If you’re building a new home, there are a lot of choices you need to make. But one that often gets overlooked is choosing floor designs to keep your home warm and comfortable. We’re going to discuss a range of ideas, including:
- Carpet options
- Rugs
- Concrete
- Wood Flooring
- Stone and ceramic tiles
- Laminate flooring
- Underlay
- Underfloor Heating
All of these have their own unique way of bringing warmth and comfort to your home. Some, it’s because of how they look. Others, it’s because of how they feel. And even if the actual material doesn’t give any additional warmth, there are plenty of ways the home design can give your home a comfortable feel.
Carpet options
For warmth and comfort, most people instantly go for the carpet flooring. This makes sense because it’s soft underfoot and beautiful to walk on. Generally, the plusher the carpet, the more comfortable you feel.
However, there are so many different carpet styles out there, so you need to consider other things such as how easy it is to keep clean. Still, carpet can’t really be beaten for comfort, so if this is your choice, start shopping today!
Another thing to remember is you can mix and match throughout your house. You may want something like timber floors for appearance in your main living areas, but there’s nothing to stop you from putting some beautiful carpet in the bedrooms.
Rugs
Naturally, if you enjoy the comfortable feel of carpet but the sleek, modern look of timber, concrete or tiles, you’ve only got one option. Rugs! You can use rugs anywhere in the house, and it’s a popular house design choice to help break up a room.
Interior designers love using rugs, because they can really bring a sense of warmth, comfort and homeliness to any room, no matter what the rest of the décor is like.
Concrete
Ok, so we know that concrete isn’t usually what you jump to when you think about warmth and comfort. However, many modern house designs utilise polished concrete as a flooring option. It’s more of a design choice rather than for comfort. However, if you use large rugs or pieces of plush carpet on your stone flooring, it can create a stunning look, and you still get the benefit of warmth from the rug.
Wood flooring
Timber flooring is one of the most popular choices because it’s so versatile. Polished floorboards, beautiful patterns with engineered timber. You’ve got a lot of options. Plus, the colour choices are considerable, depending on how you stain the floors.
But what about warmth and comfort? Well, timber flooring gives a particularly homely feel. Plus, timber is a natural heat conductor. You’ll find that heat travels through your home faster when you’ve got timber floors.
Stone and ceramic tiles
Much like concrete, stone and ceramic may not be your first choice for warmth. But if your home has good heating, tiled floors won’t end up getting too cold. Plus, you’ve got so much choice when it comes to style, patterns and design, so you can create a beautiful floor with stone and concrete tiles
Laminate flooring
Laminate flooring is a good option for keeping cosy and warm, especially with some quality underlay beneath it. It’s also thicker than vinyl, so there’s an extra layer between your feet and the cold sub-floor. The same goes for hybrid flooring types which are becoming more popular these days. Best of all, you can achieve almost any look you want with laminate, hybrid or vinyl flooring.
Don’t forget the underlay
With a lot of the flooring types we’ve mentioned, it isn’t even the flooring that does most of the comforting and warming. The underlay is crucial to maintaining a good temperature underfoot. Underlay is basically insulation for your floors, so it can also help to keep your energy costs down while adding comfort.
The best flooring to use underlay with is vinyl, laminate and hybrid flooring. That’s because those types of flooring tend to take on the feel of whatever they’re installed on. For example, laminate laid directly on concrete is always going to be hard. But with some underlay, you’ll always get a sense of softness and comfort. It’s the perfect barrier between your flooring and the colder areas below.
Underfloor heating
This is a much more expensive option, but it’s not a bad one if you really love having some warmth underfoot. Radiant below-the-surface heating works by heating the underlay and sending warmth up into your flooring. Naturally, it’s a little difficult to install in existing homes without some serious renovation taking place. So, we’d recommend this option only when building a new home.
With all types of flooring, you’ll get the best results if you hire professionals to install it for you. When it comes to underfloor heating, it’s pretty much essential. If not installed properly, it could be a serious fire risk, so make sure you do your research before choosing this option.
