Has your teenage daughter got carpet in her room?

[IHeartKingThistle]

Having a dispute with DH about this!

DD is 13. We've agreed as her birthday present to redecorate her room. Her carpet is 3 years old and wrecked - she's a lovely kid but can be careless and the carpet has nail varnish and acrylic paint on it which will never come out. It never looks clean even when freshly hoovered. She does try to be careful (and no longer paints up there!) but accidents do happen.

I don't want to pay out for new carpet that's just going to get grubby again. I'd rather she had laminate and a rug that can be cleaned. DH says nobody has hard floors in bedrooms.

Just wondered if he's right! What flooring do your teen girls have? I grew up with floorboards in my bedroom so don't see it as weird!

Just done DD14 room, she designed it, black low pile carpet, patterned b&w rug, she was previously messy but now she’s chosen everything herself she keeps it nice. I think your DD is old enough to be respectful of her room & belongings, you can’t always decorate with the expectancy she’ll make a mess, she’s not a toddler, I’d be telling her if she makes a mess then she’ll need to live with it.

Just leave the carpet down.

We have laminate cladding on our stairs and I love it.

We have wood everywhere, and honestly I'd never go back. It's a delight to hoover and always looks fresh

18 year old has laminate with a huge rug.
15 year old has laminate, no rug.

I don't like laminate floors - they're cold underfoot and they're noisy if you're sat in the room underneath them! There's a reason a lot of upper floor flats make you use carpet instead of laminate or Lino.

Wooden floors and rugs are nice, though.

I have laminate floors in the bedrooms. Some laminate is awful but you can get some really nice stuff these days. So easy to clean.

I'd just put a large rug over the existing grubby carpet. If she doesn't want the rug then she'll have to live with her "accidents".

Yes, all our kids had carpets.
I've removed nail varnish and you can remove paint too.
I used a stanley blade on the paint and nail varnish remover on the nail varnish.
A good carpet clean and you won't need to replace it.
Ours are replaced as they leave, so due another soon

We put a cheap carpet in our tween DD's room as she has started experimenting with makeup etc and is messy with it! Also I placed a washable rug under her makeup area in case she drops something on the floor there.

Make up is a nightmare on carpets. When dd changes her room at about 16 she went for a grey laminate as she liked to do her make up in her room. At that age she wasn't playing in her room and with a double bed, computer desk and free standing furniture decided not to have a rug. It has stood test of time and she doesn't regret it

Yes, she has the carpet we had in there when it was our room. When we moved rooms we gave her the option of a new carpet we would expect her to keep clean or to have our old carpet and we would accept make up stains on it, she opted to keep the carpet.

I don't have girls, but my 17 year old paints a lot and he has lino in his room. He shares with his brother who has asthma, so it's better for him as well as being easy to clean.

I never realised laminate was so controversial! I got rid of carpets everywhere but the stairs (even got the landing and hallway floored) because I couldn’t bear the potty training/ constant spills/ dog smell. The sooner everything in my house is wipe clean, the better

I got fake nail glue all over my childhood laminate floor in my bedroom. It is still there 20 years later

You can get a carpet for as little as £9 per square meter nowadays so I would put in a cheap one. Don’t get wool or wool blend they might feel brilliant but don’t clean well.

I don't like laminate floors - they're cold underfoot and they're noisy if you're sat in the room underneath them!

Agree. We moved into a house where one bedroom had laminate. We ripped it up.
OP are you detached or semi? Asking because laminate causes sound to travel. We could hear every word our old neighbours said once they ripped up the carpet and replaced with laminate.

I was the worst as a teenager. There are multiple burns in the carpet in my old room from straighteners. Only saviour is it's dark brown so spills etc don't show!

Future hint, once nail varnish is spilled, pour a little nail varnish remover on and blot (don't rub) then get some hairspray and spray it on the area (quite close). I found this trick after spilling nail varnish on a rug in a house rental, the rug was cream and the nail varnish navy blue. Couldn't see it afterwards, you just need to give the carpet a bit of a brush to get the crispyness out.

I'd steam clean the carpet then put rugs down on top. Keeps the house warm.

Hard floors upstairs are noisy apart from anything else.

I’d go for a reasonably cheap carpet OR give her the option of just having the existing one cleaned and you not ranting at her when she spills stuff. 14 yo has cream carpet and there’s not a mark on it - she’s not even careful, just lucky!

We have either wooden flooring or tiles throughout the house, and soften the look with rugs. I can't bear carpets, they may feel nice underfoot but it's impossible to keep them clean. With three boys and two dogs hard flooring is much more hygienic. I don't notice any noise, but we've good insulation.

Would you be prepared to compromise on a cheap(ish) new carpet and a rug! That way, if things get spilled the majority of the floor will be covered and it's much easier to replace a rug than a whole carpet.

Your update about her not liking rugs, in the instance I think a conversation needs to take place along the lines of 'you need a rug as you haven't taken care of a the carpet, and they're expensive and a pain to replace! If you can take care of your new carpet/rug then we'll take the rug away'

I wouldn't put a new carpet in her room, leave the old one or replace with laminate or vinyl.

@damnthatanxiety Maine. When I moved here and suggested we put carpet in the bedroom dh looked at me like I'd taken a shit on the sofa.

The only carpet in our whole house is on the stairs. DD has painted floorboards, DS varnished, and we have stained with lots of sheepskin rugs.
Don’t give her laminate though, it’s chilly and noisy and not very nice. You can get some lovely engineered wood that you can lay on existing flooring and is not to expensive.

DD1 is 15 and has carpet in her room. It's felt-backed, bleach-cleanable, closed loop carpet in a light beige and wasn't expensive. She knows nail varnish isn't to happen in her bedroom and that her carpet won't be replaced whilst she's living at home. So far, she has looked after it well - it's been down for about five years - and I'm glad she has carpet rather than laminate or floorboards as she and her friends sound like elephants when they're up there