Carpet Vs. Hardwood in Bedrooms

I went into a house once that had kids, and the whole house was hardwood floors. It was very cold, and VERY loud, as there was no carpet to soften the noise. When people walked, it was loud. When people talked, it echoed. When toys were dropped, it was so loud. Rugs might help though.

Hardwood - Yes! It's so much easier to keep clean / dust free.
You can put in small area rugs (which are so much easier to wash) where you need to.
If you're worried about cold feet - they have these things called socks and slippers that work really well for that.

We did hardwood everywhere but the bedrooms. Carpet in the rooms. They look so yucky now. I wish I had done hardwood with area rugs.

Hardwood definitely! You can get a soft rug or rugs for by your bed. Or even a big rug that goes partly under your bed. I really dislike carpet for our family due to occasional dog accidents (we have a very old dog), children throwing up, allergies, and stains in general. That's just my vote!

I much prefer carpet to hardwoods, especially in a bedroom area. Wood is slippery and cold, which isn't what you want when getting up in the middle of the night to use the bathroom.

Putting a rug on top of wood floors sort of defeats the purpose to me ... why not just get carpet? Then you just have to vacuum as opposed to vacuuming, sweeping and mopping all in the same space.

We have put hardwood in our bedrooms. And I'd do it again. I find it easier to keep clean and dust free, which is essential for my son's allergies. If you need something cushy under your feet first thing in the morning, you could always put down a nice area rug. Carpeting in general creeps me out because of all the "stuff" that could be hiding in there. We're in a rental right now, since we moved here, which has hardwood throughout the entire home. When we were looking at houses, the ones with hardwood were so much more attractive and clean-looking. When we buy our next house, if it doesn't already have hardwood floors, ripping out the carpet and installing them will be the first thing we do.

Hardwood.
That's my vote.
Much easier to clean.

My previous house had hard floors. I hated the constant sweeping and mopping. There was a lot of tile and would take a long time to mop. Now I have a larger house wth lots of carpeting. I love it, I can vaccuum much faster than I can sweep and mop. My first daughter was a baby in the hard floor house, and that was a bummer during the crawling and playing-on-the-floor months. Now the second baby is crawling on the carpet and it seems much more pleasant.
In general I am more comfortable in the carpeted house- we lounge around on the floor a lot more. It was really uncomfortable trying to play games on the floor with my daughter in the hardfloor lving room.

Hi Diana - Hardwood is really expensive to install, moreso than carpeting. If money is no issue, then have the hardwoods installed. Alot of it depends on what is common for your area and if it will add value to your home

We installed hardwood on our entire first floor and kept the 2nd floor carpeting. I like the look of hardwood in the bedrooms but after considering high cost to install as well as noise levels downstairs, we went with new carpeting.

All of our bedrooms have hardwood floors. In my children's rooms we have large thick area rugs. They are perfect. Easier to keep the floors clean and the rugs clean up nicely (easy to sweep). Especially with kids, who spill alot, you don't have to deal with stains.

And if you worry about them staining your area rugs, you can get those ones that come in tiles; if one gets spilled on, you just replace the one square and not the whole rug.

People thought we were crazy when we ripped out our kids' bedroom carpeting and put in hard surface flooring. We got everything from, "Won't that feel cold on their feet?" to, "You are going to put rugs over that, right?" to, "Won't it be too noisy?" (our bedrooms are on the 2nd floor). The first time our toddler had a diaper mess on the floor, we knew we'd done the right thing! We've had vomit messes, broken fish tanks (full of water and fish!), spilled makeup, spilled nail polish remover and other messes on the floors that would have been a NIGHTMARE to clean up on carpet, but all it took us was paper towels and/or a quick mopping. We've never regretted it, and it's been over 10 years.

We're slowly replacing all the carpet in our house with wood, laminate, tile or vinyl. It's so much easier to care for! I'd rather sweep than vaccuum any day.

If you're looking for input on the type of wood, I'd suggest bamboo. It's pretty, tough, less expensive than a lot of woods, & easily renewable.

We have hardwood floors with area rugs. I personally think that harwood floors are cleaner than carpet, and look great. The area rugs solve the whole "warmth and comfort" issue, and also protect the floors, too. My girls play on the area rug in their room all the time.

I would do hardwood or other hard surface floor. Skip carpet. It can NEVER get clean! At least with hard surface floors you know it's clean when you mop or steam it. My son was just diagnosed with a Dust Mite allergy (in addition to food allergies!) and I am DESPERATELY trying to find a rental with all hard surface floors! Owner of this house won't let us replace carpet (we offered to pay!) & carpet is a HUGE home for dust mites! Area rugs will suffice. I think you will LOVE the hard floors - so easy to keep clean! I had a custom home in TX with mainly hard woods & tile and we loved it! I will NEVER own a house with carpet again. Good luck!

Ok, so we have NO carpeting in our home - except on the stairs (for sound absorption) and in the guest room. The kid's rooms and bathrooms are tiled. We have a stone type style in the kid's rooms with large rugs from Pottery Barn, so they can be taken out and cleaned....and that gives the feel of carpet, without really having it.

