x 24 inches).

The installation with the aluminum profile is fine.
Check if the parquet floor structure has the same height. Otherwise, leveling compound will be necessary.

I would avoid mixing materials. Choose either all parquet or all tiles. There are also wood-look tiles available.

Wood and tiles. 60x30cm (24x12 inches) or 60x60cm (24x24 inches). Aluminum profiles between them are completely common and cause no issues.

icandoit schrieb:

I would avoid mixing materials. Either all hardwood flooring or all tiles. There are also tiles with a wood-look finish.

Yes, if the kitchen were completely open, I would agree. However, the kitchen has a U-shape, so the tiles aren’t really that visible.
And when I think about how some tenants treat their apartments, I wouldn’t feel comfortable with hardwood flooring. Let’s be honest: cooking often causes grease splatters, and water spills happen when washing dishes or cooking. A careful tenant or owner would clean it right away if they have hardwood flooring in the kitchen, but not everyone does. After a few years, when they move out, the hardwood will probably look pretty bad.

Tiles! Use the same type as in the bathroom, but with better abrasion resistance.