5 reasons laminate flooring is the best family choice

I’ve been working on a complete house renovation and we’ll be moving in next month, which is incredibly exciting. One of the big decisions for us as a family was what type of flooring to have in our new open plan living and dining room. We have a toddler and pets, so wanted to find the perfect long-lasting flooring that was suitable for the whole family. After a great deal of research and thought, we decided to have Laminate Flooring and I want to share with you the 5 reasons that make laminate flooring the perfect flooring for a family room.

Great Designs Available to suit any decor

It used to be that carpet was considered the most flexible of all the flooring since you can have it in so many different colours and patterns, but these days, there is an absolutely massive range of laminate flooring available. You can get different wood, different colours, different tones, different finishes, you can even lay in different patterns, from straight to chevron and more. Laminate flooring really offers a ton of choice and design to suit any decor. For our living room we went with a simple straight light oak design, which I feel compliments our white interior choices.

Laminate flooring looks incredibly realistic and natural, without the cost and other drawbacks of real wood flooring.

Affordable Flooring

Laminate flooring is very affordable, which is important for anyone on a budget like me! This doesn’t mean it’s cheap or low quality – but that it offers excellent value when you evaluate the cost and how long it will last, as well as comparing versus other flooring types. However, don’t forget you may also need to change your skirting boards to fit your new flooring. Something such as MDF or pine skirting boards are a great option as they’re durable and the cheapest option available. 

Hard wearing and versatile

Whether you’ve got kids, pets or even if it’s just you, you want something that is hard wearing and long lasting. Replacing the flooring in a room can be a lot of disruption to your life as you have to move all your furniture out and then install it, before redecorating again when you’re done, as well as costing money. The last thing you want is to have to be constantly repairing or replacing the flooring. Laminate flooring is made from pressed wood, which means it is more resistant to scratches and damage from regular use that you might see in hard wood flooring – including being resistant to toddler toys and pet claws, so a winner for me.

Although I went for laminate flooring in my dining room and living room, it’s really suitable for any room in the house. More and more people are choosing laminate flooring for the kitchen and bedrooms too.

Easy to Clean

Laminate flooring is incredibly easy to clean. My cleaning regime is very simple – a quick brush to pick up any dirt, hairs or debris, then a mop with a very small amount of floor cleaner. Any stubborn stains can easily be sponged off if the mop doesn’t take care of them. Then it’s dry, usually in about 10-15 minutes. If you’ve got a family or pets you know there’s a lot of cleaning to be done and it’s really easy and stress free when you have laminate flooring. Unlike hard wood flooring, it’s not easily susceptible to moisture damage.

Easy to Fit

Laminate flooring is extremely easy to fit and this can be important when choosing a flooring. The costs of hiring a professional for a complicated home improvement job can make the price of the improvement soar, but laminate flooring can be fitted by a tradesperson very quickly, or it can be fitted by you at home if you have a level floor in good condition already to work with. Laminate flooring comes in packs that simply click together called “tongue and groove” so it’s the easiest flooring to fit yourself so if you feel like saving a good amount of money and engaging in some DIY, then laminate flooring is perfect.

What were the other flooring options and why did I not choose them?

Hard Wood Flooring

We were considering choosing real wood flooring for our living room, however two factors made us decide to go for laminate flooring over hard wood flooring. The first was simply price. Laminate flooring is so much more affordable, especially if you’re looking at multiple rooms or a large room. If you are looking to increase the value on your house or selling soon, then hard wood flooring can be a great investment that increases house value. For us, we are intending to live in this house for the next twenty years, and feel we can reassess the flooring situation in ten years time.

The second reason we didn’t choose real wood flooring is that we have three cats, a toddler and intend to get a large-breed puppy in the spring. All these things can damage hard wood flooring far easier than laminate. We felt laminate flooring would be a better fit for our family and are really happy with our choice.

Another consideration was that we have bifold doors and a lot of light in the room. Hard wood floors can fade in sunlight, whereas laminate floors are UV resistant.

Tiling

Tiling is an option for flooring that is in my opinion, best suited for kitchens and bathrooms. The big advantage of tiling of course is that it is waterproof, but that’s a feature rarely needed in a living or dining room. Tiling does offer a unique look, but personally I wanted the softer, warmer and more natural look of laminate flooring.

Carpet

Carpet is the more traditional flooring. It’s available in a wide range of colours, designs and materials and is relatively inexpensive to fit (although most people will want to hire a professional carpet fitter). Carpet is certainly an option for most rooms in the house, but I prefer the natural and more modern look of laminate flooring, as well as how much easier laminate flooring is to clean. I don’t think I would choose carpet for a living or dining room again, but it can be a welcome addition to bedrooms for warmth and comfort. That being said, you can always add rugs to a room, so that’s something to consider.

Laminate flooring for me ticked all the boxes, was easily to install, transformed the room completely and didn’t break the bank, making me confident it was the best choice.

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