Choosing Bedroom Flooring: Carpet or Wood?
Carpet or wood flooring? When planning our compact bedroom refresh, I found myself weighing up easy cleaning against the soft, cosy feel I wanted. Here are the practical details and personal preferences behind that decision.
Choosing Bedroom Flooring: Carpet or Wood?
When we started planning a bedroom refresh after ten years, I had a good idea of the colours I wanted. The flooring was harder to decide on.
Our bedroom was already carpeted. Should we replace it with another carpet, or take the opportunity to choose wood flooring instead?
I like hard floors because I find them easier to clean. But for the bedroom, I kept coming back to the idea of a soft, cosy carpet.
These were the things I was weighing up.
Making a compact bedroom feel comfortable
Our bedroom is quite snug. We have fitted wardrobes on either side of the en suite door, a king size bed, bedside cabinets and a chest of drawers squeezed into the corner.
There is plenty going on in a relatively small space.
I wanted to make the most of the room while keeping it comfortable and welcoming. The flooring needed to work with the furniture and colours, rather than become another thing competing for attention.
It also needed to be practical. A lovely floor still has to cope with everyday use and cleaning around the furniture.
Why I was leaning towards carpet
For me, the main attraction of carpet in the bedroom was how I wanted the room to feel.
I liked the thought of stepping out of bed onto something soft. The bedroom was the place where I wanted that cosy feeling most, even though I preferred hard flooring for cleaning.
That did not mean choosing the thickest or fluffiest carpet I could find. I would want to feel samples, check the care instructions and think about how manageable it would be to vacuum.
Colour mattered too. I was drawn to lighter shades, but I would want to see them in the room before deciding. Something that looks lovely in a shop or on a screen can look quite different beside your own furniture.
Looking at carpet tiles as another option
Carpet does not only come in rolls. Websites such as carpettilewholesale.co.uk also offer carpet tiles for domestic spaces.
One practical feature is that individual tiles can be replaced if damaged. They also offer the option of combining colours, although I would want to keep the overall look fairly simple in our compact bedroom.
I would still want to check samples before choosing. Carpet tiles vary in texture and construction, so I would not assume they would all give the soft finish I had in mind.
The important question would be whether the particular flooring suited our bedroom and how we use it.
What appealed to me about wood flooring
The biggest attraction of hard flooring was cleaning. That was what kept me going back and forth between the two options.
Before choosing a wood floor, I would want to check the care requirements for the specific product. I would also want to see how its colour worked alongside our fitted wardrobes and other furniture.
For me, this was a balance between the ease of cleaning I associated with hard floors and the softness I wanted in the bedroom.
Neither choice needed to be right for every room in the house. I was trying to find what suited this room.
Checking the finishing details
While thinking about the floor, it also made sense to look at the skirting boards.
Scuffs and knocks can become easy to overlook when you see them every day. Cleaning and repainting might be enough, while damaged boards could need replacing.
Before ordering flooring, I would also check the full fitting cost, what preparation was needed and whether the finished floor height would affect the doors. Those details belong in the budget alongside the flooring itself.
A bedroom that feels like ours
When I first shared these plans, I was leaning towards replacing the carpet. I liked the idea of making the bedroom feel soft, warm and comfortable, while still keeping everyday care in mind.
The flooring was one part of that bigger picture. I have also written about choosing the right bedding for the bedroom, including the fabrics, fit and colours that appealed to me.
For our room, I wanted a finish that worked with the space we had and felt inviting at the end of the day.
Do you prefer carpet in the bedroom, or would you choose wood flooring?
National Wallpaper Week
Did you know it was National Wallpaper Week? - 5th - 11th
In celebration of National Wallpaper Week, each day
Did you know it was National Wallpaper Week? - 5th - 11th
In celebration of National Wallpaper Week, each day
have dedicated a theme:
- Monday – ‘Date Night’
- Tuesday – Calm
- Wednesday – Inspired
- Thursday – Nostalgic
- Friday – Funky
- Saturday – Glamorous
- Sunday – Social
The themes celebrate the versatility of wallpaper and what it can bring to your room/home.
