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| Photo courtesy of House Beautiful |
Part VI - What is the most important thing to consider when choosing new flooring for your home?
While some might say 'looks' or what's in are the most important things to consider, function and durability are first on my list when choosing flooring for my clients. Whether tile, rugs, carpet or wood flooring, each type of flooring has attributes as well as pitfalls.
For instance, tile is often the choice for kitchens because of easy maintenance of the tile. While tile itself is durable, grout can be a problem to maintain in the years to come. Sometimes, wood flooring is a better selection for a kitchen.
Rugs and carpet add an element of style to a room but depending on the fiber chosen, the life of the carpet or rug can be short. Is the rug there to protect a wood floor or is it installed in a room that is infrequently used?
Durability is a concern for wood flooring too. With all the selections in wood flooring, you would think choosing your new wood floor would be easy. However, there is much to consider in choice of wood flooring, if you vision a floor that will last decades into the future.
For instance, can the wood floor be sanded and stained once or more times when it starts to show wear? What is the traffic pattern across the wood floor and will you need a rug or runner to protect it?
Will the wood floor get more use when the family grows from two to four or more with children or extended family? Will it be safe for all generations to walk on, especially if they need a walker for support?
As you can see, selection is not the problem when choosing flooring for your home. However, selecting your flooring for function and durability are key things to consider to protect and preserve your investment in your home.
Choosing your flooring is not about keeping up with the Joneses. It's about selecting the right installation that fits with your life today as well as ten or twenty years into the future.
For more information on flooring check out the following websites:
http://woodfloors.org/
http://www.wfca.org/Pages/Ceramic-Tile-review.aspx
http://www.carpet-rug.org/residential-customers/index.cfm
Stay 'tuned' for the next BestDesignCoach blog post to find out about my Website's list of the most important items to consider when decorating a Home.
M. A. Smith, Ltd.
Interior Design
732 690-2030
Allied Member ASID
Serving New Jersey and Metropolitan New York
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