Is it Better to have Carpet or Wood in the Bedroom?

The choice between Hardwood flooring or carpeting has long constitute a headache for not online interior designers, but also independent house-owners.  The decision upon this matter appears to be of such a challenge, especially when you have to decide what's best for a bedroom in the long run. Each type of these most common means of flooring has its own benefits and drawbacks. Ultimately, the decision would be of the person who uses the space the most, with consideration upon the location of the room in the home and whether the user have a certain type of allergies or not.

In order to reach a conclusion in a fight between carpet and hardwood flooring, this article of mine are going to explore each type of flooring carefully, with all the pros and cons being potentially weighed upon.

📷

An overall analysis of hardwood flooring

Hardwood flooring would typically be any type of products that are manufactured from timber to make flooring, regardless of the purpose to be only structural or aesthetics. Wood flooring is widely favored as wood is such a material to come in various styles, colors, cuts and species.

Hardwood flooring provides several advantages, especially in bedrooms. Most significantly, hardwood flooring offers the inherent beauty of interior that is hard to compare with carpeting. By using hardwood, the potential of the house to be sole is increased since the potential buyers could see exactly what they're having beneath without having to rip up the floor in case it is covered by carpet. 

Additionally, wooden floors retain its beauty and functionality against time, when being put into comparison with carpeting. Wood can be refinished numerous times to restore its original beauty. In a home where pets live, hardwood is much easier to clean as the stray hair, dander and dust can be easily spotted and swept away immediately. 

📷

Hardwood does not trap dust or allergens, so it's a safer option for those with asthma or allergies. Hardwood also does not emit the substance called volatile organic compounds (or VOC as the common abbreviation). VOC is unfortunately pretty common in some carpeting recently as carpets are treated with various chemicals at the factory during the manufacturing process.

Hardwood flooring is by all means a classic yet premium flooring material as it creates such a sense of beauty, cleanliness, tidiness, organization. Of course, besides damp areas like kitchen or bathroom where wooden materials do not appear to be of the favorable choice, hardwood flooring seems to overthrown any other types of material in almost any other room in the house due to the premium effect it helps create. 

Despite the warmth, coziness and sound-dampening features that carpeting may brought about, many homeowners are on the course of replacing previous carpet flooring of bedrooms into hardwood. Whether it requires the exposure of existing hardwood or lay solid hardwood or even engineered hardwood planks during the refurbishment. Most of the time, designers favor the appeal of hardwood as it stimulates more natural sensation as well as visual warmness caused by variant shades of wooden brown.

As a result, here are some notes to keep in mind upon the consideration of using hardwood for flooring the bedroom.

📷

Considering the aesthetics 

Hardwood has been regarded as the ultimate flooring material for centuries in spite of several radical shifts in trends and times. It is undeniable that wooden flooring has never gone out of style, ranging from vintage or old-schooled housing of the past empire or dynasty, to the recent modern, minimal yet aesthetics housing design. 

Normally, The bedroom is a place that people often feel compelled to ‘recreate’ every few months with a new design. One big advantage of hardwood is that it will look in-fitting with just about any decorative ornaments that you might be bringing new into the room.

What is more, hardwood flooring is available in several wood species with different patterns.  It can be stained in an almost infinite range of hues. Top-coatings can range from glass-like gloss to a subtle matte finish, and hardwood flooring serves as the perfect backdrop for ornamental rugs and furnishings.

📷

Considering the Comforts 

Bedroom, whether yours or mine, is a place of quiet serenity and soft vulnerability, where shoes and socks are often taken off so that the  bare foot could be pressed and touch the ground directly. this rationale also gives the explanation as of why carpet has been so popular of a choice for bedrooms. While wood is softer and warmer than ceramic and porcelain tile, it is still relatively stern and can get chilly in colder regions. 

📷

Considering the potential of allergies 

With hardwood flooring, the surface is smooth and solid. This constitute the guarantee that all particles can be easily cleaned away. A bedroom is a space where people spend at least one third of their daym and for those who suffer from allergies, asthma, and other breathing disorders, hardwood flooring is one of the very best options.

