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Active lifestyle
If you’re living an active, outdoorsy lifestyle, chances are there’ll be foot traffic of all kinds to factor into your flooring choice. Dirty boots, grass, sand, the kids piling inside dripping wet with chlorine. Sound familiar? An active lifestyle needs a hardy floor.
Hybrid flooring combines the best qualities of both laminate and vinyl, and is the first rigid floating floor product that can be installed throughout the home. Engineered timber flooring is another ideal option as it ticks the box for extreme durability, but also gives an elegant look.
Any hard product is preferable to carpet in this instance, but don’t rule out carpet altogether if that’s your favoured pick for comfort. Choose a carpet with a harder loop to withstand the beating, or a good quality wool carpet, as it’s inherently hard wearing.
Design conscious lifestyle
If the design of your home is a priority, you may value honest materials. Natural timber floors are the ultimate choice for aesthetics. Timber brings the beauty of warmth to your home, and since flooring is the base that the rest of your interior springs from, it’s difficult to make the space work holistically if the foundation is lacking. Design is not simply visual, but tactile. The feel of a real timber board underfoot is hard to substitute if it’s truly home for you. And if design comes into your awareness then the scratches can be seen as an inherent part of an honest material. A house isn’t a home until it shows the signs of real living.
Pre-finished engineered timber flooring is a great compromise. It cuts installation time down to half, and provides all the benefits of natural timber flooring without the need for on-site sanding and polishing. These boards are constructed with four or five layers of timber bonded together into long pre-finished sections ready to install.
Time-poor lifestyle
Many of us live a time-poor lifestyle these days, so cleaning and maintenance is a big factor when considering what to install. Vinyl floors are up-there for durability, and low on the maintenance scale. With less scuffing and scratches, and no need to re-seal over time, the qualities of vinyl makes it a clear winner and the economical choice, if that’s your top priority.
But if you want a product that’s closer to the timber look, without the maintenance involved in sanding and re-sealing, laminated timber boards might be the answer. Bamboo flooring is also a good alternative to timber being a more compressed, hard wearing fibre, and easy to clean.
Technologies in flooring have made our carpets more stain-resistant, and even softer and hardier than previous decades. Some ranges are produced with less absorbent fibres, requiring only water to mop up a stain. For those of us with a time-poor lifestyle who prefer carpet in the living area, this is an ideal choice.
Allergen lifestyle
Organic allergens like pollen, mould, and animal fur can be tough to avoid, but there are measures you can take to reduce allergen levels in your home. Petrochemical emissions and VOCs from synthetic products, while they can trigger allergic symptoms in certain people, they can also reduce the indoor air quality for all home occupants. As a rule of thumb, natural products are best, and depending on your priorities this may be worth factoring into the budget.
Hardwood flooring is made with minimal chemicals compared with other flooring products. Avoid using sealants and finishes that contain harmful VOCs. Dust and pollen can be eradicated easily with hardwood floors as there isn’t a lot for small particles to cling to. The same benefits apply to bamboo flooring.
Carpet isn’t the go-to option for avoiding allergens, but if carpet flooring is a priority it’s best to choose a natural fibre such as wool, jute, and cotton to reduce synthetic emissions in your indoor environment. Though natural fibres can still trap dust and microscopic nasties, but this can be combated with regular vacuuming, and professional carpet cleaning annually.
