Want flooring that looks expensive, is practical for busy households, and matches different looks? This article explores six flooring ideas suitable for any room in your home sweet home.
Choosing the right flooring can be daunting. With many options available, flooring is a costly investment that can make or break an aesthetic. Flooring requires skill to install, making it hard and expensive to replace if the wrong choice is made. Here are some flooring options that are recommended to clients.
They look far more expensive than they are and are insanely practical for busy households. They’ll be easy to design around, as they match many different looks and color schemes. They’re also very fairly priced if one needs to stick to a budget.
Low-Maintenance Hard Surface Floors
Most of the flooring options are hard surface floors, but there is also a carpet option. Hard surface floors are a go-to material for clients because they’re so low maintenance in busy, high-traffic homes. They bring warmth and character to homes and are easy to soften up with washable rugs. If carpets are preferred, there are some beautiful practical choices.
These are brands that are turned to again and again for clients. Here are some flooring options to make renovation decisions easier.
Bramley Oak LVT Floor
The first flooring option is a favorite and is one of the most recommended flooring materials. It’s very durable, waterproof, and extremely low maintenance, so it’s perfect for homes with children and pets. It’s the Bramley Oak LVT floor from Amtico. Every home needs an LVT floor.
It’s made from Vinyl, and it’s built to withstand the impact of heavy daily use. One can mop them, and they aren’t going to swell. They have a slim profile, which is great for keeping the floor level as low as possible to not interrupt the door swing. They’re up there with one of the most compatible floors if installing underfloor heating, as they distribute the heat evenly, being able to expand and contract unnoticeably between temperature changes. LVT also offers a very realistic imitation of wood, as the top layer is embossed to mimic the texture of real wood.
The biggest thing to look out for is the shine levels of hard surface flooring, and that’s one of the reasons why the Bramley Oak is a top choice. One doesn’t want anything too shiny, or the design will quickly look and feel cheap, which is not the goal here. The Bramley Oak floor has a soft matte surface.
When choosing a wood-effect floor, pay attention to the tones and variations that the design offers. The texture of the embossed surface needs variation, like seen on this Bramley Oak floor. It’s not a repeated pattern that can end up looking very fake. LVT might be made from a hardwearing waterproof plastic, but it’s not going to look that way so long as a flooring like the Bramley Oak with pronounced grains and distinctive knots and cracks is chosen.
Cine Paleo Bedelli Flooring
If a wood-effect LVT that’s a little darker and a little more rustic is desired, the lighter Bramley Oak floor may feel a little bit too light and airy. The Cine Paleo Bedelli flooring is an LVT floor with all the same benefits and is just a different supplier, a different color, and a different tone. It has a beautiful rustic look that will instantly make a home feel cozy and finished. It also complements almost any color scheme. This floor can be laid in multiple rooms with confidence that it’s going to suit all the colors or changes that are made over the years.
Carpet Options
There are beautiful carpet options for bringing warmth and softness underfoot, perhaps in a bedroom, a living room, or across a first floor. To make sure that the right carpet material that’s going to be easy to maintain and last its full life cycle is being purchased, avoid 100% wool carpets if an affordable carpet that’s easy to maintain is wanted. Wool carpets are beautiful, but they’re expensive, prone to moth attacks, and notoriously hard to clean stains and spills from.
Instead, it is strongly recommended to go for a polypropylene carpet that’s half the price and far easier to clean if accidents do happen. They can handle the bleach inside Stone removers brilliantly. It is best to go for a warm neutral color. A dark carpet feels oppressive in a home. If a neutral carpet that’s more taupe than Ivory is used, and it contains a variation of beige tones in those twists and Loops, it’ll disguise crumbs and pet fluff a little better, so time won’t be spent constantly vacuuming.
Polypropylene and a Warm Neutral with variation in color is the goal here. The Dy beige by Tapi is a good option, as if a few drops of tea are accidentally spilled on it, no one will be the wiser. It’s that colorway that is just so forgiving. It has a beautifully rustic structure, and it’s very hard-wearing. The lined look of the loops is particularly appealing, which will make a room feel really big. When laying it, make sure that the lines are laid vertically up any stairs.
Laminate Flooring
If super low on budget and the wood effect of the first LVT option is liked but is a little bit out of budget, a good quality laminate will work. It won’t be as long-lasting or waterproof as LVT, but it is more affordable, with a little borne vigilance needed when mopping and if there are any spills. Laminate flooring doesn’t really like water to stand on it for very long, as it can cause warping, swelling, and peeling.
It’s not often that laminate is recommended to clients, as LVT flooring is far more maintenance-friendly and a more luxurious option for a little bit more money. When it is, the quick step classic Oak beige is recommended. The price really varies based on how thick this laminate is. For any high-traffic areas like entryway and hallway, kitchen, and living areas, go for a 12 mm laminate for solidity, and it’s going to last a lot longer. If it’s a bedroom or an office where only one or two people are living in the household, an 8 mm laminate will be just fine and more cost-effective, and it’ll still be very durable.
Engineered Wood Flooring
For those with their heart set on laying real solid wood floors, engineered wood flooring is recommended, which is made with plywood in its core, topped with real wood that’s sandable, stainable, and behaves just like real wood because it is real wood. Having that plywood call is what gives the durability of a wood floor and just makes it that more resistant to moisture and temperature changes.
When choosing wood, especially wood flooring, consider the wood yellowing process. Most types of wood turn yellow or orange over time, especially without proper sealing or treatments. This yellowing clashes with other wooden furniture like wooden cabinets or wooden Trims and it just doesn’t mix well in design games. Wood is definitely not the most stable or consistent option, so take care when choosing wood and the Finish chosen to apply.
Both options here lean on cream and brown undertones in color. Avoiding anything too orange that’s going to clash with other wood finishes is key. If looking for a real wood or engineered wood floor to keep cost that little bit more affordable, make sure that the flooring is pre-finished. Usually, on the product description, it will say whether it’s been lacquered or brushed and lacquered, and this will heavily reduce labor costs and the possibility of a bad installation experience with Footprints and hairs laid all over the floor as they’ve been oiled and left to dry.
Engineered wood flooring is typically thicker than other floor types. This is something to keep in mind if trying to match up floor levels in different rooms. Sometimes engineered wood can sit higher and will feel like a slight step up at the door threshold if it’s laid up against a different floor with a similar profile.
Stone or Flagstone Floors: The Worst Choice
Stone or flagstone floors like travetine and Limestone may look beautiful, but they are not easy to maintain, and they’re not cheap. They’re porous, they stain easily, they require a lot of upkeep, and they’re expensive to install, requiring intense labor to cut and seal all the stone. They’re also not recommended for bathrooms because they absorb loads of water.
If that characterful look of limestone or travetine is really loved, or if the property being renovated is a cottage and the stone look is really loved more than any other floor, the Daa Aged white tow by corstone is a great alternative. It’s a porcelain tile that mimics Limestone beautifully. It’s underfloor heating compatible, it’s ideal for every room from bathroom floors to Kitchen to living areas, and it looks virtually identical to real stone with its variation and irregular edges. It needs none of the ceiling that stone floors do, and there’s no fear of staining because porcelain isn’t porous.
If choosing Stone effect tiles, watch out because normally they’ll offer about 10 to 20 variations in every tire range, but that’s not really going to give as much variation as needed if trying to replicate real Stone. This door age white tile though has about 100 different variations, so rarely will two identical tiles be next to each other even if tried. It has a wonderful tumbled Edge, and it will bring an amazing sense of warmth to any home.
