Flooring isn’t something that I gave a whole lot of thought to when we first bought our house. There were carpets I didn’t like, so we replaced them quite soon after we moved in, and that’s about as much as I thought about it. Oh, how things have changed!
Now, 10 years on, I’m very aware of flooring. I have a dog and two young children, and these factors really matter where carpet and floors are concerned. So if you’re about to invest in some new carpets or are moving home, these are a few things I’ve learned over the years and would recommend keeping in mind:
For the hallway:
Hard floors. Every time. We have old natural wooden floorboards in our hall, which were here when we moved in. They’ve stood up to a lot of footfall, scooting, pushchairs and muddy paws and boots. Ours is quite dark, too, which helps, and can be easily steam mopped regularly to keep it clean.
For the kitchen:
I’d recommend tiling, laminate or hardwood in the kitchen. Ours is tiled, and I am so pleased about that. The weaning days were easy (it helped that the dog cleaned up any scraps, too!) with a tiled floor. Nowadays, we have a lot of play dough, crafting, painting, glitter and all that comes with creativity, taking place at the kitchen table, and I can relax and let them have fun with it knowing that things are going to be easy to hoover or mop up afterwards. An extra tip here would be to invest in a little handheld vac for the kitchen – ours gets a lot of use!
For the living room:
We go for comfort in the living room as I like the kids to be able to lounge about in there on the floor, and there is often a cushion pile up or den build taking place in there. So we’ve opted for carpet. Now, along with two kids, we have a dog, and it’s actually him that causes me the most problems in the living room. There is the very occasional accident, bleeds from wounds, and I can guarantee that if he’s ill and needs to be sick, he’ll gravitate towards carpet. Why?! I don’t know, but it is how it is. On top of that, there is also the food the kids drop and felt tips have also made their way into the room, despite them being told they’re to be used in the playroom and kitchen (obviously that rule gets ignored). But, carpet that can withstand bleaching is the way forward here! This carpet is my best friend.
For the bedrooms:
Think long term. Replacing them all the time can be costly and awkward in bedrooms as it can be difficult to get all of the heavy furniture out. Really light colours are best avoided (this rule goes with anything with small kids, clothes, walls, floors!), but stick with neutrals. She may adore pink now, but give it a few years and she might hate it.
For the bathroom:
Oh, the splashing that takes place in there every night! We have linoleum in there now, sealed all around the bath and skirting boards, to keep the water from seeping down into the floorboards. It’s easy to clean, too, and relatively easy to change and replace to give the bathroom a facelift.
In general, I’d also recommend you invest in decent underlay and patterned floors are handy where there’s a lot of footfall (our stairs are covered in dark stripy carpet).
What experiences and tips would you add to this list?
Disclosure: Written in collaboration with Carpetright
We area about to give our kitchen and living room a major over-haul. I’m thinking of using slate since we’re down here in Cornwall, but I’ve seen nice looking tiles too! Haven’t really decided yet. Was thinking of hard wood for the living room, but like you mentioned, I too want a place where little T can just relax, and she loves doing it on the carpet floor!
Slate sounds lovely, we looked at that but just couldn’t afford it! I just can’t get away from carpet for the living room, just feels cosier somehow?
We are hopefully moving soon so I really want to invest in carpet that will last and stand the demands three children bring with it! Like you I gave little thought to carpets and flooring but when you know how expensive it can be to replace its worth seeing it as an investment opposed to making do!! x
It needs to stand up to a lot, doesn’t it?! I’d go for decent underlay and bleachable is a must, isn’t it?! x
ah you make some good points. i agonise over blooming carpets. need lots of hand holding
It’s because you just know it needs to be such a long-term thing, don’t you? Ours is withstanding a lot, fortunately!
Oh we are going to be getting some new flooring over the summer and I just cannot wait! x
Really freshens things up! X