Choosing the right flooring for each part of your home is essential to making the layout work for your lifestyle. There are a lot of different materials out there, and each one has its pros and cons. Here are some popular flooring materials used in homes today and how they can benefit your living space, as well as some disadvantages they may pose:

Carpet

This material is excellent for living rooms and bedroom floors, where you want to add some warmth to a space while also creating a comfortable underfoot. Carpet protects the floors underneath and provides cushion to children, the elderly, and pets while providing a soft place to land in case of falling. Disadvantages are its lack of water-resistance, and the material needs to be vacuumed on a regular basis.

Vinyl

Vinyl flooring is a less expensive flooring choice that can stand up to a lot of foot traffic. It is available in a variety of colors and patterns and has the ability to reduce noise underfoot-which is good news if you have noisy children and pets! Disadvantages include the tendency to dent if it comes into contact with sharp objects, possibly fading in prolonged direct sunlight, and its inability to withstand extreme temperatures.

Stone

Stone flooring has always been popular mostly for foyer areas, but it is gaining more popularity in other places in the home-even the bathroom. Available in a variety of colors and textures, this material adds an earthy flavor to any room. Disadvantages of this flooring choice include the need for regular resealing to prevent water damage, a higher tendency towards scratching, and the need for constant cleaning to keep it in pristine condition.

Hardwood

Hardwood is a truly timeless flooring choice. Most homes have this material installed somewhere inside them. Bedrooms, hallways, and dining rooms are all popular places to have hardwood. Its natural origins give any space a down-to-earth look while adding class at the same time. Some disadvantages to hardwood are its tendency to warp in moisture-prone and high0humidity areas. Additionally, the installation also takes longer than most ready-to-go flooring choices and can be more expensive.

If you would like to learn more about any of these flooring choices, one of our expert sales associates would love to assist you. Call or visit us for more information!

If you have kids, you know that they can be tough on your house, especially floors.  For a kid’s playroom or bedroom, there are plenty of flooring options that will please your style and stand up to the daily rigors of life with kids.  If your kids don’t have a designated playroom, having the right flooring in your living room and family room is even more key.  Once the toys and games are put away, you’ll want to feel like you are sitting in your room and not a play zone.

If you are putting in new flooring, talk with us about the best options for kids.  You can also take our “How I Live Quiz” to learn more about the best flooring options suitable for your lifestyle and home. There are many stain resistant and stain repellent carpets on the market. This means you can put carpet in a kids’ area and not fear every time something spills it will stain forever. Another option for carpeted rooms is to put a large area rug over the carpet to protect it.  Feel free to browse our area rug catalog to learn more.  As the kids get older, you can remove the area rug or swap it out for a new pattern or color. With this same idea in mind, carpet squares can be used and replaced if they get stained.

Hard surfaces like tile and stone are durable but might be too tough on little knees and elbows. Hardwood is good as is cork, which has a soft feeling under foot. Again, area rugs are your friends when it comes to protecting floors.

Kids and pets are probably the hardest on your floors.  Work with your flooring person to choose the best option that will be durable and stylish for years to come.

This room, although clearly constructed of today’s materials, strongly echoes days of yore when a person’s home was his castle – literally.

Would you like to insert a medieval flavor to your décor? Take a few tips from this room to get started. Only a few of these touches will take your space back more than a few centuries.

To begin with, the slate floor helps to create the character of a castle while avoiding the problems associated with the reed floors popular at the time. Slate’s rich variety of color and texture adds a crafted mood to the floor that suits the Gothic mood of this room.

The window, doorway and fireplace surround echo a gothic mood with the classic arch shape. Although it is rarely seen, several window companies offer windows with this Gothic arch, and a number of companies offer window coverings that will work for this shape. The style certainly maintains the feel of another time.

Stone carvings and tapestries suit the space and keep to the medieval framework. Choosing tapestry throws to cover the upholstery and adding candles and greenery also complement the look. The balcony almost begs to see Shakespeare’s youngest heroine waiting for her Romeo.

While you may not want a room as strongly set in time as this one is, there are inviting elements for anyone who wants to echo another age while creating a unique space to suit their own tastes.