Wooden floor or carpet?

[Sittinginthesun]

For our living room. Huge space, and bit nervous about having a wooden floor.

Do people still have carpets?

Wood's loads easier to look after with kids/dogs/parties. Buy a massive beautiful rug. What are you nervous about?

Hedging my bets - carpet in my main sitting room and wooden flooring in my open plan kitchen/dining/family space (also in study and hallway). Tiled floors in utility and cloakroom.

I have wooden floors and was dying to get carpet as it is cosier. I changed my mind after seeing the dirt on ds's clothes when he crawled in someone's carpeted house. I know they hoover v regularly. If you are confident that you can keep kids and pets out, go for it!

We have an oak floor throughout our downstairs and it's lovely. In the large living room we also have a big rug under the coffee table, which is enough of both worlds for us.

wooden floors are noisier, so not suitable for upstairs rooms or flats, and tend to be colder, especially in older houses. If you can insulate between the joists either as part of the fitting, or by crawling underneath, it will be more comfortable and save energy costs.

Thanks everyone. It's a 1960's house, with a large living/dining room. Has a tendency to look a bit like an aircraft hanger, and I'm just a bit worried it will look too cold.

I am just so rubbish at making decisions...

It is for one room - go for it!

I'd say wood, with big rugs. Rugs are much easier to clean or replace when they get minging.

As it's a 1960s house you could also consider cork flooring which I think was popular in the 1960s and is having a bit of a revival - less noisy and possibly a bit warmer than wood?

Having had oak floor in our last lounge, I would say go for carpet every time! It was too cold and not cosy-even with lovely rugs.

We now have a biscuit coloured carpet in the lounge, which doesn't seem to show any grime-we get it cleaned once a year, and wood in the hall/dining room which is much nicer (imho).

If I could afford it I'd go for solid wood but I can't so I'm having to go for laminate. I'd never opt for carpet as its a cottage & all bedrooms lead off it so its gonna be very very very busy.

Wooden floor!! Carpets are disgusting.

Go for the wood! And the most expensive that you can afford as cheaper wood flooring is a false economy both in terms of look and function. We have original pine floorboards in our kitchen and dining room - having them resanded and varnished today/tomorrow actually so I'm not looking forward to the mess when I get home - and while I love them I'd really love to be able to afford the really nice new stuff - we priced up some and with our floor size it would be over £2000!

Carpets really do hoard dust no matter how good your hoover is!

My new house has wooden floors in the living and dining room. I'm not sure how to look after them though? I was going to get a soft rug for the centre, possibly.

Hmmm, sitting in the living room now, and thinking about the rugs. We'd either need a couple of enormous ones, or at least three medium ones.

Agree go for wood , we recently had oak floors laid in the entire down stairs of our house and I love it .

Wood, always wood! Carpet smells! hth!

I'd have to go the the Massive Rug Sale!

I'd get a large one.

I've never had carpets. Wood looks fabulous and is easy to maintain.

I hoover daily (DCs have allergies and we have a cat) and use a microfibre mop and very diluted white vinegar about once a week. I occasionally wax them (they are sealed)

I'm always amazed how much comes up in the hoover and I wonder about how much hair and dust the average carpet harbours.

Go for wood but you will have to factor in buying big rugs. Laura Ashley has nice ones if you want traditional and often have good sales.

Having had a house with both I say carpets. We spent a few years tripping over the rugs on our wooden floor and trying to keep the dust off it. Carpet is cosy - especially as we only get a few months a year of hot weather (if that!). A good vacuum cleaner and a proper clean every few years and you're sorted!!