mom2agang Posted August 11, 2009 Share Posted August 11, 2009 Ok we are finally going to put flooring in our living room. My husband told me to decide between hardwood or carpet. We have had both and I can't decide and he said he don't care. If you had to choose which one what one would you? What color would you? Or neutral tone would you choose? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MamaT Posted August 11, 2009 Share Posted August 11, 2009 I would choose hardwood. If it was up to me, we would have absolutely no carpet in our house at all. With kids I think it is impossible for it to be REALLY clean. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jujsky Posted August 11, 2009 Share Posted August 11, 2009 We just went through this, and chose hardwood. Carpeting traps dirt and allergens, and no matter how many times you steam-clean it, it is still dirty. Price-wise it came out a wash since we bought the flooring on sale, and DH is installing it. Color is a matter of personal preference. We chose Brazilian Koa (tigerwood) that we got on sale at Lumber Liquidators. It's not to everyone's taste, but we prefer woods with a heavy, contrasting grain. Oak is very durable, has a more subtle grain, and can be stained many colors. Cherry is gorgeous. I'd stay away from pine because it's a soft wood and will dent/scratch easily. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mommyof4ks Posted August 11, 2009 Share Posted August 11, 2009 We have tile in our living room and hardwood in the playroom. There is no carpet (by choice) in our house and we love it. Hardwoods are great! We have bamboo. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
specialmama Posted August 11, 2009 Share Posted August 11, 2009 I'm gonna be the rebel and say neither! ;) If I were re-doing our floors, I'd go with cork. It's absolutely beautiful and durable and insulates sounds. Love it! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TraceyS/FL Posted August 11, 2009 Share Posted August 11, 2009 Anything BUT carpet. Well, i have tile in my kitchen that the person that installed it must have been drinking.... don't study the grout lines too much please. But i'll take that over carpet any day! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Desert Rat Posted August 11, 2009 Share Posted August 11, 2009 Hardwood, hands down. I'm biased though. LOL I can't stand carpet. We put in bamboo (engineered but still considered permanent) in our living room and hallway. It's the best decision we ever made. My floor is a honey colored. I wanted a dark cherry by my wonderful dh talked me out of it because we live in the desert and the house gets really dusty. I'm so glad he did! I would have driven myself crazy trying to keep it lovely and clean. I recommend a lighter color. I love my bamboo but is a bit softer than I expected and does dent. It's okay now though because there's enough dents there to look like we planned it that way! In your situation, I would think hardwood would be easier to keep clean than carpets with little ones. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ferdie Posted August 11, 2009 Share Posted August 11, 2009 So tired of cleaning our carpet so I vote for wood. Wood is better for resale value too. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Denisemomof4 Posted August 11, 2009 Share Posted August 11, 2009 I would choose hardwood. If it was up to me, we would have absolutely no carpet in our house at all. With kids I think it is impossible for it to be REALLY clean. :iagree: It's also very easy. Get as hard a floor as possible. You can vacuum, dustmop, run a damp mop over it, etc. People comment about being able to wear white socks here and they STAY white, even with all my animals. That would NOT happen with carpet. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tony'sMom Posted August 11, 2009 Share Posted August 11, 2009 How funny.. we pulled out our carpeting in our living room last winter and have been living with a plywood floor while we decide what floor we want. I am glad I am not the only one. DH has threatened to just paint the plywood if I don't make up my mind soon. :lol: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fshinkevich Posted August 11, 2009 Share Posted August 11, 2009 Another vote for anything but carpet. I also like the cork :001_smile: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mom2a&z Posted August 11, 2009 Share Posted August 11, 2009 I'd go with hardwood floors too. Just be mindful of the color and finish. We chose a dark cherry with a very glossy finish for our living room and it is a pain to keep clean. You can see every footprint and pawprint so it never really stays clean. My kids know to wear socks when I have just cleaned the floor. The dog, well nothing I can do about that. We have bamboo in our family room and I love it. My dog has black and white fur, so the black fur shows up on the bamboo and the white shows up on the cherry. It's a no win situation but still better than carpet! :tongue_smilie: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
athena1277 Posted August 11, 2009 Share Posted August 11, 2009 I may be the only person to say this, but I would rather have carpet. Our last home and beautiful wood flooring in the living room, but it showed every speck of dust and dirt. Carpet you can vacuum once a week, but wood needs at least a dust mop every day. We couldn't afford a big thick rug, so we rarely sat on the floor to play with the kids. If I was buying right now, I would get carpet in a neutral tan/beige, with a thick pad underneath so it would be nice and soft to sit and play on. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KingM Posted August 11, 2009 Share Posted August 11, 2009 We're going to be making some flooring decisions soon, too. How about laminates? We have laminate in our front room and it has held up pretty well, but I can't help but thinking, "yeah, but it's fake," every time I think about it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cedarmom Posted August 11, 2009 Share Posted August 11, 2009 We love our laminate. It is a medium tone. It doesn't show dirt very easy (but I am not the type that notices until there's a layer of dust) It brighten the whole room. We chose it over hardwood because of the durability. We have friends with cork and I would love to do our downstairs in cork. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
