Remember a few weeks back when Brady revealed his amazing $50 kitchen makeover using vinyl peel and stick flooring. The internet gave a resounding applause which made us think… are there other vinyl flooring options out there for those of you/us who don’t want this black/white option? Well, the answer is, “woah, YES there is…” So, we rounded up some of our favorite easy-to apply and inexpensive (for the most part) vinyl tiles for the kitchens, bathrooms, and mudrooms in your life that are in need of a quick and easy update.
1. Starry Night Tile | 2. Mexican Indigo Blue Cleft Tile | 3. Stargazer Tile | 4. Italian Chiave Teal Tile | 5. Moroccan Agadir Cobalt Tile | 6. Flirt Tile | 7. Tumbling Blocks | 8. Black & Rose Syracuse Tile | 9. Mexican Indigo Diamonds Tile | 10. Rose des Vents Tile | 11. Oyster Travertine Tile | 12. Velvet Weave | 13. Parquet Charcoal | 14. Blossom Tile | 15. Bali Tile | 16. Amtico Mineral Glass | 17. Urban Marble Tile | 18. Roman Travertine Tile | 19. Rose des Vents Tile | 20. Moroccan Agadir Mercury Tile | 21. Floor Parquet Tile | 22. Equator Wave Tile | 23. Red Stars Tile | 24. Palm Beach Tile | 25. Porto Tile | 26. Nexus Black & White Tile | 27. Casablanca Grey Tiles | 28. Azulejos Tile | 29. Namaste Tile | 30. Flower Folk Tile | 31. Cafe Tile | 32. Green Geometric Pattern Tile | 33. Gray Linear Travertine Tile
Of course there are always some solid options and we find it best to mix like Brady did – two or even more colors together to form a checkerboard, a stripe, or to get crazy and come up with something fun and new. Some of them go a bit “retro” but that’s great for a vintage house, right?
1. Nexus White Tile | 2. Rio Red Tile | 3. Alternatives Iron Gray Tile | 4. Alternatives Forest Green Tile | 5. Alternatives Aqua Spring Tile | 6. Nexus Black Tile | 7. School Bus Tile | 8. Cadence Delta Tile | 9. Frosty | 10. Alternatives White Tile | 11. Touchstone Tango Tile | 12. Ecru Tile | 13. Touchstone Silver Pine | 14. Plum Tile | 15. Tangerine Tile | 16. Pistachio Tile | 17. Black Tile | 18. Gray Tile | 19. Dark Blue Tile | 20. Excelon Red Tile | 21. Touchstone Banana Cream Tile
Lastly, and I know this goes against my past self that used to be against anything faux, but I have a couple things to say about wood vinyl tiles:
1. I’ve seen extremely high end versions of this and you can’t tell them apart. The new stuff coming on the market is expensive, but so perfect for commercial use because it looks identical to wood and is virtually indestructable. And 2. I think for a budget makeover (maybe not a full reno where you are spending money only once) it’s a good option to help create a clean, warm, new surface. I did it once for Secrets From a Stylist, you can see it HERE, and it looked great for just a few hundred dollars. But, obviously be careful with it – and don’t go putting it in your $50k kitchen renovation to try to save money because you spent too much on your faucet.
