How to Choose the Best Flooring for Your Home
When it comes to choosing the flooring for your home, there is rarely a one size fits all option. What works in the living room won’t necessarily work in the bathroom, and vice versa. Furthermore, there are the questions of size, maintenance and budget to contend with, as well as any existing or planned color schemes and themes. Here are just a couple of questions and things to consider when you are deciding on what type and style of flooring to use throughout your home.
Which room?
This first thing to consider is which rooms are going to get new flooring. Rooms and areas that experience a lot of traffic, such as hallways and entryways, and lots of moisture, such as the bathroom or kitchen, will require specific flooring types to make them easier to maintain. Generally, flooring that is easy to wipe clean and keep dry, such as laminate or vinyl, like these examples at woodstonebathrooms.com are good ideas for the bathroom, kitchen, and any other rooms where lots of mess or spillages are likely.
You may also want to choose something softer and warmer for your bedroom, as stepping out of bed onto a cold stone floor is not a pleasant experience! Even if you are renting and cannot alter your floors, accessories such as rugs and mats are a good way to personalize the space and make the floor more comfortable to stand and walk on. It is also important to think about what the rooms are used for, and who by. If you have children or pets, then this will influence your choices, as you will need to choose materials that are easy to clean.
Budget
Different materials cost different amounts of money, and you will also need to pay for things such as maintenance and installation. Luxury vinyl tends to be more expensive than laminate, and some of the most expensive flooring options include designer tiles and exotic hardwood. Costs will also vary depending on the amount of space that needs to be covered. It can also be worth thinking about how durable the material is, because the chances are the cheaper the material, the easier it will damage, which may end up costing you more in the long run. Therefore, it could be worth investing a bit more money into flooring that you know will last a longer time.
Maintenance
If you don’t have time to vacuum and clean your flooring every day or few days, then it is important to consider how much maintenance a style of flooring requires. This can be a big influencing factor in your decisions, as most people prefer flooring options that are easy to clean, can be vacuumed, mopped or swept, and don’t require frequent strenuous varnishing or repairs. Vinyl, tile and laminate flooring are all pretty low maintenance options, and colors can also have an effect on how dirty or marked something looks. In general, lighter colors show up dirt and stains more than darker ones, but the material used will also have an effect on this, either making it easier to clean and cover up, or showing damage more clearly.
