Downstairs Flooring - Wood or carpet with young kids?

pinkteapot

Looking at changing the flooring in our downstairs hall, lounge and dining room. All rooms are through-routes and so are high traffic areas.

I love wooden floors, and would love to go for wood throughout the three rooms (probably engineered wood - seems like the most practical option while still being nicer than laminate). The stairs coming down into the hall would remain carpeted, as would the upstairs of the house. We would then have no carpet downstairs at all (other rooms are kitchen/utility/downstairs loo which are tiled).

My mum was horrified at this idea as it's just MrTeapot and I at the moment but we want to have kids, so this will (hopefully!) be the house we have babies/toddlers in. She said wooden floors will hurt more when the kids fall down and be much noisier when they throw their toys around, run around and generally cause chaos.

Not having kids yet it's hard to imagine life at that point. I love the look and feel of wood and figure it's great in terms of keeping clean, but I can see this arguments against it.

Any other thoughts from those with screaming toddlers in the house?

loracan1

Possibly noisier when they drop toys on, but unless they're hurtling themselves down on the floor constantly it won't hurt them. Easier to clean, way more fun than carpet to play ball on, push cars around on and slide along. No longer toddlers but could keep mine entertained for hours in the dining room just by rolling things on the floor!

LandyAndy

I think I'd go for carpet.

shar46y

Currently potty training my twins and am incredibly grateful that there's no carpet downstairs

In our previous flat we had carpet in the sitting room but wood floors in the hall. This was pretty good as mud/rain/dirt from outside got walked off (just try getting tiny children to remember to use the doormat!) in the easily wipeable hall, while the living areas were cosier and warmer.

I don't miss the carpet at all in the new place - we have a rug for cosiness and the wood floor is easier for cleaning up spills and 'accidents! It is noisy when they drop toys on it, but I'd suggest that if that is the worst level of noise you have to worry about with small kids, you must have produced angels!:p

Cash-Cow_3

I like wood but wouldn't put it into a lounge. Too much wood and your house starts to look like a contemporary wine bar rather than a home. Wood is great for halls and kitchens though.

Don't worry about kids falling over they will do that whatever surface you have and usually when they do fall over it's on something really hard that hurts a lot! They learn though.

Nuninge

I agree totally with the poster talking about potty training. We have laminate all through the downstairs of out house plus a huge living room rug that we carpet clean every few months. I love the fact that at the end of the day a quick sweep and mop and the place looks back to pre toddler mode and also this is that much quieter than having to Hoover after bubs is asleep.

pinkteapot

I like the idea of just having the hall done. I'm just not quite sure it works with the downstairs layout of our house:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/55127243@N04/5953601362/in/photostream

Our hall is literally about 4 foot square. There is room for one adult to take muddy shoes off. If it's raining when we get home we tend to go straight round the back as the utility room has a tiled floor and we can come in that way. Saves one person waiting outside the front door!

With such a tiny hall, would it look odd to have wood there and carpet in the rest of the house do you think?

It is a good point re too much wood. We're very outdoorsy, love nature, and both love wood (hehe) which is why I love wooden floors so much. But our furniture is oak with some big pieces (dining table, dresser in the lounge) so it could end up all a bit too woody...

shar46y

pinkteapot wrote: »

It is a good point re too much wood. We're very outdoorsy, love nature, and both love wood (hehe) which is why I love wooden floors so much. But our furniture is oak with some big pieces (dining table, dresser in the lounge) so it could end up all a bit too woody...

I am biased because we recently moved to a house that has wooden floors throughout the downstairs:) - except kitchen and garden room which have stone - and I love the look of it! I don't think it necessarily looks 'too much'... surely it depends on your overall decor, which is down to your personal taste?

Oh and back to babies and carpet vs wood...

OH just reminded me that our twins had reflux for the first 8 months... this involved seemingly constant little regurgitations of sour milk, all over themselves, us, the furniture and the carpets :eek: in our old house. I had blanked out the memories of endless wiping up with damp cloths, bicarb of soda, carpet shampoo...:rotfl:

And when they started crawling and walking, although we did have carpet in the old sitting room they still managed to find the hardest surfaces to bang their heads on, chair legs etc!

pinkteapot

Come to think of it, when I was a toddler I fell over face-first into the corner of the gas fire and cut my forehead. So my mum's one to talk.

So, the first year or so consists of cleaning all manner of bodily fluids out of the carpets. I can't wait for this magical experience. :rotfl:

Thanks for all the food for thought. It will also depend on the budget. Over the next 6-12 months I plan to redecorate pretty much the whole house (so far we have done the kitchen, utility and bathrooms - only four bedrooms, hall, lounge and dining room to go!). Nesting instinct going into overdrive. So it does in part depend on what I spend elsewhere as if we do go for wood I would want something that is reasonable quality. And if we go with carpet I will be getting the most Scotchguarded stain-resistant one I can!

pinkmami

Wood! I have 3 kids & we've had the same carpet down for 10 yrs+...its horrible but great for hiding stains. I "rug doctor" it every 2 yrs & its disgusting to see the colour of the water.

Laminate/wood is great. I have it in the kitchen & hallway & easy to mop up spills. Imagine the mess kids do on your floors....poo, wee, milk, vomit....you get my drift!?!!?:rotfl:

In my new place the only room in the cottage to have carpet will be the master bedroom...kids are most definately gonna have laminate & lino in the kitchen till I can afford a slate floor!

moonrakerz

Try Flotex, you get the best of both worlds. You can get samples from here:-

http://flotex.karpetkingdom.co.uk/