1. Empire Bamboo Plank Tile | 2. Montana Plank Tile | 3. Graphite Tile | 4. Five Spice Plank Tile | 5. Prestige Rosewood Plank Tile | 6. Pearl Tile | 7. Tabacco Pine Plank Tile | 8. Rustic Barn Wood Tile | 9. Broadway Plank Tile | 10. Galleon Tile | 11. Seaside Tile | 12. Mahogany Plank Tile | 13. Birch Plank Tile | 14. Brazilian Cherry Tile | 15. Chêne Blank Plank Tile | 16. Bostwana Plank Tile | 17. Newport Tile | 18. Kingston Walnut Plank Tile | 19. Amazon Tile | 20. Cool Tile | 21. Grey Maple Plank Tile | 22. Sawtooth Grey Plank Tile | 23. Dove Wood Tile | 24. Woodland Oak Plank Tile | 25. Medium Oak Plank | 26. Cornfield Tile | 27. Botswana Picturesque Tile | 28. Signal Point Tile | 29. Saddle Flooring Tile | 30. Saint Maclou Tile | 31. Toasted Walnut Tile | 32. Breckenridge Vinyl Plank | 33. October Oak Plank | 34. Terrain Plank Flooring | 35. Livelihood Vinyl Plank | 36. Terrain Deluxe Flooring
What shall we source for you next? Are you liking these market research posts? A lot of it happens when we ourselves are looking for something, but we have also hired a couple of stellar researchers who are scouring the internet for the best of the best. We have a HUGE cement tile roundup coming soon as well as a “Timeless Patterned Rugs” which I’m excited about… Let us know what you want and we’ll put it on the list and start scouring.
Meanwhile check out these if you are craving some more of our recommendations and roundups: Shag Rugs, How To Zen Out Your Kitchen, Favorite Pastel Paint Colors (For Grown-Ups), Budget Friendly Hardware, How To Mix Multiple Rugs In The Same Room, 63 Favorite Temporary Wallpaper Patterns, 32 Beds That I Almost Bought For My Bedroom.
Great round up of tile. Be forewarned though that the “tiles” from mirth studios, while awesome, are really just vinyl stickers not really tiles per say. You will need a very smooth subfloor to install them on since every little bump will show through since they have almost no thickness. I was looking at purchasing them and was pretty disappointing to find out they’re not real “tiles” as everyone would imagine them to be. I imagine a few of the etsy tiles in this round up will be a similar vinyl sticker.
Boo! I was just coming down to the comment section to ask if these would work over slate flooring. I wonder if any of the other brands would? Anyone care to weigh in?
Try #18 or 33 from the pattern tile round up. They have a really nice thickness and could definitely be installed over another tile floor. Just as long as most of the new tile would have something to hold on to. I added some PL glue in areas where I wanted to be sure, but these tiles are super sticky and very sturdy – not a thin vinyl! Hope that helps!
Also, take note that the link above to the Blossom tile by Mirth goes to their hardwood tile, NOT the vinyl decal. 🙂 You’ll have to go to their products section to find the vinyl one. That pattern was my favorite of all the ones the EHD team chose!!
OOh, sorry. We’ll fix asap!
I would LOVE a post about hardwood floors vs engineered hardwood. When do you use the latter? What is the price difference? How does it ease installation?
I second this suggestion. I’ve always thought that I would ONLY use real hardwoods in any home but I see people going the engineered route all the time now. Obviously there are reasons that so many people opt for engineered and I’d love to know more about it.
This is actually a really broad question – a quick interest search will give you some background to start asking questions to a designer, or at flooring stores if you are going to DIY.
Engineered floors are real wood – they can be made of particles or plys which are adhered with a strengthening adhesive. They are often more dent-resistant than real hardwoods and can be installed unfilled or pre-finishes, as are many hardwood floor products these days. Since the engineered “plank” is not one piece of wood throughout, the floor can only be sanded down a few times.
Floors can be nailed or glued down, or can installed “floating”. The subfloor will partially drive the adherence method as will other variables such as any underlayment. Water will damage all hardwood products and while floating or glue-down floors can be installed over concrete, be mindful of any moisture that might mitigate through the slab, damaging the floors from below. Prefinished floors will be more sensitive to spills or water damage from above, since there is not a continuous seal protecting joints.
Good Luck!!!!
