When it comes to thinking about changing the flooring in your lounge have you considered the alternatives to carpet? Maybe you are fed up with the carpet getting marks on it due to it being in a high traffic area? This may not have been an issue initially but now maybe you have had kids or bought a dog or cat, or even all three.
Well there are only a few obvious alternatives to carpet, one is to put a tiled floor down, which should be very hard wearing and not scratch or mark easily, and if a tile does get damaged they are very easy and cheap to replace. Installing a tiled floor can also be done easily by anyone with basic DIY skills. Or it will not cost a lot to get them installed by a professional.
However tiled floors will feel cold on your feet in the mornings and can seem a bit clinical, also if you have children then you need to remember that tiles have no “Give” in them if children fall over on them, and they will fall over more on tiles as they are naturally more slippy, even more so when wet.
They are however very easy to keep clean with a simple mop over being required each week. Also they cannot be stained by the odd glass of red wine being dropped on them.
So if a tiled floor does not sound ideal then why not consider a laminate floor?
They are very cheap to buy these days and can be easily installed over the course of a weekend. Again you only need basic DIY skills to install them.
Unlike tiles they feel warm under foot, as wood is an insulator, indeed the majority of laminate floors are laid down on insulating boards anyway, which helps retain more heat in the room.
They are very easy to clean with just a mop or a Hoover, and they are pretty much stain resistant to anything other then a dye being spilt on them.
Or you could opt for a laminate with a rug over the top of it. This approach gives the best of both Worlds with the rug giving the comfort of a carpet yet you can easily get it dry cleaned if you spill anything on it. Most dry cleaners will be able to get red wine out of a rug. The same cannot be said for a carpet cleaner.
