Whether a new build or a renovation project, choosing the floors for your home can be an extremely overwhelming endeavor. At the same time, it can be an exciting part of the project where you can explore your creative side and customize your home however you desire.
Bedrooms can have different flooring from the rest of the house. Because a bedroom is used differently from other rooms, incorporating a different floor finish is a good idea from a practical and aesthetic standpoint. There are several guidelines, however, to ensure this is done successfully.
While it is often a great idea to have a different floor finish in the bedroom, you should be careful with how you go about choosing this floor finish. The bedroom floor should not only be appropriate for use in the bedroom but also complement the floor in the rest of the house.
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Can Bedrooms Have Different Flooring?
It is common practice to have a different floor finish in the bedroom than in the rest of the house. Differentiating the floor finish in the bedroom is done for practical and aesthetic reasons.
A bedroom is intended to be a tranquil, cozy space that allows users to escape from the world and enjoy spending time in their own sanctuary. For this reason, the flooring you choose for the bedroom should reflect the dynamic mentioned above to ensure the room meets the user’s needs.
A bedroom is an opportunity to be creative with floor finishes. However, it would be best if you always exercised restraint. Irrespective of the flooring in your home, you should never have more than three floor finishes visible from any point in your home.
Any number of floor finishes higher than three, and the home will appear cluttered and potentially unsightly. There are certain flooring restrictions to bear in mind with children’s bedrooms to ensure both the floor and the children remain safe.
Because carpeting is extremely prone to staining, avoiding a wall-to-wall carpet in a child’s bedroom may be best. In this case, it will be better to opt for a floor finish that is hard, solid, and easy to clean, such as distressed laminate.
To provide a soft surface in a child’s bedroom for playing on, you can incorporate a well-sized rug that is plush but simultaneously easy to remove and clean whenever necessary.
Remember that the bedroom floor finish should not clash with the floor in the hallway just outside the bedroom. Because a bedroom is away from the main living areas, the flooring does not need to match. The colors chosen for the floor can feed off the décor within the room.
To avoid clashing colors with bedrooms and hallways, opting for a neutral color for the hallway floor is best. This can be any material that can withstand heavy foot traffic, such as wood, laminate, or tile.
With neutral hallway flooring, you can easily explore creative options with your bedroom floor.
Bedroom Floor Considerations
Any floor finish should serve numerous functions to serve its purpose successfully. Firstly, the floor should provide insulation from the subfloor below and ensure a comfortable surface for its users.
Secondly, a floor finish should withstand the foot traffic to which it is subjected. Thankfully, the foot traffic in a bedroom is significantly less than in other spaces in the home, so wear and tear on the bedroom floor is less of a concern.
The third role of a floor finish is to add aesthetic appeal to a room and the home. While this is generally quite a subjective matter, several general considerations will ensure a bedroom floor is aesthetically appealing in its own right and that it works cohesively with the rest of the home’s décor.
A different floor style in a bedroom can help define the use of the room relative to the other spaces in the home. It can simultaneously elevate the décor that already exists within the space.
To succeed with your bedroom flooring, you should try to stick to a neutral palette and ensure that the colors of the floors in the rooms adjacent to the bedroom complement each other instead of clashing. A bedroom floor presents the opportunity to experiment with texture in the flooring.
If you want to add individual character to your bedroom floor without changing the existing flooring, add an area rug that complements the room and its surrounding décor. This is also an opportunity to go with a bolder color choice than you could with a fixed floor finish.
If your bedroom has an en-suite bathroom, you should carefully consider how the floor finishes in these two spaces will complement one another. Different floor finishes in these two spaces will help define each space, even in an open-plan setting. However, the two contrasting floor finishes must work well together and are not in conflict.
Pros & Cons Of Different Bedroom Floor Finishes
Opting for carpeting in the bedroom is generally a good idea unless you have young children who could potentially stain the carpet beyond repair.
A wall-to-wall carpet in the bedroom will not only provide warmth to the space but will simultaneously help to dampen noise. Carpeting is relatively inexpensive, especially compared to a floor finish like hardwood.
Laminate flooring in a bedroom is another good alternative that lasts longer than carpeting. It is hard-wearing and will last significantly due to the low foot traffic within the bedroom. Laminate is also significantly cheaper than hardwood flooring, making it an attractive option for the bedroom.
Conclusion
Bedrooms can – and often do – have different floor finishes than the rest of the home. A different floor finish in the bedroom is often a good idea. It helps define the bedroom as a sanctuary-type space.
When choosing a floor finish for the bedroom, consider who will be using the space (whether children or adults) and how this floor finish will complement the existing floor finishes in the rest of the home.