As the wife of a hardwood flooring contractor (who will also install engineered flooring), here’s my $0.02. Engineered flooring is very trendy right now, but that doesn’t necessarily make it the best choice. Part of the reason why you’re seeing them everywhere is that flooring stores get them from the factories cheaper than they can get real wood from a mill. They can then price them higher and make more profit, thus they tend to push engineered products on buyers. Mills tend to sell real hardwood only to companies that specialize in hardwoods, so a hardwood flooring contractor can get it cheaper than engineered products. Both engineered and prefinished floors are at risk for damage during installation since they can’t be touched up, whereas a real hardwood floor can be made to look perfect. Also if you ever drop something on an engineered floor and it makes a dent or scratch, those can’t be fixed. Engineered floors are either a very thin wood veneer or basically a sticker on top and can only be sanded once, or not at all. Engineered floors can be nice for a builder to put in, since they often go a little faster, but homeowners… Read more »
Meant to add…in what situations would you be prohibited from using real hardwood? What kind of subfloor is ideal for engineered vs hardwood. A round up of different woods and color and their wear and tear would be awesome!
Have a friend renovating a house and we’ve been wondering about the best places to buy kitchen cabinets. Ikea, Home Depot, Lowes, some other place? When to do wood vs. a more affordable option, etc. Would love to see something on that topic even though it’s not the most sexy!
She talked a little about cabinets on this post: NEW KITCHEN PROJECT AND DESIGN PLAN.
(Quick note about the cabinets – although this could be its own 10 part series. You have a few options as far as cabinets go – readymade (Ikea, although i’m sure the Home Depot/Lowes have their own) or custom. Ikea is very, very inexpensive, less customizable and ultimately not as good quality. Custom is very expensive (I believe these were $25k) and they will be PERFECT in both style, size, finish and quality for the space. If you are updating your kitchen I would suggest going for Ikea cabinets or repainting or simply refacing your cabinets. But, if you are hiring a designer and contractor to completely renovate your kitchen, then get the cabinets of your dreams. This is a once in a lifetime job and something you will live with for a long time – INVEST or you may regret it later down the line.) – Emily henderson
chrislovesjulia have an ikea “kitchen” and themakerista has a lowes one if you want to check that out 😉
HA. Thanks, Wen 🙂
Hi Emily,
Thank you so much for asking what we would like. I feel so grateful that I found and received your blog
The market research is my absolute favorite posts.
Personally I would like posts that focus on finding the more truly beautiful luxury items, that have a more reasonable brother or sister line.
Eg waterworks studio does a line that is less than a quarter of the price of the waterworks line, yet it’s polish nickel still has the same looking depth and luster. Eg the waterworks studio roadster toilet holder is still about $160, compared to a waterworks Atlas toilet holder at $600 plus.
Eg Lefroy brooks is another brand that is heavenly gorgeous yet they do a line with restoration hardware that is a fraction of the cost, yes the concealed thermostatic polish nickel shower is still $1650, yet way less than original parent company prices.
Of course there is differences for instance I have had all 4 of these items, yet is it so indisernable for the price differences, it feels such a win finding them. That is what I would really love your researchers to track down for us
Thanks for asking,
Gabrielle
Great. We’ll put it on our list. Thank you and welcome 🙂
Hi, I would like to put another vote for Stephanie’s request of flooring.
Specifically.
The best looking engineered flooring out there?
Eg I have tried Siberian floors, fumed white oak in chevron, it lookes amazing, and I am very particular. I also have LV’s pre finished floors, another winner.
Are there any better ones out there if so I want to hear, thanks!
The best looking real wood floors
The best proportions of different wood patterns what size pieces for eg chevron, herringbone, mixed plank, for different size rooms.
The realty of the beauty of waxed floors and if any of them are manageable
All the extra little info that experience has, eg like how long wood including engineered needs to be in the new space to acclimatize.
Thank you!
Gabrielle
This probably wouldn’t be a Market Research post, but I would LOVE LOVE LOVE to see a post about exteriors/curb appeal (paint colors, lighting, door hardware, etc.) I feel like there are surprisingly few posts out there that touch on exteriors!
YES! I second this suggestion– I think I have currently picked a new paint color (there are 9 sloppy swatches slapped on the back of my house), but I am really struggling with finding great house numbers and lighting.
