With summer in full swing and kids running in and out of the house all day, you may be tired of trying to vacuum or shampoo dirt out of a once-beautiful carpet. Or maybe your old linoleum floor is starting to peel up at the edges. Either way, it’s time for a new floor.
Redoing your floor can be one of the quickest ways to up your home’s value. A change in flooring can give a room a whole new life and can help redefine your space. But trying to decide what kind of flooring to install can seem overwhelming.
Below is a guide to choosing the best flooring material for each room in your house.
Kitchen
It should go without saying that you do not want carpet in the kitchen. But that still leaves hardwood, linoleum, laminate, tile, and other such flooring materials. Almost any of the harder flooring options can work well for a kitchen, though each has advantages and disadvantages.
Laminate, cork, and bamboo flooring are good choices if you want a wood look without the warping risk that comes with hardwood. Tile and concrete are great if you want a durable floor that requires very little long-term maintenance. If you’re on a budget, linoleum and vinyl can offer a very nice look with minimal installation requirements.
Living Room
A living room is the center of the house, and you want to make sure your flooring matches your lifestyle. If you have young children, pets, or a lot of foot traffic through your living room, you may want to steer away from carpet. Instead, maybe go for hardwood or laminate.
If you have older or grown children, not a lot of foot traffic, and a happy relationship with your vacuum cleaner, it’s hard to beat a good soft carpet. Make sure you bring the carpet samples home to see how they look with the furniture. The last thing you want is to move the couch back in only to discover it clashes with the new floors.
Dining Room
In the dining room, much like the kitchen, you’re going to want to stay away from carpet, which is just too prone to stains. But unlike the kitchen, it’s unlikely that you’ll see too much moisture on the dining room floor. This opens the door to hardwood possibilities.
Depending on how formal you want your dining space to be, you may want to go with one of the wood-based options. Hardwood, laminate, engineered wood, or bamboo can all add elegance to a dining room. If you’re in the Tampa area and looking for the best hardwood floors, check out Yeager Flooring.
Bedroom
The bedroom is carpet’s place to shine. There are few things better than getting out of bed in the morning and digging your toes into a plush carpet. And since foot traffic in the bedroom is lighter, you won’t have to worry so much about dirt being tracked in.
The exception to this, of course, is young children’s rooms. In your kids’ rooms, you may want to go for a laminate floor. This won’t be as hard as concrete or tile, and you can put a rug down, which is much more easily cleaned and replaced than a full carpet.
Bathrooms
In bathrooms, getting flooring that can stand up to some moisture is the name of the game. Tile, linoleum, and vinyl have been top choices in this area for a long time. And for good reason.
Tile is durable, easy to clean, all but impervious to moisture, and customizable. If you’re working on a lower budget, or if you don’t want to deal with a lengthy installation process, vinyl and linoleum may work better for you. Some modern bathrooms are even beginning to use polished concrete.
Laundry Room
In laundry rooms, as in bathrooms, tile comes to the forefront immediately. The white subway tile laundry room has come to the forefront in interior design lately, and it’s hard to miss the appeal of a clean, white floor to match your clean, white walls and your clean, white clothes.
You definitely want to avoid laminate, engineered wood, hardwood, and other such porous flooring in a laundry room. Even if you never have a washing machine disaster (and we pray you don’t), there is too much humidity in the air in this room. Wood-based floors will warp in a heartbeat.
Office
The floor you choose for your office will largely depend on how you intend to use the space. If you’re planning to set up a library-type space with bookshelves and armchairs, a carpet may be a wonderful choice. Carpet warms up a space quicker than almost any other flooring material.
But if you plan to have a rolling chair, you may want a laminate or hardwood floor. If you plan to be on conference calls a lot and acoustics are important, a cork floor might have some distinct advantages for you. If you plan to use the space as something more akin to an art studio, tile is hard to beat when it comes time to clean up.
Basement
With a basement, as with an office, the flooring you choose will depend largely on how the space is used. The biggest underlying fact is you don’t want a wood-based flooring in a basement. Basements tend to be more humid, which will lead to warping.
If your basement will be a workshop space, polished concrete is probably your best bet. If it’s a den, game room, or guest space, carpet can be wonderful. Consider who’s going to be using the space and what it will function as when you’re deciding on flooring material.
Going Beyond Flooring Material
If you’d like to read about some more home improvement hacks beyond choosing flooring material, check out the rest of our site at Paldrop.com. We have articles on home tips, healthy living, life hacks, and more. Check out our home tips section today to learn about some great ideas to bring into your home.