12 Tips for Choosing the Best Flooring Options in Every Room

Whether you are building a new home or buying one that has been around for years, flooring will be an integral consideration for the interior design. If you consider the space taken by the floors in a home, you will realize why flooring has a significant impact on your home's aesthetic. It can determine whether a space looks relaxed, luxurious, warm, intimate, cozy, small, or large.

Whether you are a professional or a homeowner who wants to find the best floor for any room, you will realize that getting the right floor type for each room can be overwhelming with dozens of materials available. Having realized this, we have put together 12 tips for choosing the best flooring in every room.

Even though there is no one-size-fits-all when selecting the right floor for your home, you will realize that specific tips, like considering what a room will be used for, the location of your home, your budget, and your style are universal. This article looks at these elements and others, hoping that you will have a better idea of what will work for you by the time you read to the end.

1. Take Hints From Your Daily Situation 

The best place to start when considering the flooring type you should choose for each room is to step back and look at your unique situation. How many rooms do you have in your house? Who uses each room? Do you have pets or children, and which rooms do they frequent? How often do you clean the floor? What do you want to spend in each room?  

With the answers to the above questions, you will be able to look at each flooring type and see how its strengths and weaknesses will work out based on your unique situation. For instance, if you have children and pets that spend most of their time in the living areas, you may want to go with a type of floor that is easier to clean.

Some floors are not suitable for families with allergies like asthma or rhinitis; you may want to be careful when selecting a carpet or synthetic flooring that releases gases that can worsen asthma.  

If the room is going to be used by seniors, you may want to consider slip resistance, comfort, and shock absorption (in the event of a fall). You would also want to ensure that your flooring option allows aids, like walking frames, crutches, and wheelchairs, to move easily. Preferable options for such rooms include carpet and rubber. You would want to avoid hard materials like natural stone.     

2. Consider the Location of Your Home 

Writing for the websites that provide tips to small business, TheBalancesmb.com, Erin Eberlin, advises that “the area of the country in which your property is located can also have an impact on the best type of flooring to use.” Eberlin continues: “In areas that are hot all year round and those with a lot of humidity, tile is often preferred over hardwood or carpet.”

Apart from the property's location, you will also need to consider each room's location in the property. For example, there will be more traffic in your home entrance than would be the case in an en suite bathroom. So, you may want to consider tiles in such an area as opposed to carpet or wood.

3. Keep the Future Value of Your Property in Mind 

As a homeowner, one of the factors that you’ll always need to keep in mind is your property's value. Many people want to get the best price possible if they decide to sell their property later on. Therefore, you will need to ensure that you select floors that will make your house look more expensive and attractive to future home buyers.

In an article published by the news website USAToday.com, Samuel Weigley cites data from the National Association of Realtors. He reports that “Some 25% of buyers under the age of 35, and 28% of those between 35 and 54, considered hardwood floors ‘very important’ when looking for a home.” Weigley reports that homebuyers are willing to pay $2,080 for a home with this type of floor.

4. Select Flooring Based on Room Function 

As much as you consider a room's function before you furnish it, you will need to determine how the flooring in each room will impact that room's activities.

For example, you are likely to spend a lot of your time standing when you are in the kitchen, possibly getting the floors oily. Therefore, you may want to select a flooring type for the kitchenthat is non-slip or easier to clean. Various types like vinyl, laminate, or tile would be suitable.

Let’s look briefly at the main rooms in a home and pair them with the best flooring options for their functions.

Kitchen: Consider safety, cleaning, and kitchen traffic and go with vinyl, laminate, and ceramic tile.

Family living rooms: The family living rooms will be some of the most popular places in your home for both your family and guests. The most popular types of flooring in family living rooms in contemporary homes, as identified by ConsumerReports.org, are solid wood and engineered wood. Carpet is still a popular choice because it’s warm and inviting.   

Bedrooms: Each family member will spend a considerable amount of time sleeping, working, or relaxing in their bedroom. Carpeting is the best option for this room because you will be spending a lot of your time barefooted. Wood, laminate, and vinyl are also great options for bedrooms.  

Kid’s playroom: The floor in the kid's playroom is likely to take much abuse; thus, it needs to be durable while remaining comfortable. This is why rubber flooring comes to mind when we think about this room.

Porches, mudrooms, and entryways: The floors in these spaces will be used by almost everyone who arrives at your home; therefore, you will need something durable but still beautiful. Consider tile flooring, mainly ceramic and porcelain, because these tiles are strong and easier to clean. Natural stone will also work well in this area.  