Totally agree with exterior post! Awesome exterior paint colors and trim combinations to use depending on what your roof material is (red tile, gray tile, shaker, etc). Also, exterior window trim options like shutters, awnings, wood detail, stucco detail…whatever can be done to increase curb appeal. Thanks!
You are ALL in luck. I’m finishing my exterior and yes, I’ve learned a thing or two and have my pics rounded up. Would you rather have curb appeal tips? Or universally good paint colors? I was going to document the before/progress and sneak of the after and then roundup all the lighting, paint colors, numbers, mail boxes, etc in a mood board but its very specific to a midcentury house. Maybe i’ll do that and then we’ll also do some more exterior posts, too….
Sounds great! Future posts could be:
1. Universally good exterior paint/trim combos for various hues of roofs (mine is Spanish style and orangey red)
2. Kickass front door styles, colors, hardware
3. Address numbers (think you’ve already done this) and who knew these cool mailboxes exist
4. Curb appeal tips – show pictures of exteriors that have that little extra sparkle…I think a lot of us have pretty regular houses without any great bones/architectural details to speak of and would benefit from some general guidance on why x works and y doesn’t.
Exterior paint colors ppplease!!!
I need exterior paint colors, please! I’m in a southfacing rowhouse and neighbors to one side have a white house with med. blue trim, The other side is medium blue house. Clearly I can’t go blue easily… so was thinking dark muddy green. I love the dark moody house trend I’ve been seeing.
Go to Maria Killam’s site and search exteriors. You will find a wealth of information.
Wow! Thanks for the referral. Awesome explanations as to why certain colors work.
Love this round up! We’re about to install vinyl faux wood tiles in my sons room/playroom. He’s allergic to dust mites, so carpet is out. This is very helpful, as are the above comments. I’d love some post on exteriors as well!
How cool
We get to suggest! 🙂
I’m hunting for a floor lamp, I think arch.
I’d love to know what that is in your front room of your house.
It’s going in a room that is a copy of the Lorey TV room (brown leather coach, Saarinen table black bamboo chairs, hide rug and funky braided tables-all like theirs)
You HAVE to send me a photo of that room. I swear that house is the most copied home and I love seeing photos of it. Email it to hello@emilyhendersondesign.com xx
How about lighting? I’m looking for a low-end, warm/neutral pendant with copper, wood, or maybe wicker. There are probably enough lighting issues for a series: track that looks okay, high/low chandeliers, who knows?
I second lighting options! I love that a lot of your market research has had a variety of price points. For lighting, there are some areas where I would be willing to spend more $$$, but some areas (the loft where my kids play needs a new light…) I’m just not. And I know Target has a ton of great lighting options, but a lot of it comes/goes fast with the seasons so I would love to see affordable options from other retailers as well!!
We are researching chandelier/pendant/sconce combos right now and a post that is 10 lamps that work in EVERY SINGLE STYLE OF HOME (I know). Just rounding up chandeliers is a huge one, but could be large scale chandeliers on a small budget? Yes. that would be good …. any others?
Please add flush mounts and semi-flush for those with glorious eight foot ceilings! I’ve exhausted Pinterest on that one. Thank you for these posts! Super helpful and so glad you did the vinyl tile.
I’d like a Lamps for Readers post — floor, table, sconces. That would be so great.
Or, go crazy and makes it Lamps and Chairs for Readers. That would be…
…what’s the word?
Well, I’d be thrilled.
What a great roundup! I’d love to see more stylish budget options for other categories like kitchen/bath counters, plumbing fixtures, lighting….
We’re considering combining stone and wood counters in an upcoming kitchen remodel to save money. Stone “splash pads” around the sink and places to land a hot pot around the stove. Would love a roundup of what wood option are out there and what makes ikea wood counters different than other offerings and any pitfalls to avoid.
Omg, I will be waiting for your cement tile roundup with batted anticipation. Thinking of using it in our bathroom but concerned bout staining. However we are Asian (no shoes on the house) but have 2 young girls who may be into dying their hair when teenagers. Ack! But only marble and cement tile makes my heart skip a beat.
