<p>If you’ve come to the time when floor replacement is not only evident but necessary, you may be asking yourself which route to take.</p>
<p>Maybe a plush carpet for a warm and cozy feel, or shiny restored hardwoods for a vintage look,</p>
<p>or maybe the low cost and low maintenance of laminate flooring?</p>
<p>Either way, a choice has to be made and it’s not always the easiest one to make,</p>
<p>so here is a quick breakdown on the pros and cons for each variety.</p>
<p><img class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-2821" alt="New Flooring Options For Your Home" src="https://medusamagazine.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/06/New-Flooring-Options-For-Your-Home.jpg" width="600" height="400" /></p>
<h2><strong>Carpet Culture</strong></h2>
<p>There are definitely advantages to taking the carpet route. Furnishing your home in carpet guarantees warmth, comfort and even softens slips and falls.</p>
<p>It can also reduce noise levels of televisions, sound systems, phones and other household sounds.</p>
<p>And depending on the type of carpet you purchase, and your level of care, it can maintain its life for several years.</p>
<p>As far as pricing, carpet costs anywhere between $3.34 to $4.12 per square foot.</p>
<p>So a typical 1200-square-foot home would cost roughly 4,000 dollars or more.</p>
<p>Another downside to choosing carpet is that it requires a lot of maintenance.</p>
<p>Spills, dirt tracks, animal hair can all alter carpet’s nice clean appearance in a matter of weeks.</p>
<p>And full-on carpet cleaning can be costly and tiring.</p>
<h2><strong>Hardwood Floors</strong></h2>
<p>If you currently have carpet and are considering a new look for your home, hardwoods might just be the way to go.</p>
<p>In fact, if your home is old enough there’s a good chance that hardwoods are beneath your carpet.</p>
<p>Either way, restoring hardwoods isn’t as tedious a task as you may thing and is quite cost effective.</p>
<p>The process of refinishing requires sanding off all the finish down to the original wood.</p>
<p>This eliminates scratches and gaps.</p>
<p>Renting a sander and doing the work yourself is quite thrifty as renting a sander costs about 75 dollars a day and depending on the size of your home can be completed in a weekend.</p>
<p>With hardwoods, spills and dirt are much easier to clean and caring for the floors require very little.</p>
<p>Disadvantages however are that they do scratch easily, and don’t provide the soft plushy comfort of carpet.</p>
<h2><strong>Laminate Floors</strong></h2>
<p>Another alternative to both carpet installation and hardwood restoration would be laminate flooring.</p>
<p>Laminate flooring can add a new style and dimension to your home furnishings and comes in a variety of styles.</p>
<p>It’s virtually maintenance free and is even conveniently packaged upon purchase.</p>
<p>Most laminate flooring are sold in 4 foot strips or in tile form for easy installation.</p>
<p>It installs easily by the clicking together of each end and is easy enough as a do-it-yourself type situation.</p>
<p>Some drawbacks include hollow sounds when walking upon, a fairly unnatural feel to bare feet and they are very hard and unyielding to the foot.</p>
<p>Also their lifespan does depend on the quality of the flooring so make sure to check with the manufacturer on their warranty.</p>
<p>And the cost is a bit higher than carpet with prices varying between 5 and 7 dollars for materials and installation per square foot.</p>
<p>Whatever you decide, be sure to do your research and find which option best suits your home,</p>
<p>your lifestyle and most certainly your design aesthetic.</p>
<p>A freelance writer, Wendy Kellison, learned about the benefits of different flooring from Tiffany Home Furnishings, a <a href="www.tiffanyhomefurnishing.com">furniture store in Portland, OR</a>.</p>