May 9, 2014

Hardwood floors

We've lived in three houses over the last few years.

House #1 had cheap laminate floors in the living areas/kitchen.

2009-2011
Pretty, but cheap.  Impossible to keep clean because you're not supposed to mop them. 

House #2 had stick-down tiles and white carpeting.

2011-2013
If I were in charge of the world, white carpeting would no longer exist.  Stick down tiles are fine for laundry rooms, bathrooms, and that's what we put in the dog pen in the basement (easy to clean!).  They're not for kitchens and foyers.  Actually, I take that back.  We've put them into the house we own in Pennsylvania.  Like, I said, we're fans of them, but not 800 sq. feet of them in a rental house. Plus, they can peel with too much wear.  Or from doing too much kickboxing on top of them (not that I would know anything about my sneaker causing a tile to peel…)

House #3 has ceramic tiles and white carpeting.

2013-2014
Again with the carpet.  Ugh.  I do like the ceramic though. 

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Our new house has linoleum and carpeting.  The carpeting in the bedrooms is pretty new, and we like the idea of carpeting in bedrooms, so we'll most likely leave that.  The carpeting in the living and dining areas will be ripped up and the linoleum in the kitchen and entry ways will disappear.  Actually, since Scott is going out there before I am, it would be nice if the linoleum was gone before I ever even see the place.

We're going to do hardwood all through the living, dining, and kitchen areas. We're fans of darker stains and are leaning toward bamboo.  Since Scott is (hopefully) going to be an environmental engineer and all, we like the idea of using a very renewable resource.  Well, he does.  I'm the teacher who never, ever wins the recycling contest at school.


We're going to do our cabinets in an antique white.  We'll actually be refinishing the ones that are already there.  I think this color of flooring will complement the cabinets well.

What would you put on your floors if you could?  Any recommendations? The living room/kitchen/eating area all flows together in this house we bought, so I think that one continuous floor material would make it look best.  I do like ceramic in kitchens, but if it's a small kitchen, might as well make it the same as the dining area!

Unfortunately, it is a small kitchen.  Guess that means it just has to be extra nice.  

14 comments:

  1. My two favorite kinds of floors are ceramic tile and hardwood. We have 4 rooms with hardwood floors in this house since it was built in the days when that was pretty much what they used for floors (when my parents moved in 22 years ago, the hardwood floors were covered with linoleum or carpet).
    I prefer ceramic tile in really hot climates because it stays so cool, but in chilly climates I'd go for wood floors!

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  2. We have hardwood floors throughout this entire house. It's so pretty but such a pain to keep clean with the dog and cat. I'm constantly sweeping. The other downfall is poor bailey doesn't have traction ANYWHERE! haha She gets what we call "the zoomies" where she runs around wild for a few minutes--but she really doesn't do it in this house because she just slides everywhere haha! I'd still choose hardwoods over carpet! I can convince myself it's cleaner!

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  3. We have ceramic tile in the kitchen. I like it. We have hardwood floors on the top two levels. The main floor will be replaced with new hardwood and the top will be carpeted before we sell.

    The basement has linoleum. We're never down there so I don't care.

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  4. I love hardwood floors. Not light wood though! Our current house has really light flooring. It's awful. No matter how much I clean it, it still looks dirty.

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  5. We have tile all downstairs and we love it! It's a darker 20x20 tile and it's perfect for us.

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  6. I like hardwood with area rugs in the living spaces and carpet in the bedrooms. Our current house has tile in the kitchen and bathrooms, but I would prefer hardwoods in the kitchen if I were building a dream home. Tile in the baths!

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  7. I have conflicting emotions about carpet. We have old hard wood floor in our house, and they're not very pretty. I actually want carpet in our dining room and living room (we don't really using our dining room for dining haha). The thing I don't like about hard floor surfaces is that you have to clean them twice. The first time you have to sweep, and then you need to mop. And you know how I feel about cleaning.

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  8. Sometime soon (I've been saying that for 2 years now) we're going to put new flooring in our house. Ceramic tile in the bathrooms and laundry room, and some type of hardwood flooring in the rest of the house, including the bedrooms (rugs, yo!). We are debating getting vinyl "hardwood" flooring though - after looking at it in person, some of them actually look REALLY nice, and they won't get ruined if our dishwasher decides to flood all over the kitchen or something. Plus, Alaska...dirt, mud, water all over the place, I need something I can mop the crap out of to keep it clean.

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  9. We have laminate flooring in the living room, hall and in our bedroom. I am okay with it because our carpet was horrible and we got a good deal at Costco, but I do wish it was darker.

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  10. Our condo currently has old white carpet and linoleum. I'm hoping for much much nicer things whenever we move. Can't wait to see your house :)

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  11. I want that kitchen! We are getting laminate flooring (mid range, but textured and mid-level brown) throughout the first floor next week. I'm so excited, but it's going to make the cabinets in the kitchen look all shades of ugly. I see a cabinet reface in our future...

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  12. Love that floor! We have off white carpet in our apartment...I freakin hate it.

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  13. My personal choice would be hardwood floors with a darker stain. We share the same sentiments with flooring. I also think that having a dark stain on your hardwood floor always looks good with the interior design of the house. I just really don't prefer carpets, especially if there are kids and pets. Just thinking of animal hair stuck on my carpet makes me shudder. Haha!
    Pat Ballard @ Cheap Floors Los Angeles

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  14. I prefer laminated wood flooring. Their average cost is usually 50% less than hardwood, and they are easier to clean on a routine basis. They're pretty durable as well, but be careful with low quality laminated wood flooring. They tend to have very obvious artificial looking wood grain textures, so you should really be cautious in choosing. Thanks for sharing that, Kristin! All the best to you!

    Nathan Riley @ Stanley Steemer

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