Living Room Flooring: Carpet vs Wood
When thinking about your home's flooring, the options can feel overwhelming...but it need not be! Hamilton Flooring has almost 30 years of experience with consulting on and fitting incredible flooring solutions for clients all across the Midlands and further afield.
Part of our success is down to our dedication to providing consistently quality flooring services using the best products available at a Working with some of the biggests and best names in the flooring industry, from Karndean and Amtico toAltro, Polyflor and Burmatex, we are pleased to offer a huge range of styles, surfaces and solutions to our clients.
It is important that the flooring you choose for your home is the right one for your lifestyle and decor. When it comes to your living room - lounge, sitting room or whatever you call it - style, comfort and practicality is the order of the day! Living room floors need to be hardworking and durable as this room is one of the most used rooms in a home. The two most popular flooring choices for the living room in the past few years have been carpet or wood effect flooring
It is important to consider the pros and cons of each option and compare them in order to make the best informed decision for your home flooring solutions.
Carpet Flooring: What are the Pros and Cons?
Carpet is traditionally a very popular flooring choice for living rooms and there are many reasons why people may choose carpet for their living room. Here are some of the pros and cons of choosing carpet as your flooring solution for your living room.
The Pros of Carpet for your Living Room
One of the biggest pros for carpet in the Uk is that it is one of the warmest options for home flooring. This is essential for helping with insulation as well as making the floor warmer underfoot. The UK has such changeable weather that even in the summer, the warmth of carpet is still a welcomed comfort when the chill of the evening kicks in or on those inevitable rainy days.
Furthermore, carpet is a soft and comfortable surface to walk on and provides a wonderful cushion to rest your feet on after a long day. This makes it ideal for a living room where relaxation and entertaining takes place. The softness of carpet is also something of a safety feature, particularly if you have children running around!
Another wonderful property of carpet is its ability to absorb sound. In our bustling modern homes, anything that can aid a bit of peace and quiet is a bonus!
Carpets are an attractive addition to your living room decor. With almost endless designs and styles available, you are sure to find a carpet to fit both your style and your lifestyle.
The Cons of Carpet for your Living Room
There are many reasons why Carpet is an ideal choice for your living room, however it is also important to consider any negatives to carpet. Perhaps the biggest negative aspects of carpet is the fact that carpet can stain and gather dirt quite easily. Unlike some smoother surfaced flooring solutions, the texture of carpet can mean that dirt and allergens are trapped within the fibres of the carpet.
A perhaps controversial argument against carpet is the subjective view that carpet can look dated. Personally, we at Hamilton Flooring think that there are so many designs and materials on the market these days that this is no longer the case. Though it is certainly true that modern interior design tends to feature hard flooring over carpet there is also an argument that many contemporary styles lend themselves to carpet. Bright and airy styles or maximalist styles alike can all be complemented by carpet.
Carpet may also have a shorter lifespan than other flooring options. Again this is quite dependant on the type and brand of carpet installed but generally it will not remain looking as fresh for as long as some other flooring types.
Desso: Airmaster Home B730 1660
Wood Effect Flooring: What are the Pros and Cons?
Wooden flooring is a very popular choice in modern homes. With the benefits of wood effect flooring through Luxury Vinyl Tile, Vinyl Flooring and Linoleum means that expensive hardwood flooring is no longer necessary to achieve the stunning effect of wooden flooring. Furthermore, wood effect flooring has some interesting characteristics which make it a great choice for the home. Having said this, as with all things there are also downsides to wood effect flooring. Let's take a look at the pros and cons of wood effect flooring when it comes to living room flooring options.
The Pros of Wood Effect Flooring for your Living Room
Wood effect flooring looks amazing. From an aesthetic point of view, a Luxury Vinyl Tile in Wood Effect is nearly indistinguishable from the real thing! Modern and contemporary design utilises the visual impact of wood effect flooring and the wide range of finishes available in wood effect flooring such as Karndean and Amtico’s Wood Effect Luxury Vinyl Tile and Forbos linoleum and marmoleum. Each of these brands feature traditional finishes like oak alongside modern light washes and reclaimed wood effect as well as trends such as scandi and industrial styles.