I say don’t worry about it. If you clean up after people then both cement and marble are fine. I think that the cement tile roundup is next week and trust me that its GOOD. I will be referencing it for years to come
I can’t wait. I am looking now for my kitchen and need 48 sq ft. I keep running into 100 foot minimums, which doubles the budget. I am in love with a few from Cletile but I cannot pay double for a backsplash, can I? That seems crazy. I love the tile from the Spanish kitchen you did, but can’t find anything like it. I like the smaller scale for the backsplash as most in stock cement tile is 8×8 and the smaller it gets the more expensive it gets… no more subway tile. I am determined to do a pattern! I can’t wait for your post. 🙂
Habitat for Humanity ReStore often has boxes of new tiles. I’ve seen great stylish stuff there. Obviously, no minimum there.
LOVE these posts!
And after reading your post about what goes into making a blog post, am even more appreciative of your service to readers!
Ok.. this sounds weird. But toilets! Would love some great options at all price points and low flow etc…
I love these kinds of posts they are so helpful and informative! What about a round of high-end looking appliances with a small price tag? Or just appliances period? There are so many to choose from out there that it gets overwhelming sometimes.
I LOVE this! I would love a sconce/wall lighting post or maybe you have already done it?!
or flush mount lighting which I hate but have to have on my second floor boo!
or amazing drapes, custom or otherwise…
basically anything I would love
What about a registry post? What pieces should a young(ish) couple register for? Things that aren’t crazy $$ but are investment pieces even as apartments/homes change. I have no problem choosing fancy knives or pans, but serveware, barware, maybe some home decor, has me totally conflicted. Especially since you are only supposed to register at a couple of places (I like the salad bowl from here, and the tray from there, etc).
It seems crazy in 2016 to register for actual china and crystal, but I also don’t want register for a bunch of cheap and/or trendy crap I will throw out in 5-10 years.
Check out Amazon Universal Registry. It allows you to add products from most major retailers. It can be a little hard for older guests or people who want to purchase a gift in a store, but I’ve only heard good things from younger folks.
Market Research posts are some of my favs!
Great post! I always look forward to reading your articles, but I wanted to comment on this one since my guy and I just finished a new checkerboard kitchen floor with Armstrong VCT. We chose white and a dark sea foam green and it looks great with our original 1947 home’s kitchen. The material was so ridiculously inexpensive compared to other flooring options, and the floor looks cheerful and fresh rather than cheap. We did hire a professional to install it (with underlayment), but we still spent less than $800 and we love it!
Hi Emily & team – could you do a post on how to match two differing sofas? I have a blue velvet semi tufted (west elm a couple of years back) sofa and I need to find another sofa to match it with in the same room – how do i match legs, shape, colour etc.. how can I bring them together to look cohesive? in my old house I had it with a couple of leather chairs which looked good, but really want another sofa as the kids enjoying lying down/spreading out. Thank you!!!
Flush lights, yes please.
I back Meg, Jodys and Sarah’s request for flush lighting. Flush lights is where we need your big gun research, as it is a real need for most, yet wading thru the so many unattractive versions is not fun. If anyone can find the most attractive versions out there I have confidence in your team.
ON it!!
Great post and so different good choices… Personally, I hate vinyl tile because my grandma had that in the kitchen and it was so difficult to clean etc. I prefer hardwood floors, but this is only my opinion, of course.
I agree with Hannah about harwood floors vs engineered floors.
I would love to read a post about exteriors, too… Summer is coming! 😉
XO
Anna From Italy
I love these posts.
Good looking ceiling fans
Reasonably priced fake plants that don’t look tacky
Poufs
Would love a post about comfortable, yet chic sleeper sofas for us urban dwellers who have to use their living rooms as guest bedrooms on occasion. Keep up the great work!
This is such a helpful post. (Quick link issue: #8 in the patterned tiles—Yellow & Blue patterned—leads to the incorrect link–can’t find the same tile on the Etsy site so I think it may be a different source.)
