Every item on this page was curated by an ELLE Decor editor. We may earn commission on some of the items you choose to buy.

Dare we say they’re groundbreaking?

There are few rooms that can excite the senses like the kitchen, and few features spice up a cooking space like an amazing kitchen floor. Of course, your chosen surface (as with your backsplash, counters, and kitchen island) must stand up to repeated foot traffic and the occasional mess, but they also present an opportunity for showstopping design. Want proof? Look no further than the ELLE DECOR archive, where designers have proved time and time again that kitchen flooring needn’t be boring, be it patterned in a classic checkerboard, as in the Seville pied-à-terre of designer Amaro Sánchez de Moya; paved in vibrant tile, as with the orange-and-white-floral-patterned floors of a grand Milanese palazzo kitchen designed by Studio Peregalli; or swathed in sleek marble, as seen in an ultrachic Parisian flat designed by Hugo Toro. Below, we’ve selected our 15 most glamorous kitchen floor ideas. No matter what you ultimately choose, your guests are bound to be floored.

Can there ever be too much of a good thing? Pas de tout in the case of this Paris apartment. Designer Hugo Toro lined not only the floor, but also the countertops and walls in Brèche de Médicis marble.

Materials rule the roost in this ultrachic Milan apartment designed by Hannes Peer. Travertine kitchen floors, in an icy palette inspired by the Alps, create a chic base against timber-clad walls, dark marble countertops, and gleaming brass cabinets.

Art historian Carolina Vincenti naturally selected antique cement tiles from 1925 to cover the kitchen floors of her Rome apartment. Matching yellow walls (and a feline companion!) complete the sunny look.

Designer Amaro Sánchez de Moya selected a classic checkerboard pattern in Carrara and Nero Marquina marbles for this happy kitchen in a Seville pied-à-terre. The black-and-white floor pops against the white cabinets, ceiling, and walls and complements the black appliances. The whimsical backsplash tiles, meanwhile, are antique.

It’s no wonder that a pair of Capirote restaurateurs have a standout kitchen in their home designed by Giuliano Andrea dell’Uva. The wall tiles are of a custom design, and the eye-catching hand-poured terrazzo floor was influenced by the late-19th-century Villa San Michele on the island.

Designer Steven Gambrel, whose name is synonymous with vibrant kitchens, created a custom 3D-effect floor in this Chicago home with oak that had been ebonized, fumed, and waxed.

In the kitchen of this St. Petersburg apartment designed by Tim Veresnovsky, the parquet floor is striking against the striped eucalyptus veneering of the kitchen cabinets, counters, walls, chair—and even the pendant.

Exposed brick isn’t just for your walls: Designer Shawn Henderson’s rustic floor in the kitchen of his upstate New York farmhouse stand out against the bleached oak cabinetry.

Taking inspiration from Art Deco–era buildings, designer Bradley Stephens created a custom kitchen floor in this New York apartment with varying terrazzo inlaid with brass lines.

We love the hypnotic blue-patterned floor tiles by Emery & Cie that English firm Retrouvius used in the kitchen of this London townhouse.

Design firm Studio Peregalli used orange-and-white patterned cement floor tiles and antique majolica wall tiles to add vibrancy in the kitchen of a Milan townhouse.

Architectural designer Sandra Arndt went bold in the kitchen of filmmaker and collector Dorothy Berwin’s New York apartment. A bubble gum–pink table by Sabine Marcelis pops against the kitchen’s gleaming black floors.

Designer Ken Fulk incorporated marble flooring in a striking chevron pattern by Fox Marble into the combined kitchen and dining area of this San Francisco townhouse.

Literary couple Darryl Pinckney and James Fenton, whose Harlem townhouse is covered in color, painted the floors of their kitchen in Black Forest Green by Benjamin Moore.

In a Paris apartment designed by Lorenzo Castillo, pale Macael marble flooring features a border of inky Nero ­Marquina marble around its perimeter.