When it comes to realistic wood effect vinyl flooring solutions, Karndean and Amtico really are leading the pack! Both companies use the latest technology to achieve outstanding true-to-life wood effect vinyl options which feature intricate grain details and the unique characteristics of real woods to provide the unmistakable appearance of the natural material! It’s so convincing, no one needs to know it's not the real thing! Forbo is also well known for producing striking wood effect linoleum however it is perhaps not quite as realistic as LVT due to the manufacturing process. Find out more about linoleum flooring by reading ‘Is Linoleum Back in Fashion? Flooring Trends at Hamilton Flooring’
Wood effect Luxury Vinyl Flooring which has embossed elements to add to the textural realism of the product, these layers are always protected by a coating which can be recoated to refresh the flooring - although this is not normally required in the first decade of use. In terms of maintenance, Luxury vinyl Flooring requires only basic sweeping and mopping as needed and does not require specialist products (although you will be advised on products which are not suitable for use with this flooring by nature of overly harsh abrasion which will affect the longevity of the flooring).
With wood effect flooring there are a huge variety of costing options and you can create the effect of an extremely expensive wooden flooring for a fraction of the cost with the additional benefits associated with a synthetic flooring solution. One of the main benefits is the increased level of comfort experienced with Luxury Vinyl flooring when compared to natural wood. There is additional cushioning with LVT as well as the benefit of extremely tight connections meaning that you won't experience creaks and groans from moving wood. Because wood is a natural product with porous characteristics and quirks, planks can warp and move over time creating uneven surfaces due to moisture and changes in temperature. This is not something that is a concern with LVT. Although extreme exposure to UV light is not recommended from an aesthetic perspective, the materials used within the layers which make up LVT are resistant to changes in temperature and are resistant to moisture. On that note it should be said that unlike sheet vinyl, LVT is water resistant rather than fully waterproof. If there were to be a flooding situation, LVT can be taken up, dried out and relaid, or sections replaced because of its modular laying system.
The Cons of Wood Effect Flooring for your Living Room
However, there are negatives associated with wood effect flooring - one of the main ones being that they are not as soft underfoot as carpet.
Wood effect flooring is often compatible with underfloor heating and is generally warmer underfoot than other flooring types but it is certainly true that carpet is warmer than Wood effect LVT or Linoleum.
LVt or linoleum flooring is extremely durable and hard wearing but it is also possible to scratch or dent with heavy furniture so care should be taken.
Karndean: Van Gogh collection VGW86T Classic Oak
Comparing Carpet and Wood Effect Flooring for your Living Room
Knowing the pros and cons of both flooring solutions it can be useful to compare them when considering which would be most suitable for your living room.
Wood effect flooring such as LVT or Linoleum is particularly well suited to modern homes with contemporary interior and aesthetics. Carpet on the other hand is well suited to family homes where comfort and noise control is key.
When asking the question is wood effect flooring cheaper than carpet, it’s important to look long-term. Both materials have various price ranges with pricier and more budget options available. Carpet in tile form is maybe more cost-effective as individual tiles can be replaced if damaged whereas wall-to-wall carpet would need to be fully replaced. However, when it comes to wood effect flooring, tile and plank options are also common therefore there is little difference in that sense.
Ultimately, both flooring types have a number of pros and cons making both excellent choices for your living room floor. Therefore, the choice between Carpet or Wood Effect flooring generally comes down to personal style tastes and the interior design aesthetic you wish to achieve.
Amtico Signature Collection: Trace Kaolin
Carpet and Wood Effect Flooring at Hamilton Flooring
Hamilton Flooring are a nationwide professional flooring company based in the West Midlands, offering a large range of products and services to suit any requirement. Our flooring experts can advise, plan, supply and fit your living room flooring, no matter which flooring option you choose. Contact Hamilton Flooring to find out more.
Unless otherwise stated, Images are used for illustrative purposes and do not represent work untaken by Hamilton flooring - examples of work completed can be found in our Gallery