momto2Cs Posted August 11, 2009 Share Posted August 11, 2009 We're going for bamboo - continuous flooring throughout the house (except the bathrooms). When we build an additional bedroom above the garage in a few more years, we'll probably use cork, since cork holds up well to fluctuating temperatures, etc., which the garage definately has. For us, the choices were pretty easy. Carpet is a pain to take care of, and both bamboo and cork are from easily renewable resources. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Prudent Posted August 11, 2009 Share Posted August 11, 2009 Another vote for anything but carpet. Laminate is cheaper and virtually maintenance free. No sanding or refinishing needed. Even nice vinyl tile is better than carpet. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Loupelou Posted August 11, 2009 Share Posted August 11, 2009 Another vote for wood. We have carpet in our bedrooms(next house all the kids get plywood sub flooring:D), and wood or tile in the rest of the house. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Susu Posted August 11, 2009 Share Posted August 11, 2009 Hardwood or tile, with an area rug... I hate wall to wall carpeting. Susu Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
coralloyd Posted August 11, 2009 Share Posted August 11, 2009 I may be the only person to say this, but I would rather have carpet. Our last home and beautiful wood flooring in the living room, but it showed every speck of dust and dirt. Carpet you can vacuum once a week, but wood needs at least a dust mop every day. We couldn't afford a big thick rug, so we rarely sat on the floor to play with the kids. If I was buying right now, I would get carpet in a neutral tan/beige, with a thick pad underneath so it would be nice and soft to sit and play on. :iagree: This is what I was going to say. We use our floors as another piece of furniture. Our kids are always on the floor. Maybe when they are teens we'll get hard wood floors; but for now I want my littles to have a comfy place to play. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WistfulRidge Posted August 11, 2009 Share Posted August 11, 2009 I prefer hardwood myself...unless you live someplace where it gets really cold, then you might want to consider carpet. I like oak or pine for hardwoods, and if I have to go with carpet I like a beige/cream toned berber (sp?). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
newbie Posted August 11, 2009 Share Posted August 11, 2009 With little ones , carpet. I worry about hardwoods w/my teens. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pip Posted August 11, 2009 Share Posted August 11, 2009 Hardwood. I just pulled up the carpet in our family room so we could lay some tile. It was digusting what was under it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gingersmom Posted August 11, 2009 Share Posted August 11, 2009 We have been carpet free for 12 years (except for bedrooms). If kids want to sit on floor they can always sit on a blanket/comforter or some pillows. My son grabs his pillow and stretches out on the floor. Does not phase him in the least. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
emmsmama Posted August 12, 2009 Share Posted August 12, 2009 Dh and I want to redo the flooring in our upstairs living room soon. I originally wanted laminate, but am hesitant because we have two cats and a dog and I also run a daycare, so it's bound to get worn out quickly I'm thinking. I'm still considering it though. I won't even consider hardwood because of the cost and it will just get all scratched up. My MIL and a friend of mine put hardwood in and whenever we go to their houses they are constantly paranoid about the kids playing on it because it will get scratched up. I don't want a floor that hampers how I live because I'm so worried about it getting ruined after how much I paid for it. I researched bamboo also but almost all the reviews on the net say it dents waaaay too easily. I don't want to do carpet again because although it is soft and comfy, it gets dirty way too quickly and isn't good for allergy sufferers. Dh suggested we go with ceramic tile and I'm seriously leaning toward that. We have it in our kitchen and the grout sucks, but the floor still looks really good after 8 yrs., it's durable, and I don't find it difficult to clean. When we rented a place in Florida last year, they had tile in the living room and it looked really nice. Our upstairs living room isn't really a living room anyway, it's more of a schoolroom and ceramic will allow me to put a small table in there to do crafts on as well without worrying about it wrecking the floor. For our basement where our main living room is, I'm leaning toward cork. I've heard excellent things about it and I'm thinking it will be much warmer for the basement floor while still offering the durability that I need for flooring in my house. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ruby Posted August 12, 2009 Share Posted August 12, 2009 we have tile everywhere but the bedrooms. Hate the grout. Not a good idea. I think wood would be beautiful but I would add a huge throw rug that is comfy and fun to play and lay on. You can replace it every so often or even take it outside and beat the crud out of it literally. My 2cents. Ruby adding: ever thought of stained concrete? Very cool. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jujsky Posted August 12, 2009 Share Posted August 12, 2009 Hardwood. I just pulled up the carpet in our family room so we could lay some tile. It was digusting what was under it. :iagree:Ditto! And I have steam-cleaned it at least once/month, but there was still all kinds of nastiness under there! