We have narrowed down our flooring selections.
I think we visited every flooring showroom in town during our search for the perfect floor.
I picked up samples every where I could.
We looked mostly at hardwoods and laminates.
Ultimately we decided what would work best for our family and lifestyle was a laminate floor.
Reality is...we live in our home.
My husband is a rugged manly guy & his work boots can often be found at the front door.
To my dismay they even find their way through the house from time to time,
tracking in what is left of a hard days work.
Little Lucy's wet paws will inevidently come racing through after a rainy day potty break.
Yes, even I rushing because I've forgotten something will race back inside not removing my shoes.
Once we decided that laminate flooring was the direction we wanted to go,
we narrowed our selection to the six styles you see above.
We quickly eilmated two styles, simply because we didn't like the look.
We learned as much about laminate as we could about laminate.
I encourage you to ask the specialist in the flooring departments at each stop you make.
It always seems like you learn something new from each person.
They recommended a 12mm laminate for durability.
Laminate is also fairly easy to install, which was good for us because Travis is doing the install.
One thing to keep in mind some will come with a layer of pad attached and some do not.
If it does not, you will need to by a seperate pad to install under the floating floor.
You can pick the padding up at your local home improvement store.
We also took our samples home & deliberately tried to mark them up.
Even going so far as to scratch them with a key.
You will be surprised some will scratch immediately.
Others it didn't matter what we did, it didn't leave a mark on the surface.
We even went so far to drop water on the surface and let it sit.
It may seem crazy, but we wanted to be certain we made a good choice for our lifestyle.
Things to keep in mind for our design plan.
We plan for our laminate floor to run throughout the house,
except for the bathrooms and laundry,where there will be tile.
With an open concept design and all of our rooms being on one level,
I think keeping our flooring selection consistant and almost minimal
will help to create the clean fresh modern cottage feel throughout the home.
The flooring is also going to be in our kitchen.
My husband was a bit hesitant of putting anything wood or laminate in the kitchen.
But, I think with our open concept the flooring needs to be the same throughout.
Our Top Four Flooring Choices are as follows:
Style Synopsis:
Love the greige look of this style.
Grey but still brown and even a hint of lighter wood tone.
I think it has a casual feel and maybe a little bit of a beachy vibe.
Looks like it may hide dirt and foot prints well.
Concern: Is grey trendy or classic, will it stand the test of time?
Style Synopsis:
A bit darker than the last.
The oak finish is a bit more classic.
I think this floor has an updated more elegant feel.
Concern: Is it too dark to mix with the other wood furniture in our home?
Will it feel like to many drastically different woods?
Style Synopsis:
A more traditional finish and color tone.
Very brown and almost redish wood.
Is that a scratch I see in the corner?
Has a nice feel to the touch.
Concern: Is it too red?
Blonde and beachy.
A ligther option than the others this also has a casual feel.
Almost barn wood like.
Concern: Is it too light?
Another tip about buying flooring.
Many places the more you buy, the more you save.
Please note the pricing above is reflective of the sqaure footage we planned to order.
We ordered a total of 1300+ Sq. Ft., giving us the best level price break.
Which one do you think is right for us?
Which style would you choose?
I would love to hear your feedback.
Well, we have made our choice.
Good news, the flooring has already arrived.
Stay tuned for our final flooring decision tomorrow.
Also, I will still post more about our trim selection too.
Carrie