What to do with dining room floor?

[Standstilling]

My dining room has a revolting patterned carpet which was there when I moved in. Beneath that are very orange floorboards but probably in reasonable condition from the corner I looked at.

I will be knocking through to the kitchen at some point but that won't be in the budget for at least 2 years.

What to do? Do I rip up the vile carpet and live with the orangey floorboards? Do I put something cheap down for a couple of years (like the vinyl roll end I found for the kitchen - £150 fitted). Agh, decisions...

If knocking through is a definite don't spend lots of money on new flooring. If you can afford that £150 for lino then go for it but as long as the carpet was in a decent enough condition I'd keep it and use it as motivation to get the kitchen money saved quicker. Maybe some vanish carpet cleaner to make it a bit more sanitary, who knows what's in/on decades old carpet!

Decades old carpet - ugh, I know. I try not to think about it. So frustrating because the dining room is decorated quite nicely but the carpet is stopping it looking at all decent.

Good point about motivating factor though.

I know this sound extra judgey but if I went to someone's house & they had a lovely decorated room with cheap vinyl floor I would think they either had bad taste or bad budgeting. Awful carpet just shows that the room is unfinished. It sucks to have to keep it but it won't be there forever.

Joining you on the judgey bench, that’s exactly what I think

I'd just live with it, and you could also do what we did which was keep taking chunks out of it for other, house-wide bits which needed doing first, e.g. changing the heating. Gives it that real 'project' feel We're almost done and have bare screed now for a month or so!

Would you consider painting the floorboards? Very popular at present. Look at Houzz and search painted floorboards for inspiration. Could be a good and fashionable interim solution.

I'd probably give it a professional clean and live with it, but if your really don't like it, you could get a piece of carpet for a normal sized dining room, fitted, for

Why not use the floorboards? You could have a big rug over it? I have a cheap jute rug off Amazon that I am using to cover the cheap nasty laminate I have inherited.

I couldn't live with the carpet due to it being....carpet with God knows what on it 🙈

Thanks for all the suggestions. Painting - yes, that has crossed my mind.

And taking chunks out of it - tick - big section gone near the doors from CH work, patched with nice carpet left over from upstairs. Definite project feel. In fact, it's probably the theme of the whole house.

Cheap carpet - good idea. But my animals/kids don't suit carpet

I am thinking of a medium-term solution because the knocking through is connected to a whole load of work that needs doing and that I have next to no idea how I'm going to save for it.

So, painting... what colour? White would look great for about 5 minutes. Off to Houzz I think...

If the orange floorboards are in good nick and varnished with the old polyurethane varnish, they'll be pretty bombproof. That's what most of our downstairs is. Our dining room is poorly maintained Danish oil and mostly black and sticky, despite my best efforts to clean it. I shall be taking that back and replacing it with the tough stuff, when I get chance!