Home Flooring DOs and DON’Ts

• DO:  Consider the layout of your home.

When choosing flooring it is incredibly important to consider the layout  of your home.  For instance, if you have an open floor plan you likely want to install the same flooring throughout the main living space of your home.  If you opt to install different flooring in different rooms, consider the natural flow and how it will look to the eye.  Having two different kinds of flooring, even with a nice transition, will break up the space to the eye and could make it seem smaller.
 

• DON’T:  Forget to factor who lives in the home into the decision.

When choosing flooring type, who lives in the home will play a significant factor in your decision.  After all, if two retirees live in the home and have no pets, home flooring will see significantly less wear and tear than if it is a family of five with small children and pets.  Hardwood floors are lovely but if you have small children running around and dropping toys or pets running across hardwood flooring all of those marks and scratches will begin to show quickly.  You may opt to choose a more durable flooring option such as tile.
 

• DO:  Consider the use of the room.

Is it a kitchen, living room, bathroom, bedroom or somewhere else in the home?  What the room is used for will affect the type of flooring you choose to install.  For instance, in a kitchen there is a lot of liquids and potential spills.  Because of this, hardwood flooring is likely not ideal because it can be more easily damaged or stained.  The same goes for the bathroom.  If you are choosing flooring for your living room it will likely see less foot traffic so hardwood flooring or carpet would make a lovely choice.
 

• DON’T:  Neglect to consider the climate in which you live.

This may not jump out as a major concern but climate can affect the flooring you choose.  For example, if you live in an incredibly humid or moist climate hardwood flooring could warp over time and cause major problems.
 

• DO:  Take style into consideration.

When choosing flooring it is important to consider all practical factors but you still need to consider what your personal style is.  Do you love the look of hardwood floors?  Are you very interested in ceramic tile?  Are you intrigued by travertine?  If you have an interest in a particular kind of flooring you should, by all means, consider having it installed.  Just factor in the practical considerations when making your choice as well.  If you want to install tile in a herringbone pattern in your master bathroom – do it!
 

• DON’T:  Go overly trendy.

Speaking of herringbone pattern – be wary of going too trendy with flooring.  It may be tempting to try the latest and great in flooring or try interesting installation patterns but if you go overboard with trends you will likely live to regret the decision.  For example, a herringbone pattern installed in a master bathroom will look great and visually interesting and it is not a huge commitment.  If you choose to install a herringbone pattern throughout the entirety of your main living area in an open concept floor plan, you could become incredibly sick of the pattern in a few years and have to undergo a major flooring transformation to make it something a bit more timeless.