Selecting the right floor for your home is much more complex than simple aesthetics. If you want to choose the best floor, you must consider more than just appearance. More often than not, people invest in flooring for their home simply by virtue of its looks. This usually proves to be a disaster, and the floor becomes ruined. When you are selecting a floor, you must pay attention to small details, and you must assess how your lifestyle will impact the floor. Do you have pets?children? and do you wear shoes indoors? These are all questions that you mustask yourself before you pull the trigger on some new flooring.
Today we’re sharing six simple tips to help you choose the perfect flooring for your home. New flooring isn’t cheap, so planning ahead matters. Careful choices save money and make sure you get real value for what you spend. By the end of this article, picking the right floor will feel easy.
Here are the key tips from our experts to help you make the best choice.
Pets or No Pets?
The first thing to think about when you are selecting a new floor is about your pets (if you have any). Pets can be a massive detriment to your brand new floor, especially dogs. Cats can also be just as bad, feline lovers. If you were to invest in, say, carpet, your cat could potentially destroy it, as mine has done to my carpet. Cats have a tendency to pull things up and scratch. Dogs, on the other hand, will not necessarily tear or scratch things, but they are big, heavy, and have claws, so they can cause damage to your carpet in other ways. If you have pets and you are thinking of investing in new flooring, you must first establish what flooring is suitable to your specific pet, and then, how you can protect that flooring from your pet, whether it be through mats, rugs, or protective covers.
Children Are Just As Bad…
Kids can be a nightmare for flooring. They can be just as destructive as pets. Anyone who has dealt with carpets, children, and crayons knows this well. Young kids can damage almost anything they touch. To protect your floors, choose child-friendly materials or keep anything dangerous or messy out of reach when you’re not watching them.
You also want flooring that keeps your child safe. Kids fall, bump into things, and move around with zero control. A polished hardwood floor, for example, can be slippery and risky. Pick something sturdy, easy to clean, and safe for little ones.
The Test of Time
When you buy new flooring, you don’t want something that lasts only a year or two. You want flooring that stays strong. One of the best options worldwide — from the Gold Coast to Berlin — is epoxy flooring. It’s durable, high-quality, and built to last. Whether you search for epoxy flooring in the Gold Coast or in Berlin, keep it on your list. Just remember to consider things like kids and pets.
There are many flooring types and many price ranges. Often, the higher the price, the longer the flooring lasts. Epoxy flooring breaks that rule. The installation may cost more upfront, but you save big over time because you won’t need to replace it.
Important:
With this in mind, choose carefully, and while you should stick to a budget, try to find the highest-quality materials available for your flooring so that you do not end up having to replace your flooring every few years. The initial investment in high-quality flooring will save you money in the long run when you take that into consideration.
Shoes In the House
Has anybody got that friend who, when he comes over, just marches through your home with his shoes on? This, for me, was a real problem. You yourself may even want to wear shoes in your home – I’m not here to judge. If you do wear shoes in the house, or friends and family do, then we recommend that you avoid carpets and go for laminate or hardwood. Carpets can pick up a lot of dust and debris, not to mention that they can become stained, dirty, or muddied quite easily. Shoes and carpet do not go together well.
If you do want to wear shoes then follow my previous suggestion and go for hard flooring that is easily mopped up and cleaned. Keeping your floors in good condition can also increaseyour home’s value. Shoes in the house can be a real problem, we know, but when you choose the right flooring, they don’t need to be.
Aesthetics of Your Home
Now, with practicality out of the way, let’s move onto aesthetics. Most people, truthfully, select flooring only for the aesthetics, and care very little about the practicality of their flooring, or whether or not it will be incompatible with their lifestyle. Aesthetics are subjective, of course. One person may prefer straw mat flooring, while another may like hardwood. Whatever you personally like for your home, you should not hesitate in getting it (provided that it is practical). Flooring can be very expensive, mind, and the more ‘aesthetically pleasing’ flooring is always going to cost a lot of money.
Repurposed Flooring
If you are into hardwood floors, then you could potentially invest in repurposed wood flooring. This type of flooring has, over the last few years, become incredibly popular. Repurposed flooring is, inarguably, this author’s favorite type of flooring. You should see my hallway!
Finding the right flooring for your home can be particularly difficult. Well, not now! Thank you for joining us, and more importantly, thank you for taking the time out of your day to read this article. Happy flooring!