Best Flooring Ideas for Your Living Room

Depending on how often your living room is used and what you use it for, there’s a different type of flooring that’s right for you. Typically, the neater you and your family are, the more options you’ll have. The good news is—even for the messiest, pet-filled households—there are flooring options that will stay beautiful for years to come. Here are a few living room floor ideas.

Hardwood Flooring

Hardwood floors are a classic choice for any room in your home but work especially well in living rooms. Many shades of hardwood will bring warmth to the room, and when combined with area rugs, they create an even cozier space. Consider different stains of wood to create a new look for your living room. Dark and cool-toned wood floors are popular because of their ability to match well with both warm and cool colors, so it will be easier to match your décor to them. A more traditional option, blonde-colored wood can be installed in styles varying from distressed to glossy, depending on the look you’re going for. Honey and copper-toned wood are other warm-toned options to make your living room feel like home.

Vinyl Flooring

Vinyl flooring is another great option for the living room and kitchen. With its endless design options, durability, and waterproof quality, vinyl is perfect for any room that gets a lot of use. If your dream living room consists of hardwood floors, but you’re worried about your kids spilling or your cat scratching, vinyl is your best friend. Vinyl floors can mimic wood, tile, or stone floors, so you can have the design you want without having to stress too much about it getting damaged. 

Laminate Flooring

Laminate and vinyl flooring are often confused for one another, and rightfully so. They are both durable and stain-resistant and come in a wide variety of designs that mimic more expensive flooring options. So how do you choose between them? Well, there are a few key differences to consider. Laminate flooring mimics its natural floor counterparts slightly better than vinyl, laminate flooring is thicker and therefore quieter and softer to walk on, and vinyl flooring is fully waterproof, while laminate flooring is not.

So, if you’re a spill-prone household or in the midst of training a new puppy, you might want to choose vinyl. But if you’re a neat, pet-free household and you just want comfort and quiet, go for the laminate.

Carpet

If you spend a lot of time relaxing in your living room, you might want to choose a super-soft carpet with a deep pile to cozy up the room. But if you use your living room for entertaining and not much else, choose a carpet with a lower pile so you can more easily clean up those inevitable crumbs from your next charcuterie board.

One way to add the comfort of carpet without giving up the look of your hardwood, vinyl, or laminate floors is to add a rug. A statement rug is an easy way to bring personality to a room while making it more visually interesting.

No matter what type of flooring you choose, keep cleaning in mind when choosing the color. If your kids tend to track in dirt after their soccer games, do yourself a favor and opt for a darker-colored floor. If you have a light-haired dog like a golden retriever, you’ll want a lighter-colored floor, so you don’t have to vacuum every day to keep your floor from looking like a used lint roller. 

If you’re working to find the best flooring option for your living room, your local Flooring America experts are here to answer all your questions. Ready to help with all your latest home improvement projects, start your flooring journey at Flooring America today.

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