When choosing flooring for your home there are several options to consider. One is carpet. But what sort of carpet and where?
Carpets are definitely more comfortable and softer underfoot, especially in the bedroom. However If you have someone who has allergies like hay fever or respiratory problems like asthma you may want to forgo the carpet as it will collect more dust. In particular I’d suggest you stay right away from shag pile and long haired carpets and go for a smooth close texture instead.
The other disadvantage with the longer fibred carpet is they are much harder work to clean. We had a shag pile carpet in our previous house. It was already there when we moved in. It looked great and was lovely to walk on but and it was a nightmare to vacuum. By the time I’d run the vacuum over the lounge and dining room and family room, I was too exhausted to get to the vacuuming bedrooms. If I vacuumed bedrooms I was too tired to do the other rooms. It wrecked my back.
As for carpet in a dining room, that is not a good idea, especially if you have a young family. If you’ve already got carpet and don’t want to rip it up, then maybe a plastic sheet during meal times or a washable cotton rug under the table might be the answer.
To my mind vinyl flooring is a far better option in a dining room and possibly for a family room. You can get a wide variety of styles and patterns. Some are intended to look like tiles or slate, however vinyl is warmer on the feet than tiles or slate and softer if you break anything. Tiles and slate are very unforgiving. Drop anything and it shatters. I know. We have a lot of tiles in our house. The dining room, kitchen, family room, bathrooms and halls are all tiled. It look good but breakage is just one disadvantage. I’ll tell you about others tomorrow.
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