Bathrooms: An average human being will spend around 416 days of their life in a bathroom (translating to over 23 minutes a day); therefore, the bathroom should have a durable and beautiful floor. Some of the best tiles for this room include clay, stone, sheet vinyl, and linoleum. 

Home office: With many people increasingly working from home, this room is getting more attention. Thus, the floor in this space needs to be durable, practical, and comfortable. Consider carpet, wood, ceramic tile vinyl, and laminate for it. 

5. Keep Your Personality in Mind

Some people want to radiate warmth in keeping with their characters, yet others want to come across as serious. Your home, or rooms in your home, can be used to show your personality. For instance, someone who wants to show a connection with nature may want to go with solid wood or stone. Yet, someone looking for a more contemporary look may want glossy finish porcelain.

6. Choose a Color Based on the Mood you Want to Create 

Distinct colors create different atmospheres and moods in a room. For instance, selecting red flooring can make a room feel cozy. Still, you would want to avoid this color in the bedroom because it’s stimulating. However, if you wanted to choose a flooring color for a child's bedroom, you may want to go with something bright and bold.

The color of your flooring can also be a statement about your personality. For instance, a more outgoing person may want to go with bright colors like yellow, while a more reserved person may want something darker or green. So, you will want to consider the personalities of different members of your family before you determine the type or color of flooring to put in their room.

7. Watch the Trends 

As much as you decide what to wear based on the fashion trends of a given time, your home will also need to adapt to change. For instance, new technologies are coming up all the time. Flooring that may have been a no-no in bathrooms a decade ago may now be suitable to use in these spaces. This is because technology has made such flooring safer or more water-resistant.

An example of a trend that some people consider when buying anything now is whether the product is environmentally friendly. If you fall into this category, you may want to look for natural and recyclable flooring options like cork or bamboo flooring.

8. Seek Consistency

If you decide to use different flooring options in your home, you would want to ensure that your home has a continuous flow when looked at as a whole. If you don't plan this correctly, the different flooring options will create an eyesore. This is the reason why we advise homeowners to follow the 'Less than Three' Rule, which stipulates that you should not have more than three kinds of materials per floor in a home.

Look at the other items in the room before you settle for a flooring option. For example, the color of the room's furniture, the lighting, or the plants in a room can determine whether you go with something more contemporary like glossy finish porcelain or hardwood.

9. Ensure You Can Meet Installation Requirements 

Are you planning to hire a professional to install your flooring, or do you want to make it a DIY job? If you plan to do it yourself, you will need to ensure that you choose a flooring option that you know how to work with. People will likely see if a job has been done by someone who doesn’t have the skills.

Laminate and engineered flooring are considered the easiest type of floor for DIY. However, you will need to ensure that you have the right tools and assistance you need to do a job you will be proud of.      

In case you decide to use a professional's skills, you would want to ensure that there are skilled people where you live to do a proper job. If you live in a remote area, you may discover that only a few people can do a specific flooring type. So, you may want to choose an option that you can easily get someone to come and install for you.

10. Focus on Maintenance

Some flooring options, like tiles, can be cleaned with ease, while some, like carpets, will require more work once in a while to maintain. Also, some wooden floors may need to be sanded and varnished now and then. If you don't want to be worried about all these things, you may need to consider something that needs less maintenance, like stone or ceramic tiles.

11. Decide for how Long you Want to Keep the Floor 

If you renovate your home often, your flooring choices may differ from someone who wants to keep the same look for an extended period. For example, you may want to attract tenants to your property by responding to trends in the flooring market. This would mean changing your flooring style more often.   

Durability may not be a factor if you know that you will change the flooring in a room after a short period. You may also want to select a flooring option that will be easier to remove, like a carpet.

If you want to keep the floor for a long time, you’ll want to ensure that your flooring option is resilient. Sheet vinyl, natural stone, ceramic, and porcelain will be your best option if you don't plan to change your flooring soon. 

12. Consider the Budget 

Some options, like marble and granite, can be quite expensive, with installation easily costing up to $3,000 for an average home. Apart from the installation, you would also want to consider the cost of keeping the floor in the best condition. For example, wooden floors may require more maintenance when compared to ceramic tiles. Carpets may be cheaper but require more effort to clean.

It is, therefore, essential to start by deciding what you would like to spend. Knowing what you want to spend will ensure that you don't end up going over budget when choosing your preferred flooring option.  

Guest Contributor: flooring clarity.com