If you're one of those people who thinks that wallpaper is so yesterday, then you are missing out! Recent years wallpaper has made a comeback and this is due to all the wonderful designs available. Wallpaper can offer a
unique pattern and bring a whole lot of character, texture and warmth to any room.
Graham & Brown features wallpaper with big name designers as well as their own designs, they offer a huge range - there is something for everyone, no matter what you taste is.
As it is Friday, I thought I would share with you the funky wallpaper designs I have my eye on for our home:
Funky means -
something artistic, modern, unconventional or cool.
- takes you back to the 1960s and 1970s. Super funky and very stylish. This would be great fun and brighten up any room - but I am thinking for the dining room it would be perfect.
Deco Diamond Green by Hemingway
- A deco design, beautiful colours of a subtle green, taking you back to the 1030s, perfect for most rooms, but I would have it in my living room as a feature wall.
- Fascinating and funky, a contemporary graphic design with a bold print. This would be perfect for my teenage sons bedroom, adding character to his room.
Do The Stretch Mustard by Hemingway
- 1970s glam rock with a slight hint of space odyssey. unusual and fun, but perfectly subtle and welcoming for the hall way.
What is your favourite design?
Boy's Shared Bedroom Ideas
Kid’s Room by Roselind Wilson Design/ homify
We are currently in the process of moving our two youngest boys together into a shared bedroom. The bedroom is a large one as it runs the length of the garage below, and we've explored many options; for example we've considered putting a partition wall up, but Jacob will only move into the room if we don't put the partition up. Lewis, being older and he is pretty laid back, isn't too bothered. So we are opting for no partition for the time being, although, as Lewis gets older and he finds he wants his own space, then a partition with a pocket door separating the room, is something we will consider.
There is quite a big age gap between my two youngest boys, nearly 7 years between them, thus, their tastes are very different; Lewis wants plain cream walls, whereas Jacob wants bright orange walls. So we compromised. We will keep it cream walls, bar the end wall on Jacob's side where we will paint it orange and it will become his feature wall.
Lewis's new double bed is arriving today, and we are ordering Jacob his cabin bed, with orange bedding and some wall-stickers of his choice to stick around his area of the bedroom. At Lewis's end of the bedroom is a bay-window, and my carpenter brother is building Lewis a fitted desk within the bay-area and Jacob would like a desk so he can put his TV and Xbox on.
So all being well, they will be fine for the next couple of years, then as Lewis approaches his mid-teen years, I have a feeling he may want his own space.
I shared a bedroom with my younger sister, it was quite a small bedroom, we had bunkbed, I was on top, she was on the bottom. While I can remember a few territorial squabbles, or me keeping her awake with my teeth grinding, or with me pushing her on to her side as she was snoring - we get on fine now.
can be a challenge for many parents, especially when there is an age gap between the children - do you go for a open plan share environment or do you try to give each child their own bit of space, however it does depend on the size of the room which will dictate the approach you can take.
My Kitchen
18 months ago we embarked on a new kitchen, and with hubby working in the building trade, we had known associates fit our kitchen for us cheaply. We went off for a week to Center Parcs and expected to return home to a finished kitchen - this is when it all went wrong. Unfortunately we did not come to a finished kitchen; the worktops were fitted but also badly damaged, and the cupboards were not finished as well as a list of other errors. To cut a long story short, it cost us a lot more to fix it then if we would have just paid non-known associates to do it in the first place and a few lessons learnt.
And the story still goes on, we are still not finished with the kitchen, but this is mainly due to life happening in between, the kitchen got put off, and a year later after we started, we finally got it tiled, and I love it. It is nearly done, we just need to order a new unit for the freezer, and then once that is done we can fit the plinth around the bottom and Walla! - we are very close and I am looking forward to it finally being done.
