Kitchen floor, Baby!

   That's right!  Our kitchen floor is being installed as I type this!  Finally!  The years of ripping my socks and stubbing my toes on broken tiles and sub-flooring are over.  I can't wait to slide my bare feet across a smooth floor.  To be able to mop without shredding the mop-head.  Oh baby, it's going to be pure bliss....
   Part of what took us so long is that we were hoping to be able to install radiant in the kitchen/dining room floor, since there is no heat in that part of the house.  But, that would require an entire kitchen remodel because it would raise the floor ~4", which in turn would lower the counters ~4".  So... if we didn't want the counters down around our knees, we would have needed to install new cabinets/counters.  Needless to say, it was all too expensive.  But, we kept holding out for it.  We finally decided enough is enough!  We instead concluded that when we rebuild the room that was formerly our solarium (before the tree smashed through it!) we will put the woodstove down there which will be lower than the kitchen and, therefore, heat the kitchen.  So, no need for the radiant.  At least not right away.  Maybe someday....
   Rather than the expensive radiant with tile and a whole kitchen remodel, we went with easy, less-expensive marmoleum.  Tile would, of course, be our first choice.  But, with no heat on a slab foundation, it would have been way too cold.  Wood would have been an easy second choice, but since there is already SO much wood in our house, we looked again for alternatives.  Next, we decided on cork.  Then we found that cork fades over time when exposed to sunlight.  Well, only half the room gets sunlight ever, so we would have ended up with a two-toned floor.  Not so appealing.  Then we started playing around with marmoleum.  We brought home lots of different color swatches and laid them all over the place.  We had the dog practice walking on them, dropped all manner of objects on them, spilled things on them, danced on them, put them to the test....  So, marmoleum it is!  We opted for a click-together floating floor.  It is backed on the underside with cork which is nice and insulating, and no adhesives are used to lay the floor, so no off-gassing!
   Like I said, marmoleum would not have been my first choice.  But, I can't tell you how excited I am about it.  I think we'll love it.  I can't wait to post photos of the final product.