Sunday, August 30, 2009

How to Choose the Right Flooring For Your Home

Flooring for dining rooms

Follow these top tips to find the right flooring for your dining room.

Points to consider:
Keep it looking sophisticated with a smart floor covering. Dark tones add drama.

Opt for wood-effect laminate that's high in both the practicality and style stakes.

Go for an easy-clean finish so maintaining it is simple and fuss free.

Other style choices that will also work well in the dining room are natural floor coverings, such as sisal and Boucle. Their low pile and durable qualities make them ideal.

Flooring for kitchens

Follow these top tips to find the right flooring for your kitchen.

Points to consider:
In a hard-working room, such as a kitchen, the flooring must be ultra-practical.

Vinyl is the perfect choice - it's water resistant, warm underfoot and less likely to break a dropped glass.

Other brilliant buys include hard wearing slate tiles and easy-to-clean ceramic tiles.

Dark flooring is less likely to show up marks and will create a striking contrast when teamed with pale units.

Flooring for living rooms

Check out our top tips to help you choose the right style of flooring for your living room.

Points to consider:
Living rooms are high traffic areas so pick durable flooring that's heavy duty.

A patterned carpet will bring interest to neutral living rooms, but if it's staying power you're after, then a neutral carpet is the way to go.

Stripes are super-smart and on trend this season, and they won't show up marks either.

Choose a flooring that's soft under foot for comfort.

Flooring for hallways

Follow these top tips to find the right flooring for your hallway.

Points to consider:
Hallways are extremely high traffic areas so need tough, stain resistant floor.

A non-slip fibre such as sisal offers great durability, especially in a tight woven design.

Go for a design with a slight pattern which will help hide dirt trekked in from outside.

Choose flooring that's easy to maintain like laminate. A quick sweep over will keep it looking as good as new.

Floors for bedrooms

Follow these top tips to find the right flooring for your bedroom

Points to consider:
It's important that bedroom floors are luxurious, warm and soothing so the room is a welcoming sanctuary. There's nothing worse than stepping out of bed onto a cold floor.

Go for comfort with a sensuous velvet-effect cut pile carpet.

There's less wear and tear in this room, so you can choose a paler shade - try soft green or blue.

Flooring for bathrooms

Follow these top tips to find the right flooring for your bathroom.

Points to consider:
Bathroom flooring needs to be waterproof, slip-resistant and easy to clean.

Pick flooring that won't get damaged or marked by water splashes.

Ceramic stone-effect tiles are cheaper than real stone and are non-porous making them ideal for bathroom floors.

Another alternative that would work well in bathrooms is rubber flooring. This is extremely hard wearing, totally waterproof and comes in bright colours for a modern look.

You can find more information on interior design and interior design ideas at Idealhome.

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