With 4 kids, 1 dog and 2 cats, our kitchen is the soul of the house, it keeps the family going. For example:
- As soon as the boys get home from school they dump their bags in the cupboard and head to kitchen and raid the cupboards and fridge and eat like they have been starved for a week.
- Cooking diner everyday (Hubby is the cook of the house).
- Washing gets done and keeping on top of it, otherwise one missed wash out of my daily routine could be a disaster; forgotten footie socks can cause bedlam.
- Pets get fed, though Harvey insists of getting a mouth full of his food, carrying it through to the lounge and then dropping it on the carpet so he can eat it there.
- My junk cupboard, full of junk mail and not so junk mail.
- My bits and bobs drawer - everyone has to have a bits and bobs drawer - it is full of 'I don't know what the plastic bit is', to sewing needles and batteries (batteries that work and don't work, or course), Oh and all those old mobile phone charges! Why do I still have those I dunno.
- The microwave, which is a teenagers life-saver: hardly here on time for dinner, doesn't like what we're eating, fed up with eating the same stuff we eat every week - yep all the same complaints, so the microwave is his life saver for heating up meals, and making his own food etc..
- Ah, final but not least the dishwasher, not only great for washing dishes, but also great for washing toys and any other bits I can get away with, achieving an easy but effective clean and always with my Fairy Platinum. Thus Fairy Platinum is unbeatable, it really does clean dishes (and anything else I chuck in) first time.
The kitchen is the life force and mechanics of this home, this past 18 months it has been the subject to many emotions from excitement, laughter, heartbreaking disappointment, tears and joy - I love it, though I will love it more when it is finally finished.
My kitchen is nearly there, just a couple of things to finish and all done.
My kitchen window, just waiting to get blinds measure next week.
Summer's Nursery
Current nursery - in mamas & papas theme.
Whilst going through the assessment for Summer to come live with us, we had a tough journey. It was the not knowing where we stood or whether she would be granted to come live with us, or if not would we all loose her to adoption with another family. Going through this hard period we did not want to disturb the boys, so we decided that we would not make any changes to the house, and we did not prepare a bedroom for her etc..
When we were given the fantastic news that Summer was coming to live with us, we then had to make the massive adjustment, a baby girl was coming to live with us! We decided to move Jacob into Lewis's room to share with Lewis - they get on great anyhow, and Lewis has the biggest room and we didn't think it would be to fair to move Liam (A teenager) around, or ask him to share a room with Lewis - even though they do most of the time get on, they do not always see eye to eye.
Once the boys agreed and were happy, we then made the changes so Summer could have Jacob's old room; the nursery. We got the cot out of the loft, purchase a single white wardrobe and that was really it, that was all we did - no decorations because we did not have anytime to do so, and also Jacob's old room was not too boyish. It would do for now!
The time has now come to decorate Summer's room, and we decided on a Peppa Pig theme, mainly because she likes to sit and watch Peppa Pig with Jacob and I think she would enjoy her room with lots of Peppa Pig around.
We are going for Pink walls with Dulux Endurance Matt Emulsion Paint Sorbet colour, white ceiling and white gloss skirting. There is no need for a new carpet, as the one in there now is in perfect condition and a neutral cream.
What we have brought so far:
Peppa Pig Lampshade from Amazon seller - Spearmark @ £9.28.
Peppa Pig bedding from Amazon seller - Price-Right Home £19.89.
Peppa Pig rug we purchased one from The Range @ £14.99
Peppa Pig curtains from Argos @ £21.99
Peppa Pig wall sticker height chart sticker from Kids Wall Stickers @ £9.95.
Peppa Pig wall Hot Air balloon stickers from Kids Wall Stickers @ £9.95.
Peppa Pig large personalised wall sticker from Amazon seller - That Vinyl Place @ £7.99.
Peppa Pig Sling Book Case from Argos @ £29.99
What I would like, but I haven't found yet, is Peppa Pig bunting style border to go around the top of the wall.
Follow Tanya Tanya's board Summer's Room on Pinterest.
I am looking forward to getting her room done as I know she is going to love it! Watch out for the postings for when her room is done!