Home Flooring Guide

If the time has come to lay a new floor in your den, study, bedroom or even in your bathroom or kitchen, the thought may have crossed your mind to go with a genuine hardwood floor in that room.  There is no question that hardwood floors deserve a place on your options list.  If you have always wanted wood floors but perhaps felt they were out of range for you, its good to consider the advantages and drawbacks of working wood floors into your interior design.  Then you can make an informed decision.

What's Really Great About Hardwood Floors

There are so many advantages you get when you decide to install hardwood floors in a room or in your entire home.  Its good to keep in mind the value that wood floors add to your house and the many ways that making the investment in hardwood will pay off including…

1. Genuine hardwood floors have an elegance and grace that almost instantly gives your family and guests a feel of being transported to someplace special.  Humans seem to have an instinctive connection to wood and the look, feel and even smell of hardwood seems to create a warm, inviting and intimate atmosphere.  Small wonder so many bars and restaurants use hardwood for their decor.  A room with hardwood floor naturally makes people want to be in that room and part of what is happening there.
2. While the cost of installing hardwood floors may be higher than laying down vinyl or even carpet, the impact on the value of your home will skyrocket.  If you are selling your home, the simple step of laying down hardwood floors can more than pay you back the costs in the greater value your house fetches on the real estate markets.
3. Hardwood floors may actually be healthier for your family.  By going with genuine wood flooring, you eliminate one major presence of synthetic material in your home because you are not installing a flooring made of artificial materials.  Often the smell of a synthetic flooring and the presence of artificial materials can have an adverse effect on some in your family or even on guests in your home.  If you suspect that wood flooring would eliminate that problem, that makes the investment entirely worth the cost.

Things to Look Out For.

It is unfortunate that over the years, a myth has grown up that hardwood floors were too expensive for the average budget or that the installation was so costly and difficult that it was not an option for most of us.  In addition, many people are intimidated by the process of defining what the right wood flooring to use for their interior decorating design plan.  

While the cost of hardwood flooring may be higher than some economy approaches to your interior redecorating plan, its good to put that cost in perspective.  By putting  hardwood floor down now, you have a quality living environment for years to come.  The additional cost may be entirely justified in the higher enjoyment you will get from the finished product and in the higher value of your home at resale time as we discussed earlier.

It pays to do some homework about the variety of choices and how to install a hardwood floor because being educated will help you coordinate the project so you can do much of the work yourself.  A good contractor will help you with the parts that require his skills and enable you to be part of the installation team as well.  

The colors, styles, grains and types of wood that are at your disposal when you entertain installing a hardwood floor are truly amazing.  Get to know the different types of wood flooring.  You may find that you do not have to select the most expensive type of wood when a quality wood that has a lower price tag may serve your needs perfectly.

Also the color and texture of your hardwood floor will have a big impact on the atmosphere of the room.  Visit friend's homes and public buildings where wood floors dominate the décor.  It won't take long before you will have a firm vision on what you want.  And when that vision becomes a reality and you are living in a home with elegant hardwood flooring, the homework you did to do the job right will be entirely worth the effort.