From infants to toddlers to boisterous children running through the house and garden and back again, you may be wondering how best to prepare your home for a growing family in the years ahead. There are a number of key factors you should consider when choosing the various floor coverings suitable for all the rooms of your house, including the look, the potential for wear and ageing, and of course, safety! What you need are floor coverings with some level of shock absorbency that can also take a beating from toys, are easy to clean, and will age well, without sacrificing your home’s aesthetics. Here are some suggestions for hard-wearing but safe flooring options:
- Carpet flooring
- Hardwood flooring
- Laminate flooring
- Bamboo flooring
- Cork flooring
- Vinyl flooring
- Rubber flooring
Carpet
Carpeted floors, especially for children’s bedrooms and playrooms, offer the best comfort and safety from falls, regardless of your type of flooring. Whether you use plush carpet or twist pile carpet, they offer increased warmth and sound damping. While plush pile natural fibres feel great underfoot, they can also be less stain-resistant and more expensive than synthetic options. 100% polypropylene twist carpets, on the other hand, are exceptionally soft and durable, while also affordable and stain-resistant. They can be cleaned with bleach products and tend to produce little or no static, making these perfect for your family’s home. While carpets can catch and filter dirt from the garden, a shorter synthetic pile and regular cleaning will keep your child safe and comfortable.
Hardwood
Hardwood floors are an excellent option for balancing beautiful aesthetics with hard-wearing quality while also being pleasant for bare feet. These floors will easily withstand years of wear from children young and old, especially in high traffic areas, requiring only sanding and polish to erase the worst unsightly marks. Hardwood floors also resist the buildup of dust and pet dander and are naturally anti-allergenic. When choosing a wood for your floor, keep in mind that darker floors tend to show wear more easily than lighter coloured woods and that natural grain and knots will likewise hide dents and scratches.
Laminate
Laminate flooring can be a more affordable option than hardwood, and with its compressed wood veneer on top, it’s also beautiful but needs no waxing or polishing to maintain it. Likewise, it’s tough wearing and easy to clean, so won’t collect dust and other toxins tramped in from the garden. Laminate floors can be slippery when wet, however, so may not be the best option for the kitchen and other wet areas.
Bamboo
Bamboo flooring, while strictly made of grass rather than hardwood, is nonetheless one of the hardest wearing floors available on the market today. Resistant to stains and easy on the foot, with a number of beautiful styles from strand-woven plank to caramelised bamboo, this environmentally friendly option is becoming increasingly popular with families.
Cork
Cork flooring is perhaps the softest and most forgiving of wood floors while retaining the look of hardwood. Its anti-static, anti-microbial, and anti-allergenic properties repel dust and toxins, and when properly sealed, it is very easy to clean. While cork is vulnerable to scratches and tears from active children, individual tiles can easily be replaced to keep your cork floor looking good for years to come.
Vinyl
Vinyl flooring, in sheets or planks, is a popular and very affordable option that is long-wearing, stain-resistant, and easy to clean. Available in many different colours and textures, including faux-wood grains, it is soft on the feet and definitely an option to consider for your family home. As a synthetic product, its manufacture is not environmentally friendly, and you should be sure to stay away from cheaper options due to the potential for the release of volatile compounds that may be harmful. That said, properly manufactured, modern vinyl flooring offers an excellent synthetic option to the use of hardwood and other harvested flooring products.
Rubber
Finally, rubber flooring has been a mainstay for safe play-time experiences in daycare centres for many years. Exceptionally strong wearing in a variety of environments, it is very easy to maintain and keep clean, and it offers excellent protection from accidental falls. As far as looks go, a rubber floor is probably best kept to a dedicated playroom. Keep in mind that rubber can also smell ‘rubbery’, so be sure to see how your kids react to the odour before installing!
While our children bring much life, love, and laughter to the family home, their playfulness can definitely be a challenge for any floor faced with years of wear and tear. Your choice of flooring will both ensure ease of maintenance and long life, while also providing a safe and pleasant space for your children to grow up in. Jagers Carpets is Melbourne’s specialist carpet supplier with a carpet store and showroom on Toorak Road, Camberwell. For an online carpet quote, just contact us via our website or call our representatives today on 03 9889 1111.