Hi everyone, this looks like a knowledgable place to get some advice!

I am planning to totally redo my kitchen this summer, in a 1960s end-of-terrace that hasn't had a new kitchen since it was built. As you come into the house, the door into the kitchen opens off to the right, halfway down the entrance hall. At the moment the hallway is carpeted and the kitchen has vinyl tiles which I put down two or three years ago as a temporary (ha!) fix to replace old plasticky/lino tiles which had been under a carpet and were breaking up. Subfloors are concrete and looked pretty sound and level in the kitchen; I haven't pulled up the hall carpet to investigate the condition yet.

I'll be fitting the kitchen units myself but getting professionals in to do electrics, plumbing and tiling, and I'll be totally ripping out everything in the kitchen back to an empty room.

So, questions....

1) What size of tiles would you recommend for a narrow hallway (300cm long by 87cm wide, approx) with a small kitchen (about 350cm x 240cm wall to wall, so considerably less floor area once units are in on three walls!). Total area including doorways etc is just under 12 sq m. The nicest ones we've seen so far in our price range are Gemini beige which are half price (just under £30/sqm down from £60) but they are massive - 90cm x 45cm. I know large tiles can make small areas seem bigger, and the fewer joints the better from an aesthetic point of view, but is this just too big and would fitting them in such a small space be a major nightmare for a tiler with cuts etc?

2) Is it best to tile wall-to-wall in the kitchen and then put the units in on top, or install units then tile up to the legs and fit plinths? I have read arguments for both - my feeling is to go wall to wall as it makes any future changes of kitchen layout less of a hassle if you have a finished floor throughout.

Oh and 3) how much prep is generally required for concrete floors assuming they are sound and reasonably level? Or is it a case of "it depends"? Basically I just want to be aware of any potential hold-ups eg waiting for a new surface to dry before it can be tiled, as this would affect the whole schedule.

I'll come to wall tiles later...

Welcome to the forum. I think 90x45 is way too big for that area but if you really want them just prepare yourself for alot of waste from all the cutting!!! I'd be inclined to go for something around the 40x40/30x30 area, maybe a 60x30 at a push. I always like to tile wall to wall in a kitchen if possible as you'll probably change your kitchen before your floor, so ike you say, it allows for changes in the future.

Hello, 90 x 45 seems too big,wall to wall in kitchen is a good idea.

So as I suspected they are too big. As for smaller tiles, I prefer the look of patterns made up of different sized tiles (I think "modular" is the word?) Do you think these would suit or would it be too busy for a small area? If it makes any difference I want a slightly rustic sort of feel rather than sharp-edged polished floors.

I personally think that that size of tile would look quite good in the hallway and kitchen. It will need a good tiler to do it right, but will look good. As for the kitchen.... I would fully tile the floor before the units go in.

Originally Posted by mediamonkey

So as I suspected they are too big. As for smaller tiles, I prefer the look of patterns made up of different sized tiles (I think "modular" is the word?) Do you think these would suit or would it be too busy for a small area? If it makes any difference I want a slightly rustic sort of feel rather than sharp-edged polished floors.

I really like modular patterns, I'm not convinced you will get the full effect of it in your narrow hallway, would probably work in the kitchen area. If you could possibly upload a couple of photos of the area(s) to be tiled it will give us a better idea of what might look best (although everyone has different tastes, so you might get some conflicting ideas!!!!).

Originally Posted by Bri

I really like modular patterns, I'm not convinced you will get the full effect of it in your narrow hallway, would probably work in the kitchen area. If you could possibly upload a couple of photos of the area(s) to be tiled it will give us a better idea of what might look best (although everyone has different tastes, so you might get some conflicting ideas!!!!).

I drew out a plan to scale which is saved on another computer, will post it when I can.

Obviously I'll want to discuss it with the tiler (will try to get the bloke who did our bathroom last year as he did a spot-on job) but thought I'd get some other opinions from the professionals.

What attracted me to the large tiles was the display had them in a small area with limestone coloured grout and they gave the impression of being almost continuous stone rather than having loads of joins. I'm not a fan of the "chessboard" look!

Here's a floorplan of the area in question, measurements in blue in cm. Sorry no photos at present.