Flooring Choices In Our House- Wooden vs Carpet
I’ve always lived in houses with a lot of carpets so flooring choices were always pretty easy. Wooden flooring wasn’t really something my parents had. And the kitchens were always laminate/ vinyl. But all over Instagram, you see beautiful fresh wooden floorings. For certain rooms, I saw the appeal of beautiful wood. But I didn’t know how I felt about getting out of bed and not landing on the fresh, plush soft carpet.
Stripping our house down there were no beautiful wooden beams under the floor so that was out of the question. Plus Luke had to cut out bits of the floor to re-wire. So we had two main options carpet or new wooden flooring. If you’re replacing an old floor these are likely to be your main two options as well. So here’s a bit about why we chose the flooring choices we did in our new house.
Flooring choices- carpet
As I mentioned I love the warm and inviting feeling that carpets have. They’re soft underfoot and absorb sound which is great for me as I’m heavy-footed. That’s why we decided to opt for it in our living room, hallway and bedrooms. Plus a runner for our stairs. For the living room we’ve got for quite a cosy vibe so felt carpet suited that better.
The most important decision when choosing a carpet is quality. You want a decent underlay and a good thickness carpet. Not only does a good quality carpet feel better underfoot but it also lasts longer. In high traffic areas which get walked on a lot, carpet can wear down. This is why we didn’t want to opt for it in our entranceway as it would get ruined quicker. You can get carpet quite cheaply if you want something basic. But like most things you get what you pay for. In the end for just under 17m of carpet which covers three bedrooms, a hallway and staircase and a reasonably large living room we paid £1,300 for the carpet. It’s worth bearing in mind there’s underlay, accessories and fitting on top of that. But it gives you a good idea.
One way you can save a bit of money on carpet is by using a company who specialises in high-quality carpet remnants like designer carpet. Carpet remnants are stand-alone pieces rather than those cut from a larger roll. Usually, the pieces are leftover from a larger piece but are too big to be thrown away. But because of this, you can get premium-quality carpet for a much lower cost (up to 90% of RRP). Designer carpet themselves stock all of the remnants in their Derbyshire HQ so they can deliver them much quicker than a lot of other flooring companies. And they ever offer a made-to-measure rug service which can be made from remnants.
Our carpet is a mid-grey colour so it’s a nice cosy feeling matching with the colours we have in the rooms. But it also leaves it as a blank canvas. If we decide in 5 years time to change the colour in our bedroom we can as most things go with grey. Statement carpets don’t seem as fashionable now. Although I remember some of the patterns my nan had on her carpet when I was growing up.
Carpet does need regular vacuuming so this will have to be on the weekly rota of things to do, especially when we have cats.
Engineered wooden flooring
For our large kitchen diner space (and round into my office) we opted for engineered wood. Engineered wood has a real wood layer at the top and that layer can be any thickness. The thicker the layer the longer it lasts and the more it can be sanded. But like everything the thicker the real wood is the more expensive it is.
Wooden flooring was an obvious choice for us because being in a space where food will be prepared and eaten it will be easier to clean messes. And being a high traffic area just off the entranceway it will be a good long-lasting option. I loved seeing all the unique colourings of the wood when we started ordering samples. But that did make choosing one a little harder as we wanted just the right tone. Make sure if you’re going for any type of wooden flooring that you order plenty of samples. And put the sample against any furniture you have, the wall colours etc. This way you’ll know if it matches.
Unlike solid wood flooring engineered wood is good for rooms which fluctuate in temperature. So it’s ideal for a kitchen. Plus it’s hygienic so doesn’t absorb odours, allergens or pet hair like carpet does. As we’re planning to have cats this is going to be ideal.
Flooring choices when it comes to wooden flooring can be extensive. You can get vinyl if your budget isn’t very big. Or you can get solid wooden flooring but be prepared for the high price. For our wooden flooring, we paid just over £1,400 for it which is more expensive than carpet would have been but it will last longer and is better suited to the space.
That’s how we made our flooring choices for our house. Do you prefer carpet or wood?
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22 responses to “Flooring Choices In Our House- Wooden vs Carpet”
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Rhian Westbury
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I like both, I find I prefer carpets in the bedroom and upstairs and wooden downstairs as it is easier to keep clean especially with having two dogs
Oh yeah having dogs must change things drastically x
Great blog post! I also grew up in a home with lots of carpeting, so when I moved into a place that had wood floors in the downstairs and carpet upstairs, it was a strange adjustment. We always get the carpet cleaned by a professional carpet cleaner once a year, and I make to sure to mop the downstairs hardwood floors every month! I personally like the combination of wood and carpet because it looks nice, but it does take more time to keep them clean.
Yeah the wooden flooring needs more hoovering which I’ve found out this past month or so x
I’ve always lived in houses with wooden floors – my parents opted for it as it felt more practical with kids and dogs creating mess everywhere! I like how practical it is and how easy they are to keep clean.
I do really think it makes a huge difference to what you grew up with as to what you end up getting yourself x
We have engineered wood floors downstairs and we have carpet upstairs. I like the best of both.
Totally agree with you there x
My entire house is carpeted except for the 3 bathrooms and kitchen where I have vinyl flooring and tiles respectively. I did consider wood flooring but not now.
I love both, we have wooden/stone floors downstairs and carpet upstairs and it works so well for us, especially now we have a dog and a kitten!
I grow up too with carpets in every room, and that is what I have too. But we got a cat last year and she loves to claw our living room carpet. So we are going to be changing that soon to a nice new wooden floor
That’s one thing I’m not sure about when we have kittens. I may have to get some form of rug so they can claw that instead x
I’ve had wooden floors and carpet in my bedrooms over the years. I have to say, for the bedroom, it will always be carpet for me. However, the livingroom and hallway, has to be wooden. And my kitchen has to have tiles, vinyl doesn’t last long with my dogs!
I tend to go for wood flooring downstairs and then carpet upstairs…….Wood flooring in kids rooms +noise!!
I didn’t even think about that as I don’t have kids, yeah you don’t want to hear them walking round and playing on wooden flooring x
Wow, 90% off RRP of premium carpets sounds great. Carpets are lovely in bedrooms. We have wooden flloors in the living room and hallways and love them.
I do like Both and have had both in the past but I do prefer the coziness of carpet , especially now it’s getting colder x
It is a tough choice to choose between carpet and wood flooring as both are great for different rooms. In my house the kitchen and landing areas are wooden for easy cleaning.
I love wooden floors they are so much easier to keep clean especially as I suffer from asthma.
Yeah they are easier to keep clean, but I find you notice any form of dust so quickly so them so I’m hoovering our wooden flooring multiple times each week x
I would always choose wood flooring. Sure it costs more, but nothing can compare to the beauty and cozy feel it brings to a home. It is also low maintenance. We only have area rugs in some areas of the house. Carpets are not advisable if you have pets that shed.
That’s a very good point about pets. The owners before us had carpet in every room bar the kitchen (even the bathrooms) and they had a dog so I don’t know how they coped x