THINGS TO CONSIDER WHEN CHOOSING YOUR HOME FLOORING
One of the best things that you can do to improve your home is to upgrade the floors, because your flooring will often set the tone for the look and feel of your entire place. However finding the right flooring for your home can require a lot of careful consideration, and the following looks at some of the big factors to keep in mind.
The Look
Before you pick out your new floors it is a good idea to get some advice from an interior decorator, because it is important that whatever flooring you choose will look good with the style and colour of the rest of your interior areas. It is also wise to have your floors professionally installed so that they can look as good as possible, because if you have a go at putting them in yourself you could end up ruining the look of your entire place.
The Climate
Your flooring needs to suit the type of climate that you live in, otherwise you will constantly struggle with being either too hot or too cold. If you live in a hot climate it is wise to invest in cooler flooring options such as marble, concrete or slate tiles, however if you live somewhere that gets quite cold you are better off with flooring that retains the heat well, such as carpet, rubber or cork.
Cleaning
Unless you are willing to spend large amounts of time cleaning your floors it is important that you do some research before choosing your flooring material, because some surfaces will take a lot more effort to keep clean than others. The easiest floors to keep clean are those that are made from natural stones or polished concrete, whereas synthetic materials such as carpets can be a nightmare if they get dirty.
The Environment
Any time you are considering having a home improvement done it is important that you are choosing the most environmentally friendly option possible, and when it comes to the various types of flooring available some options are far more ‘green’ than others. The most eco-friendly floors are those that last the longest, as well as those that use fewest resources and energy to install, which make carpets among the worst options for flooring and slate, paving stones and polished concrete among the best. So before you make your flooring choice find out what kind of impact it will have on the environment and always choose the least destructive option available.
The Price
The cost of those various flooring options will often make a big difference to your choice, however, for the most part you get what you pay for with floors, with more expensive, higher quality flooring far more likely to last a lot longer than their inexpensive counterparts. So even if you have to borrow money to afford one of those higher end options, it will usually mean far better value for money in the long run and it will also add a significant amount to the value of your home.