Many homeowners are embracing the patterned floor tiles (often referred to as encaustic tiles) that are becoming mainstream this year. Most of us want to make a personal statement in their kitchens, and installing patterned floor tiles are certainly one way to do that.

Last week I photostyled and photographed the final results of the kitchen in the home of a client, who is also my dear friend and former office manager! Allison and her husband decided to take out the wall between the kitchen and the living room in order to open up the space and make it more functional for their family.

Here is the before photo of the kitchen:

before

Allison wanted new white cabinetry, a large island or peninsula, and plenty of storage. I consulted on the cabinetry layout, flooring, lighting, countertops, backsplash, breakfast room furnishings, and (of course) the colors.

Here’s the tricky part: her house already had hardwood throughout, with the exception of the kitchen (which had vinyl). The old hardwood could not be matched, and replacing it all wasn’t in the budget.

Allison saw a patterned tile floor I had done in another project and was interested in doing something similar. We both liked this crazy-quilt patterned tile that was within her budget. Rather than go with white or black quartz for the countertops, I found a warm gray quartz that worked great with the encaustic-look tile. Here’s the quartz sample on the floor tile:

With the wall between the kitchen and living room coming down, the transition point between flooring was a conundrum. My suggestion was to keep up a partial wall (for a couple of reasons) and to do a double-wide peninsula (rather than an island). That way, there would be only a small place where the flooring would visibly change from hardwood to tile.

The double-wide peninsula creates a half wall of separation from the living room (and its hardwood flooring), plus provides lots of extra storage and countertop space. We decided to do a few open shelves to make it feel a little less kitchen-y. Here’s the after shot from the same angle as the before photo:

design and color by The Decorologist

Take a look: the sofa hides the shift in flooring when anyone is in the living room anyway!

design and color by The Decorologist

iron lantern fixtures

Rather than the standard subway tile layout, I had them install the inexpensive backsplash tile in a crosshatch manner:

The Decorologist

A crosshatch layout for the backsplash tile reads like squares, which ties in well with the patterned floor tiles. I love, love this tile layout!

You know, I used to think I’d never be a fan of open shelving. However, I’ve become a convert for partial open shelving in a kitchen. It really opens things up!

Take a look at the before of the kitchen from a different angle before the wall came down:

before

Additional cabinetry was added on either side of the breakfast nook, so there is more than enough storage to make up for the upper cabinets that were removed.

The Decorologist

I cannot explain how very good it feels to be in this room. Photos don’t even do it justice. It’s so open but cozy at the same time. It’s a beautiful but not formal. And so functional! Here’s the coffee bar area:

breakfast room furniture

The Decorologist

Now let me show you how the flooring looked when it first went in:

Would you have been terrified? Thankfully, Allison was not. She’s seen enough of projects that look crazy at first, but turn out just right when everything else comes together.

Are you surprised at how the seemingly bold flooring is not-so-bold once everything is in place? Allison says that the flooring is her favorite thing about the kitchen – what about you?