Kitchen Floor Tile Colors

A marbled kitchen floor hides dirt well.Tiled floor image by Simon Amberly from Fotolia.com

When you are looking to change the appearance of your kitchen, carefully choose the color of the kitchen floor tiles. The kitchen floor is the largest single surface in the kitchen, and it has a pervasive and lasting effect on the impression that your kitchen gives. Select different kitchen floor tiles for different effects.

White or Cream

White or cream tiles look attractive when they are matched with a kitchen trimmed in natural wood with natural wood cabinets. The pale color of these tiles opens up the space a great deal and can prevent a small kitchen from appearing too cramped. While white tiles show stains immediately, they can also make spot cleaning the affected areas easier so you don't need to mop the entire floor. However, white or cream tiles are not necessarily a good choice for kitchens that have high traffic as the tiles readily show tracked-in dirt.

If your kitchen is a high-traffic area and you want to camouflage the dirt, choose dark colored marble tiles. The marble prevents the floor from looking too dark or gloomy. The marbling effect also gives the floor a bit of visual variety and avoids the appearance of a solid dark surface, which shows dirt more readily than a white or marble floor.

Mosaic tiles use many colors to create a picture or a repeating design in the floor. The tiles used for a mosaic kitchen floor are generally smaller but more brightly colored. Plan a mosaic floor before installing the tiles to get the effect you want. A few common designs are a decorated border, rosettes or sun and moon designs.

For a very stark look, choose only black and white tiles. With larger tiles, use a checked pattern to create the effect of a traditional kitchen. For a more modern aesthetic tile the kitchen primarily in white with a black border. Alternately, you can also use tiles of different sizes and shapes. A kitchen floor that is primarily white but is offset with small, diamond-shaped black tiles offers both space and visual variety.