Creative floor covering ideas anyone?

Eliza_2

As subject really! I have a spare bedroom/office that badly needs a light coloured floor covering of some sort (it's a very dark room with small windows) and also my kitchen/diner/general room, which currently has cheapest laminate available 20 years ago on it.

This is a very long term cheap rented old cottage property (agreement is that it will remain cheap if I do general maintenance which is fine by me). It's in a fabulous location which makes it worth it too.

Years ago a very hippy friend got lots of carpet sample books from various shops and cut and stitched them together to make a stunning free carpet. I'm neither that hippy nor that creative (or that patient) but was wondering if anyone has any ideas along similar lines maybe for the bedroom? It has a wooden floor under the current manky carpet but it's part chipboard, part boards etc so not good for sanding/painting. Also a carpet would keep it warmer. In the kitchen I've almost convinced myself that cheap vinyl or laminate will be the only options, laminate I can lay myself but I can't do sheet vinyl..

......that is, unless you know better?

Thanks

Eliza

MandM90

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Eliza_2

Oh dear. I thought long and hard about which board to put this question on and decided that old-style would be the best as the people such as Ilona, JackieO etc who live there would have the most creative and old style ideas which would suit my cottage. Hopefully they, and others, will see my question here too.

Eliza

SamsReturn

I don't know how cheap this may be, but i thought it was creative.
One of my neighbours are doing their bathroom, and they plan to cover the floor with 1p pieces

FreeBear

The bedroom/office would probably be better with a carpet and some decent underlay. Best bet would be to scour the local independent carpet retailers for an end of roll bargain - This is what I did for my drawing room, and got a very nice carpet at a reasonable price. With some thick underlay, it has the feel of a luxury deep pile.

Vinyl or laminate is best for kitchens in my opinion. Tiles are OK if the floor is suitable (i.e. concrete), but they are cold under foot. You can get vinyl that can be laid just like laminate over semi-rigid underlay, but it can be very expensive.

The cheapest would be self adhesive vinyl tiles - I picked some up from a local discount store for a couple of quid per box when I did out a work room. Dead easy to lay, but limited on the choice of colour & pattern.

SamsReturn wrote: »

One of my neighbours are doing their bathroom, and they plan to cover the floor with 1p pieces

A floor covered in 1p coins will work out at around £24 per square metre plus the cost of adhesive and a protective resin coating. Somewhere around £30-35 per sq m (including coins) would probably cover it. For that sort of money, you could get some high quality vinyl or laminate flooring.

Eliza_2

SamsReturn wrote: »

I don't know how cheap this may be, but i thought it was creative.
One of my neighbours are doing their bathroom, and they plan to cover the floor with 1p pieces

Definitely creative, I think I saw that while googling for ideas too, obviously a trend. But goodness, where did they get the patience!

Eliza_2

Thanks FreeBear, I thought about end of roll too. But the underlay and the fitting really adds to the cost. The current carpet was laid by me 15 or more years ago and isn't nice. I'd like to try to do it properly myself but by the time I've bought the tools etc and messed about it's cheaper to get it done professionally.

The kitchen floor is really uneven, concrete with dips and hollows so the laminate with underlay that's currently down covers a multitude of sins. When I first moved in I painted the concrete which was a lovely look but cold and everything broke when dropped on it.

Will look out for some vinyl tiles, that's a good idea, I've used those before in a previous house.

Thanks all.

enjoyyourshoes

concrete and then polish it

martinthebandit

http://www.wickes.co.uk/Products/Flooring/Carpet+Cork-Tiles/c/1000893

Other places sell similar and may be cheaper

FreeBear

Eliza wrote: »

The kitchen floor is really uneven, concrete with dips and hollows so the laminate with underlay that's currently down covers a multitude of sins.

Even with laminate and underlay, it is well worth leveling the floor. If your budget will allow, pour some self leveling compound - I used a bag of this one a couple of weeks ago in my kitchen - http://www.screwfix.com/p/mapei-ultraplan-3240-self-levelling-compound-grey-25kg/4959f - Dead easy to use, although I'd use a cheap notched tile adhesive trowel next time.

Agree with you regarding the cost of carpet fitting. But if you fit the underlay and gripper rods yourself, it keeps the cost down.