One of the best things about buying a new-build home, like we’re doing, is the fact that you have a totally blank canvas. I love that our home will be brand new, with no faded wallpaper to scrape off or stained carpets to pull up.
And while it’s lovely to be faced with that sparkling white home, it’s also quite daunting as there are lots of decisions that need to be made straight away. With new homes, if you buy them early enough off-plan, you get to choose from a range of different kitchen units, tiles and flooring. The costs of moving house are high, and you don’t want to make the wrong choice.
For us, flooring was most definitely the decision that took the longest. You may not give your existing floors a second thought, but actually getting your flooring right is key to creating the overall look and feel of your home. Yes, you want it to look stylish of course, but there are practical implications to consider as well when you have a family home.
Think about how much of a pounding your poor floors take every day! Kids, pets, toys, scraping chairs, spillages, food splatters, the list goes on!
If you’re moving, or considering replacing your floors, here are a few things to think about.
Your hallway
Even though you don’t spend much time in the hallway, it’s a high traffic area and will likely take a bit of a battering. It’s important too that your hallway floor makes a bit of a statement, as it’s the first thing your visitors will see.
Solid hardwood would look amazing here, or you could consider engineered wood flooring. This is a made up of multiple layers of wood, with a layer of real hardwood on top. So you still get the same real wood look and feel, but without the hefty price tag.
Engineered wood flooring is also a bit more resilient to humidity and changes in temperature than solid wood, and you can sand the top layer if you want to spruce it up.
Your lounge
While the trend has been to have hard floors in your lounge, I’m going to be controversial and suggest you seriously consider carpet.
When you have children, you’ll find yourself spending quite a lot of time on the floor. Yes, hard floors are easy to clean so are great from a practical point of view but they are not at all comfortable to sit on – especially if you suffer from a bad back like I do.
This is why we’ve chosen a thick-tread carpet for the lounge in our new home. I want to be able to comfortably lay about on the floor while playing with our son. I’m really looking forward to sinking into all that lovely, soft plushness.
Oh and if you do opt for carpet, please make sure you choose a stain-resistant finish so that any spillages can be easily removed.
If you prefer hard floors throughout downstairs, add a colourful rug in the centre of your lounge for little ones to play on.
Your kitchen/dining space
Practicality comes into its own here. Never carpet, for obvious reasons, but other than that, most other hard floors will be fairly easy to keep clean.
The biggest decision will probably be colour. If you want a change from light/dark woods, how about grey? Grey is the new neutral for interiors and is a fantastic choice because it goes with so well with many other colours.
Your bedroom
Carpets are the obvious choice when you’re looking for that cosy, comfortable feeling between your toes. While hard floors are super stylish and contemporary, I just don’t think you can beat the feel of sumptuous carpet under your feet when you step out of bed in the morning.
If you want to stick with hard floors, why not put a beautiful, bold rug down to add a bit of comfort?
Your bathroom/wet rooms
Ceramic tiles are a popular choice for bathrooms, as they’re easy to clean (although beware, light-coloured grout is not and can easily stain/go mouldy!). They are also moisture and heat-resistant. We have ceramic tiles in our current house, and although I like how they look, they often feel cold to me when I walk around barefoot.
A popular and low-maintenance option for bathrooms is luxury vinyl flooring. It’s moisture and heat resistant, and is fairly easy to install. It’s not like vinyl flooring of the past…there are a huge range of effects to choose from including wood/stone/ceramic/concrete finishes, and many of them are imperceptible from the real thing.
Share your thoughts
Are moving or renovating your home? What floor choices have you made? Please feel free to comment below.
Natalie xx
Disclaimer: This is a sponsored post in collaboration with Flooring365. All words and opinions are my own.
9 comments
We are actually looking at flooring at the moment! I agree that the hallway has a lot of traffic and hard flooring is probably the most obvious choice. Love that you’ve gone for carpet in the lounge! – I cant be as brave as we have a proper mucky pup – well dog… that is.
We’ve just had flooring done in our two reception rooms and it’s kardean and I love it. We’ve treated it and it’s so hard wearing.
We also have it in the children’s rooms.
Our attic is being converted this year and I want carpet but my fiancé won’t budge. I’m going to tell him it’s controversial but it’s the way forward and show him this post!
Our house is really cold with old floorboards so we’d like to replace those with something a bit more modern… and warm!
I love having carpet in the bedroom and I got a really thick rug for the lounge which I love. I’m on the search now for some nice tiles for the kitchen floor, I’ll have to check them out!
Great tips! We had hard flooring for a long time, as with a reflux baby, practicality ruled over comfort! But, I’m so glad to have my carpet back in my living room.
We live in a really old tenement flat, but in a couple of years we want to redo the kitchen floor which currently has linoleum in top of plywood. The rest of the flat has beautiful wooden floors.
I’m with you, I like carpet in the lounge! It’s nice to have something soft underfoot!
Ooo flooring’s can be so tricky to decide. We like a mix of carpet, slate and wood, as it depends on the room xx
an article full of information I definitely need💯 thank you for sharing this, learned a lot :))