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Blossom'sGirl Posted August 12, 2009 Share Posted August 12, 2009 I'll be odd too. We moved from a house that had all hardwood floors to one with carpet in every room. Even the bathroom and kitchen are carpeted - yuck! BUT my mind has changed for carpet in all the other rooms. It is warm and QUIET and comfy to sit/play on. My hardwood floors were always being scratched from couches, chairs, and sliding on it and it is a pain to clean. I would much rather run the vacuum and not worry about it. Yes, the floor is probably not as spotless after vacuuming but with 4 boys, I've decided that this is not my season for spotless. Dirt colored carpet is the way to go. That is what we are putting in our new school room oops I mean study. I think hardwood is a faze right up there with granite countertops and stainless steel appliances. I would consider hardwood for my bedroom for allergen concerns but I still don't like how it feels. Hard and Cold. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chris in VA Posted August 12, 2009 Share Posted August 12, 2009 Best of both worlds--hardwood with an area rug. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Katiebug_1976 Posted August 12, 2009 Share Posted August 12, 2009 My dh & I have been contemplating the same question. Hardwood or carpet for the living room(we have ugly, stained BLUE carpet right now! YUCK!!!)? Two years ago it would have been the easiest decision. Definately carpet! However, before moving to this house 1 1/2 years ago, we pulled the old carpet out of our living room to find a beautiful hardwood floor. Since funding was tight, we decided to "try out" the hardwood that was there. After a couple of months, I was in love! It was so much easier to keep clean, and looked so much better to me that carpet! My biggest concern for a hard floor, was that our small children would fall over when learning to walk, but that fear has since gone away. So, my vote is for hardwood. Oak or a light cherry would be my color of choice. :001_smile: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Katiebug_1976 Posted August 12, 2009 Share Posted August 12, 2009 I'm gonna be the rebel and say neither! ;) If I were re-doing our floors, I'd go with cork. It's absolutely beautiful and durable and insulates sounds. Love it! I already voted for hardwood, but when I read this post I felt the need to support this idea too. My brother put cork flooring in his bathrooms and kitchen a couple years ago. It looks great, and he really loves it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FunnyFarmMom Posted August 12, 2009 Share Posted August 12, 2009 Just wanted to note that my kids prefer to play on an uncarpetted surface. They like Playmobil and other things with lots of small pieces that don't stand well on carpet. Trucks, tractors and trains also run better on hard floors. I make my kids sleep on the couch when they are sick because the clean up is so much easier on the leather couch in the living room with the laminate floor!:tongue_smilie: When we move we are going back to a fully carpetted house (even the kitchen and entryway!!) and I'm dreading it. Pulling up the carpet will be the second home improvement we do. First we have to paint the room that will be ds's. It's violently pink. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kwickimom Posted July 6, 2011 Share Posted July 6, 2011 hardwood or laminate!!! I say this because I dream of tearing up our ugly stained carpet and getting wood. I cannot get all the dog hair out of the carpet and it feels unsanitary in here. I HATE carpet. hate it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Josie Posted July 6, 2011 Share Posted July 6, 2011 I dislike carpet. Too hard to keep clean. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WishboneDawn Posted July 6, 2011 Share Posted July 6, 2011 How funny.. we pulled out our carpeting in our living room last winter and have been living with a plywood floor while we decide what floor we want. I am glad I am not the only one. DH has threatened to just paint the plywood if I don't make up my mind soon. :lol: One of my childhood homes just had plywood until we moved and had to install carpet to sell it. It was great. Not the most attractive but durable and worked just fine. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WishboneDawn Posted July 6, 2011 Share Posted July 6, 2011 Best of both worlds--hardwood with an area rug. :iagree: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ellie Posted July 6, 2011 Share Posted July 6, 2011 Hardwood, preferably a lighter, natural color (red oak, white oak, hickory) and not a dark stain/color. The darker colors show every.bit.of.dust/pet hair. Ask me how I know this. :glare: Hardwood with a nice area rug would be my choice (the area rug helps to anchor the furniture, visually and physically). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tammyw Posted July 6, 2011 Share Posted July 6, 2011 Hardwood all the way. Then throw a comfy rug over it where you have your sofa. If I have my choice, when we move and buy our home (after DH is done with military in 2.5 years), I will have hardwood throughout entire house. Carpet is awful. At least with throw rugs, you can have them cleaned thoroughly. They also have "green" carpets these days, so if you wanted to go with carpet, I'd at least look into that. One thing that I find gross about carpet is that the dirt just goes through it and lays underneath. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mom4him Posted July 6, 2011 Share Posted July 6, 2011 I would choose hardwood. If it was up to me, we would have absolutely no carpet in our house at all. With kids I think it is impossible for it to be REALLY clean. :iagree: We have finally gotten rid of ALL our carpet. I love the hard surface floors. So much easier to keep up. If you want the feel of carpet you can put down an area rug but I sure haven't. As far as colors I would stay to a lighter/natural color. The dark hard wood shows dirt/dust/puppy paw prints much worse. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jenangelcat Posted July 6, 2011 Share Posted July 6, 2011 Anything but carpet. You can vaccuum it or shampoo it as many as you'd like. Underneath, it will still be filthy. We've ripped carpet out several times now and it's disgusting. I would never choose it. An area rug is fine, you can bake it outside in the sun and clean underneath but just say no to carpet. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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