What part of your home does your family touch the most? Your couch? The stove? How about the bathtub? While these are all important, there’s nothing in your home that gets more use than your floor. It’s the surface you tiptoe across to put your sleeping baby in their crib. It’s the cozy carpet your cat cuddles up on. It’s the easy-to-clean tile that keeps spaghetti stains out of the kitchen.
Your floor is one of the most important parts of your home. That’s why choosing the right type of flooring is so important. You want something that fits your space and your family’s needs. In this article, we’ll guide you through the decision-making process. We’ll explain more about why flooring matters so much and we’ll reveal how to pick the right floor for every room in your home.
Look
Flooring adds unique design elements and movement to your home. It can complement the interior design of your room and might even guide guests through the flow of your space. That’s why choosing the right materials, colors, and styles is so crucial.
While a good choice in flooring can complement your design, a poor choice can also disrupt it. For example, homes that have three or more flooring types often start to look busy or jumbled. To prevent this, don’t transition to a different type of flooring in every room. Instead, choose one main look and make a change when necessary, like in a bedroom or bathroom. This will protect your design continuity and help create cohesive spaces throughout your home.
Feel
If your floor is the part of your home that is touched most, it should always be both comfortable and functional.
For example, if you spend hours standing in your kitchen, a supportive floor is a must. A little cushion under your kitchen flooring will make those marathon cooking sessions much easier on your feet. Bedrooms and living areas, meanwhile, should be cozy and so they’re often carpeted. Carpets make it easy to sit on the floor and play with your beloved pet or enjoy a family game night around the coffee table.
To pick the right feel for your flooring, always consider how you use the room. Then picture what would feel most comfortable during those activities.
How to Pick the Right Flooring
Prepare for Wear and Tear
To pick the right flooring, first think about durability. What kind of wear and tear will it have to withstand?
Consider these questions:
- Do you have pets or kids?
- What’s in your yard that might end up inside? Gravel, sand, etc.?
- How much traffic will this room see regularly?
Many things can damage your floors. If a room will see heavy use, you’ll want to choose a flooring that’s durable and more affordable to replace. Luxury vinyl plank (LVP) flooring is a great choice because it’s more durable than other types of flooring. It’s also easy to repair, cost-effective, and comes in many design options.
Consider the Purpose of the Room
Different rooms require different types of flooring. You’d cringe at a carpeted bathroom or feel unwelcome in a tiled bedroom. So always keep in mind what room you’re working with.
Here’s a few recommendations for each room (more of these to come later):
Basements
Many basements feature cold cement floors that leave the room feeling joyless and uninviting. Even if you do go down there, you get creeped out by the echoes and weird noises. Adding carpet to your basement will help quiet the space and make it feel more warm and welcoming.
If you’re concerned about flooding and don’t want to risk a soggy carpet, then consider LVP flooring. Or if you do have to stick with concrete, fancy it up with a grind and polish to make the most of your existing floor.
Bathrooms
Spaces like bathrooms and mudrooms, see water on a regular basis and so tile and water-resistant flooring (LVP or sheet vinyl) is a must! These materials stand up to frequent dampness and will keep you from having to replace your flooring every few years.
Kitchens
For kitchen areas, you’ll want to incorporate flooring that’s easy to clean and a bit softer. Sheet vinyl, LVP, hardwood, and tile are great for wiping up after kids and pets and are generally soft enough to keep dropped items from shattering.
Evaluating Materials
If like many homeowners, you’re considering replacing your flooring during a remodel of your home, that’s great. New flooring can breathe fresh life into your space. However, it’s important to remember that your home’s existing structure will dictate which types of flooring will and won’t work.
For example, many older houses don’t have completely flat floors. Over time, the house and support beams can settle and leave the floor sloping down toward the walls. In this tricky situation, you need to choose flooring that’s flexible enough to accommodate the foundation of your home. Otherwise, you risk having to level the floors with expensive compounds or rebuild the subfloor entirely. Know the tolerances of the products you choose and make sure they can handle bends, curves, and deflection.
Here are some other factors to consider when evaluating materials:
- The more uneven your floor, the better you’ll do with carpet. Your contractor can lay materials under the carpet to compensate for depressions so the floor you walk on is flat and level.
- The existing floor dictates what will work. If you have a joist system under your home that supports your floors, then hardwoods are an option because you can easily nail them into each joist. If you have cement floors, then you need something that can be glued down or left floating like an LVP.
- Tile, although a great material, adds considerable weight to your floor. If you have an older home, you’ll want to make sure your existing structure can support the added weight of tile in your space. If your floor rolls like a mini-golf course, you won’t be able to get all of your tiles to lay flush and might have to build up lower areas of your floor to make tile work at all.
Recommended Materials
We’ve discussed a few different materials you could use in various rooms in your house, but now let’s get specific. Here’s what we generally recommend for each room:
Bathroom and Mud Room
In smaller bathrooms and mud rooms, we recommend using tile. This helps avoid water damage to your floors and gives your space a nice, sleek design. You can even add low-voltage heated coils under your tiles to help warm up the floor and prevent cold feet after a shower. We always use an epoxy grout when tiling wet environments. Its durability and stain resistance is well worth the cost.
For larger bathrooms and mud rooms or a smaller budget, water-resistant LVP flooring is a good alternative. It’s durable, more affordable, easy to replace, and holds heat better than tile. Additionally, many brands are 100% waterproof. Be sure to consider an underlayment if your floors are uneven or if you want extra cushioning under each step.
Bedroom and Basement
For both bedrooms and basements, we recommend carpeting. It reduces echo and helps make the space feel cozy and inviting while adding an extra layer of comfort. These two areas typically also see less stains and dirt buildup, so regular cleaning should be enough to keep your carpet in great condition.
Living Room and Kitchen
These rooms can really work with a variety of flooring options but if we had to pick just one, it would be LVP flooring. As mentioned previously, it’s durable, easy to clean, softer than hardwoods or tile, can be repaired, removed and replaced without too much difficulty, and comes in a variety of colors and patterns. You’re sure to find something that matches your interior design vision and needs! It’s also one of the most affordable flooring options and is easy to buy in smaller quantities if you ever need to just replace a section.
Choose Your Perfect Flooring
Now you can see why flooring is so important in your home. It’s the surface you touch the most and it completes the look and feel of every room. So if you’re planning a remodel or are just ready for something new, think about switching up your flooring. With so many amazing choices available today, there’s a dream floor out there for everyone!
At VADA Contracting, we love helping our clients make their dream home a reality. Book a consultation today to see what we can do for you!
