Hallway flooring, what is a good choice?

[treaclesoda]

Any suggestions as to what to use on the floor in my hallway? Its got tiles there at the moment, and they are horrible. They were there when we moved in. Its a modern house, no character features or anything. DH would like to just replace the horrible tiles with nice ones, but on the other hand, the hallway is very cold. Would wood be an option? And if so, what sort? I have a horror of laminate, as I associate it with the horrible plastic looking stuff that scratches really easily, but maybe they've moved on? Does anyone use carpet in a hall these days? I haven't seen carpet in a hallway in years, but it would be so cosy...There is a neutral carpet on the stairs though, and its in good shape and we wouldn't want to replace it, so carpet is probably out anyway.

Can anyone inspire me?

DON'T carpet the hallway what ever you do - you will be forever washing it and it will be ruined within a year.

Tiles, solid wood flooring or lamiate are your best options. Laminate has improved a lot. I've had mine down for a year now and it still looks ok despite it being the at the cheaper end of the scale - and that's with 2 kids and a dog. No scratches yet.

In our last house we had pale beige carpet put down by the previous owners and it got smelly and dirty despite us putting a plastic runner down.

We're now in a rented house with laminate in the hall which is a few years old. It looks really nice and stays clean. No signs of scratches.

Perhaps you could compromise as you say the hall is cold. Put laminate down but put some removable washable mats down. Or is there something that causes it to be cold like a draught coming through a front door which you could add a seal to?

how about Karndean...posh vinyl. love ours and it will shortly be throughout our downstairs, warmish underfoot and easy to clean

ooh, we have Karndean in the kitchen and it is excellent, don't know why I never thought about that as a possibility for the hall.

Thanks for your suggestions. I'll investigate all the options!