Flooring Information Guide

What should you put on your floor?

Read this Flooring Information Guide to decide whether carpets, wood or laminate flooring, tiles or vinyl, are best for you.

Look at hints, tips and helpful advice for your flooring purchase.

Read this before you buy anything

  • If you choose a good quality flooring, you can expect it to last for many years.

  • Because of this, make sure that you choose a neutral color.

    This will give you plenty of options for changing your decor in the future.


  • natural flooring colors tend to look best


  • Also consider colors found in nature - greens, browns, ochres, bronzes etc.

    These always seem to work well underfoot, and are the recommended color choices of professional interior designers.


  • Try to treat your flooring as a fifth wall, when considering your color choices, and always check that the flooring matches, or tones nicely, with other chosen furniture, paint and furnishings.

  • Choose pale flooring to make a small room appear larger.

  • Plain colors and small patterns can be used equally well in small rooms or larger ones.

  • Use large, bold patterns, and dark colors, only in large areas.

  • Consider using the same (neutral colored) flooring to link adjoining rooms.

    This will give your home a greater sense of space, and unify all your rooms together, bringing your whole home together.


flooring information guide


Our Flooring Information Guide

You also need to consider the materials that you want for your flooring...

Of course we all want a quality floor, but we do need to weigh this against cost too.

Particularly for high traffic areas, like halls, stairs and kitchens, you do need to make sure that your flooring is durable - hard wearing and long-lasting.

It will likely get a lot of wear and tear, so you want to make sure that your flooring can stand up to it.

A more expensive flooring choice might actually work out the better option here - if it lasts longer, you won't need to replace it so soon...

...if it lasts twice as long as a cheaper option, you could sensibly spend twice as much on it.

You should also make sure that your chosen flooring is appropriate for the room you want to use it in.

Our flooring information guide, will hopefully be able to help you with this...

Think about Materials

  • Make sure floorings you intend to use in bathrooms and kitchens are waterproof or at the very least splash resistant.

  • choose something waterproof or splash-proof for your bathroom flooring


  • Carpets aren't always a good choice for bathrooms and kitchens - soggy, damp and smelly carpet isn't an ideal interior design statement!

    ...and however clean you actually keep your home, carpets in kitchens, and especially bathrooms, always have unhygienic perceptions attached to them...

    ...which again, isn't the kind of association you want people to be making about your home!

  • Think about comfort, as well as practicality, when choosing your flooring or carpet:

    • Carpets are nice and soft underfoot - ideal for bedrooms - and usually warmer too.
    • Vinyl floors can be softer than tiles, wood is usually warmer than tiles.
    • Laminates and tiles can be cold, and can be slippery when wet, too
  • There's lots to consider when choosing your ideal flooring, so do take your time over it, read over our helpful flooring information, and make the right decision!

    What sort of flooring information do you need?

    Floor covering for Stairs

    Help with choosing a floor covering for your stairs

    Carpets

    For information on carpet ratings, tips and advice on what to look for when buying carpets and rugs - click here.

    Ever wondered about the difference between hessian or felt-backed carpets? Jane asked the question - read the conclusion, here...

    Laminate or Wood Flooring

    Trying to decide between laminate vs wood flooring? Get practical information and advice here.

    Tiles and Vinyl Flooring

    What about vinyl flooring and tiles? Get tiling and flooring information here.

    Instructions for tiling a floor yourself...

    Concrete Flooring

    Why not try something very new, and totally versatile? Have a look at this concrete flooring idea - concrete is not just for outside these days!

    Readers' Flooring Q&A

    Lisa has a question about mixing woods and wood floor color

    Vicki wonders whether to use dark wood flooring

    CJ has a problem with ideas to solve their floor problem

    Andrea asks about what color flooring she should use in her Craftsman style home

    Daniel asks about which color and tone of carpet to use with dark wood flooring

    Ask your own carpet and flooring questions, here...

    Where to Go Next

    You can use the information on this page together with our Full Interior Design Process and Checklist

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