We have hardwood in the dining room, hall, master bedroom, living room, etc.

We really like the tile in the kid's rooms and bathrooms, since the water can destroy the wood. Our 2 year old daughter spilled some water and never told us, so we can see where the planks come together that there was water damage. Not a lot, but enough.

Also, when the kids have thrown-up, had an acident, spilled water, etc in their rooms - it's an easy mess to clean up without any residual stains, etc.

Whne we moved in, I was planning on putting carpeting in the bedrooms, but after a few spills and easy clean-up, I decided to leave it be. We also love that when the house gets cleaned, it really IS clean....and doesn't just look clean.

We have 3 kids (8, 4, 2) with another on the way.

My kids have carpet in their rooms, the hallway is hardwood and my master is hardwood. I like the carpet in their rooms because it's cozier and cleaning once a year professionally is enough.

I'm a big fan of softer textiles(including carpeting) in sleeping quarters. But, I'm also really into Feng Shui, too. Personally, though, I do feel that hardwoods are a little more stimulating-they are colder, smooth and reflective, and they echo. I think hardwoods are great in communal areas of the house, especially because the clean up is a lot easier, but for bedrooms, or a room you want to relax or sleep in, I feel that softer textiles are more condusive to promoting sleep/relaxation.

We have laminate flooring in our bedrooms and although its not hardwood, I am very happy that we have it. It cleans up well and isn't an allergy problem for me or my allergy-prone son. We've got 2 boys, 6 and 3, and they're very active and running around as I type. They've run and slid and fallen quite often but its nothing they wouldn't be doing on carpet anyway. They've never been really hurt so I don't regret getting it.

Totally a personal choice. I personally like carpet in the bedrooms. I don't like the upkeep with hardwood, but there are lots of other options these days: tile (love mine, with rugs); laminate (I had Pergo in my former house kitchen; it looked good and was easy to clean with pets and teens); you might consider eco-friendly bamboo. You might want to let the 13 and 8 year old choose what they want for their own rooms.
Have fun.

I love FLOR carpet tiles. You could put them over hardwood floors, even wall to wall if you wanted the flexibility of both. Good luck.

We have hardwoods everywhere -except the bedrooms! We like carpet in the bedrooms. It's softer and feels better under bare feet. I recommend a neutral brownish tone or one that doesn't show dirt easily for the kids. A very short, loose pile is great too because it doesn't trap and hold onto dirt, hair and other debris.

It's a personal choice. I have hard wood downstairs and carpet in the bedrooms. I really like carpet in the bedrooms... much more comfortable for the kids to play in there. When we play or read in one of the bedrooms I can sit on the floor and it doesn't hurt my back or knees. When we play on the hardwood floor I'm always uncomfortable. Have you asked your kids what they prefer in their rooms?

Good luck!

We put hardwoods throughout our home (including the kitchen and the closets) and the purchased large area rugs to keep in the warmth and make it feel cozier.

Keep in mind that ripping out carpet to install hardwoods later will cost you more in labor, so if you think you'll do it eventually, then do it now and cover them up until you are ready!

Hi Diana

I am an interior designer and I would recommend hardwood with area rugs. It's the best of both worlds. Feel free to ask more questions by visiting my website at www.coloursandconcepts.com or by emailing me at ____@____.com

J.

I prefer carpet. We are re-doing my oldest daughters (13) bedroom and had to also make that decision. Hardwood would have been a little cheaper, but we decided on the carpet. I felt that the carpet made the room more cozy. We have hardwood in our living areas downstairs, but I will always have carpet upstairs/ where we sleep.

I LOVE having hard surface floors throughout the house. We ripped out the carpet and replaced with laminate throughout and I was shocked and disgusted by how much gunk there was floating around my floors that the carpet completely obscured! It is so easy to just do a quick sweep or vacuum with the hard surface and so easy to clean up spills also. I'd go with the hardwood.

We have SO loved our Wilson Art Laminated floors and would do them all over again even with an unlimited budget. Better than hardwood especially with kids and dogs. We've had heavy objects dropped on the floor, throwup, dogs and kids running, nothing touches it and when we clean it, looks brand new again, even after almost 10 years. Such a breeze!

Especially to consider if there are any allergies. The whole house is the laminated wood except the bathrooms and the original hardwood in the dining room and kitchen. Wish we had done it in there too.

Remember the clean up and with hardwood floors you do have to have them cleaned up every few years which is costly and the fumes cannot be good for the family members.

Carpet - wouldn't even consider it now with what I know about chemicals and the junk that gets caught up in them.

We have hard wood all through the house. Our lovely dogs have scratched the hell out of it, and when they are no longer with us, we will have to have the floors refinished. I think it depends on the ages of your kids and how hard you think they will be on the floors.....Ours kids were older, so it was a non-issue...and I love the warmth it adds to the bedrooms now. With little ones, I would worry about slipping on throw rugs or falling on a hard floor. That being said, it is really better for allergies to go with the wood.