Laminate or carpet?

[puzzleyourface]

Sorry, very dull thread.
But, were redecorating our living room and I can't decide on carpet or laminate.
My thoughts are:

• Laminate would be harder wearing for little children, easier to clean up sick etc and rugs could be used and replaced when needed.

But less forgiving with dust, and a harder place for a little one to fall on, also more slippery.

• Carpet would be softer for little ones and look nicer, also less dusty than laminate.

But quickly ruined by sick and stains more easily. I also hated how much our last carpet wore.

Any more points to consider?

I still don't know the answer to this despite having the same pros and cons as you. Our living area is also the dining area so we've gone with laminate and will buy a nice big cosy rug for living area. I ended up with jigsaw puzzle foam mats for little ones learning to crawl and walk as laminate is so slippy and hard. But equally when we had explosive diarrhoea and awful nappy rash I was grateful for laminate and nappy free time! I think while you have littles then laminate and easy to clean are your friend. I'm saving fabric sofas and lovely carpets for when they're older!

I would go laminate for little kids (it was vinyl when mine were small). It's easier to mop and have a nice clean floor for kids to play on than with carpet - in my house carpet seems to attract dust, grit and crumbs as soon as someone walks in a room. I currently have wooden floors and large rugs.

It's a dilemma
Probably carpet - so much less echoey with noisy children
But laminate for cleanliness

Laminate is vile and, yes, noisy. Choose a carpet that can be washed thoroughly and get a carpet cleaner. As long as you steer clear of impractical colours like cream, a half decent one would stay nice for longer than laminate.

@PickAChew laminate isn't 'vile'. Good quality wide plank laminate with bevel looks virtually identical to engineered wood.

OP I prefer carpet but if you have children you can go for laminate plus a big cheap rug that can be replaced if it's gets shitty / sicky!

Despite spending half my life cleaning it I just can't seem to keep carpet clean enough be happy with it; I'm on a mission to remove it from every room of the house. But then again we're a house of asthmatics so I prefer a hard floor from a dust perspective.

Hmm I'm swaying towards a decent, nice laminate with a good soft rug...

Laminate is much more practical than carpet. You can keep it squeaky clean and wipe fluids/ solids off easily. Stay away from the cheap stuff and it won't look vile!

The more I think about it the more I think even a vile, cheap laminate looks better than a dirty, stained carpet. Better cheap and clean in my opinion.

We are redoing the living room and it will have laminate flooring for the ease of cleaning, only rug will be in front of the hearth. Our last house had laminate everywhere and was so easy to clean though I was alway surprised at how big the dust bunnies got under the bed! It showed how much dust and hair is caught and held by the carpet.

Carpet, as long as you keep it clean, it's just warmer and softer underfoot. buy a carpet cleaner, they aren't expensive, and doesn't take long to give a carpet a going over, so the difference in cleaning time isn't much.

I'd also say if you're not on a very tight budget, have it scotch guarded too.