Would love to see more articles on sources for kitchen countertops, bathroom vanities (especially modern solutions), cork flooring, kitchen cabinetry (or tips on how to salvage the cabinets you have) and wallpaper/wallpaper alternatives.
I love the patterned vinyl tiles – I think I am trying a kitchen back splash with one
of these beautiful tiles. What a great etsy site!!
This is awesome! Thank you!
Nice. We used the Oyster Travertine (Patterned #11) from Lowe’s in our new basement bathroom. It really is pretty. People have all commented on it. It’s the perfect taupe/grey/cream/beige/white and the pattern is just enough without being busy. Looks like stone and can be grouted too. It was just the thing for my rustic-zen-ish room. 🙂 It went down very easily and was not at all expensive – but looks it. Two Enthusiastic Thumbs Up.
Lots of these are so pretty, but isn’t vinyl a pretty poor choice environmentally? I don’t know that this is across the board, but I believe most vinyls are composed of pretty nasty chemicals that off-gas for awhile. Sorry, I hate being the Debby Downer but it seemed worth mentioning.
I love love love the tile patterns!
http://www.petiteandhungry.com
The patterned tiles are so pretty!
I would love a round up of attractive ceiling fans for restful bedrooms. They are so incredibly useful, but are often pretty big eyesores.
I also would love a roundup of TV stands for traditional interiors (with inspiration pics). I can’t seem to find any that aren’t Pottery Barn-ish or mid century, none of which quite match my aesthetic. I absolutely cannot stand TVs over the fireplace–they are just way too high for comfortable viewing and it means you can’t style the mantel–but that seems to be the most common TV placement in traditional rooms. I’m hoping Ginny will have a TV stand in her living room when we finally get to see her Makeover Takeover reveal. She seems to have similar taste to mine.
Thank you!
We just installed vinyl plank “wood” in our basement, and it was the perfect choice for the space. Our basement is dry, but our house is also 100 years old and we’ve learned that this house of ours likes to throw us for a loop whenever possible, so we don’t trust that it’ll stay dry forever. Since it’s vinyl, it’s totally waterproof and won’t get ruined if it gets wet down there. We have gotten endless compliments on it, and it was also a great budget choice at $1.98/sq. ft. We’re really happy with it.
Um, world’s best post much? Thank you thank you! Just bought my first house, and so need this info. 🙂
Great post …. Thanks for bringing it up…
https://www.hostingcentre.in
I’d love a roundup of more permanent kitchen floor solutions — *love* these designs but don’t need peel and stick, thinking Lino/marmoleum but don’t know where to begin!
I used something similar to the #11 from the pattern options (Oyster Travertine) and we got it at Home Depot. We used it in our basement reno of a 1950s ranch. The floors were nice and flat but had a slope to them in some places. This flooring was great for a few reasons – we didn’t have to ‘level’ out the basement floor like we would have if we did real tile, it was super easy to install ( I did it myself and I was 6 months prego!), it actually was a lot warmer on the feet than tile and it looked amazing. When we sold the house we got a ton of questions about it and no one could believe that it wasn’t real tile! We installed the 12×24 tiles with a 1/4″ gap and grouted it so that really made it look like tile!
The link for #8 which reads “black and rose syracuse tile” does not match the photograph posted here. I love what I see in the photograph and would love to have the right link for locating this tile. Thanks!
Mirrors! Why are modern mirrors with thin frames so hard to find?!
Great post as always!!
I would love a bedding round up. Also some tips on what size bedding to use. I was just reading your post a few days newer about the guest bedroom makeover and noticed the ‘before’ pic had the same problem I always have, the bedding looked too small, but it looked perfect in the ‘after’. I don’t know if you are supposed to go up a size?
Thanks for sharing this Emily! Have just been looking into vinyl tile.
i know it’s probably well difficult but market research for international readers would be amazing!!!!!!
Yes!!! These types of posts are amazing! I trust your choices AND don’t have to spend a zillion hours reading the entire internet to find a deal.