Living room flooring

[LynnieLurker]

Hi there,

Having just bought a new house I am after the collective wisdom of mumsnet to help guide me through flooring!

The living room carpet is horrendously stained, dirty and grubby. It has to go. I fancy wooden flooring. . .or laminate? Or....what would you guys recommend from experience? Looking at approximately 15m2 to cover.

I'm not a fan of either because decent carpet provides comfort underfoot, sound insulation and warmth. If I were you I would either clean the carpet if it is otherwise in good condition or replace it with a carpet of my choice if it isn't in good nick.

I prefer carpet too. We spend a lot of time sitting on the floor and wood or laminate is hard and cold. I have good carpet with a nice underlay. It is warm and cosy to sit on and walk with barefeet.

My preference is: kitchen/utility/downstairs loo all tiled, hall/dining room wooden, lounge carpeted - same reasons as above

I have laminate with a big soft rug by the settees, find it much easier to keep clean than when we had carpet, but we do have 3 children.

We have laminate all downstairs. I would prefer carpet but with DC and cats, it would get grubby fast.

IMO if your living room is also a "walkway" to other rooms/stairs then you have to go laminate/wood. If it's a "side room" then carpet is an option

I can recommend a brand of laminate if you want a decent one

In the house we just sold we laid engineered oak flooring in the three reception rooms. When we bought the house - needed complete gutting - there was bare concrete in two of the rooms and a mix of old (but not original to the Georgian house) quarry tiles and more concrete in the third, so we had to start from scratch.

We already had some amazing rugs so it was always the intention to lay wood flooring - had to go with engineered because of damp issues as the house was built into the dude of a hill - then add the rugs to create cosiness......

Only issue we found was that the floor attracted dust like nobody's business, not helped by our rural A-road location.

Meant to add, our new (Victorian with an Arts & Crafts extension) house has 1920s parquet in the main reception rooms which we'll be keeping and again adding rugs for comfort/injection of colour. The hallway, staircases, bedrooms and bathroom all have horrid, smelly carpet which is coming up as soon as the Christmas trees come down......and won't be replaced. Instead we'll have wood effect karndean in the bathrooms and painted floors with rugs in the bedrooms & office......but we have no young DC to take into account.

You can't beat good quality wood and nice rugs. Carpet is only nice when new IMO, and gets grubby very quickly.
I like the idea of marmoleum too, but haven't had a chance to use it.

We've got old original flagstones. They're cold and damp, I'd prefer wide oak planks with a good rug.

Wood flooring and rugs. Then the rugs are much easier to replace and cheaper than new carpet.

We have wooden floors in living area. Rug 1 - ds1 vommitted carrot on. Rug 2 - ds2 vommitted on repeatedly for 2 days (3 months old). Rug 3 - I spilt red wine! Has def been easier to throw the rugs instead of ripping up carpet. We also have odd muddy boots from guests so can just wipe floors easier.

Engineered wood floor with underfloor heating and rugs.

Thank you everyone ...lots to think about. Yes please blue van to a recommendation.

I do know what you mean about carpets those of you who prefer them but with a growing family it doesn't feel practical at the moment. Will def have a rug though and some big cushions for the floor.

Off to research marmeleon and the one beginning with k.......

I hear cork is coming back and is updated

We have just gone from carpet after thirty to Karndean in the lounge, and also have Amtico in the hall, kitchen and bathroom.

They both need specialist professional installation, but are excellent:

www.karndean.com/en-gb/floors?

www.amtico.com/

. . . thirty years . . . I should have said.

wood with a large rug. agree carpet is only nice when new.

We have oak wooden flooring in living room and love it. Still looks good 5 years on. Changed from carpet. The carpet (cream) was almost new when we moved in. It took two years for us to ruin it with stains etc. Currently have cream carpet in bedroom, again ruined in a few years because of kids vomit and mud stains and am looking into Kardean to replace it.

The laminate I'd recommend is Quick-Step. Sorry to be mysterious, wasn't sure on MN brand posting guidelines but if everyone's throwing Karndean and Amtico around then I say Quick-Step.
'K and A' need a lot more prep work going into them so does add onto the price and timescale

Carpetright LVT. Cost effective, warm and their country oak plank is very realistic. No grout lines and withstands moisture. It's absolutely brilliant for Kitchens and bathrooms. I have it everywhere. There is a YouTube video about it somewhere too!

It's called tegola

Wood is warm, easy to clean , hardwearing, improves with age, with nice rugs can be cosy , IMO better than carpet or laminate

i like that cookie- just did a price for my small living room and it was nearly £800.00

We have carpet in the lounge. I agree with previous posters that it just makes for a cosy room. It is beige and despite being laid 4.5 years ago when we moved into the house - with 2 x 4yr olds and a 9 month old baby, and me having spilt wine / kicked over coffee, it is still going strong and looks as good as new. We have just installed solid wood throughout the kitchen diner and it is lovely, just feels colder, the room is noisy and it feels "practical" rather than welcoming. Fine for the kitchen diner but not what I want for the lounge. We don't tend to use the lounge other than for TV watching in the evening, or the family having a movie night etc, so I suppose it depends on what you use the room for.

I had laminate for a few years and then switched to carpet. Room felt noticeably warmer. Yes, it needs cleaning every now and then but still more pleasant to live with.