One of the biggest problems with carpet and other soft flooring materials is that they tend to collect dust, pollen, and other small irritating particles. These are then released back into the air every time someone walks across the room, creating a hazy atmosphere filled with invisible debris which can irritate sensitive lungs and sinuses.

📷

Considering the noise respect

If your bedroom is in upper level,  there are reason to consider relating to the noise hardwood flooring might create. The transmission of noise is actually the biggest problem with hardwood flooring.Not only do you have to worry about creaks from shifting floorboards, but even the tapping of shoes as you walk across the floor can be translated as thumps to people dwelling down below. This can be especially troublesome with active children in a bedroom directly above downstairs living spaces.

The biggest problems will occur when the hardwood is installed incorrectly, causing the planks to shift and creak when walked across. This unwelcoming effect can be lesson by having an insulating underlayment under the hardwood. Another option is to deaden the noise from above by spreading area rugs and carpets throughout the room.

📷

As mentioned above, considering the noise aspect, hardwood flooring may not be the ideal option on a second floor-bedroom above another bedroom or room where others congregate while the bedroom is in use. The drop of objects upon a hardwood on a floor will create audible sound in the room beneath it. 

Walking across the floor in heeled shoes may seem loud and obnoxious to those in a room below the bedroom. Wood floors sometimes creak when you walk across them, potentially disturbing those sleeping in rooms nearby. Wood flooring also scratches from everyday use; simply getting into and out of the bed may cause scratches on the floor if there is no cushioning between the bed frame and floor. However, an area rug under the bed can solve some of these issues.

📷

Considering the maintenance 

Hardwood flooring is of the type that require low maintenance. A few simple sweeps and wipes will keep dirt and dust away. Also, with the wood patterns and clear-sighted floor, there are no places for dirt to hide. Hardwood flooring will, however, need to be refinished at some point—a process that can range from a simple reapplication of varnish to full stripping, sanding, and application of a new top-coat. 

However, the strength of hardwood floor lies in the fact that it could take more than at least one decade before any revival of any kind is needed. And the simple fact that hardwood flooring can be refinished is one of its main advantages: Carpeting typically needs to be replaced every seven years or so, while hardwood floors have been known to last as long as the house itself.

Considering the small family members, here I mean pets

The beauty of hardwood floors could be most hampered in case of pet raising inside the household. Pet’s toenails tend to scratch up hardwood bedroom flooring surfaces. This can be demoted to some extent by keeping pet nails trimmed or simply banning them from the boudoir. 

📷

Considering the Costs 

You can find some woods selling for as little as $1 to $2 per square foot, but in general, a high-quality hardwood flooring will cost closer to $10 per square foot or even more. This makes hardwood more expensive than most carpet and other means of flooring construction.

However, the slightly-more-expensive price of hardwood flooring means for the initial investment. well-kept hardwood floor can outlast other less-expensive options by more than 10 years. Long-term wise, hardwood flooring solve the problem of  exponential replacement costs.

Considering the possibility of easy installment 

For homeowners looking to save money by doing the installation work themselves, hardwood flooring may not be the best choice. Laying solid hardwood plank flooring is a specialized skill that is best handled by professionals with lots of experience. This is an expensive flooring material that you want to get right. However, there are some engineered hardwood flooring materials—products made by bonding a surface hardwood layer to a laminated base—that are easier for DIYers to install. These products may use a "click-lock" assembly method that is considerably easier than the blind-nailing process used to install solid hardwood tongue-and-groove planks. Be aware, though, that these engineered hardwood flooring products do not have the longevity of solid hardwood plank floors.

Generally speaking hardwood floors are more difficult for DIYers to install than other non-carpet flooring options, such as laminate, vinyl, or even ceramic tile.

📷

Considering the real estate value

When choosing a flooring, you may want to consider the impact on real estate value. This is specially applied to those who have the intention of selling your home in the near future. Common in the estate world, new system of  flooring is sometimes installed for the sake of making the property more appealing to buyers, especially if the old floors are damaged.

Installing hardwood floors is a good investment if you do plan to enjoy the beauty of them for a quite a few years, but not if your goal is preparing your home for soon-to-come sale. Hardwood flooring will sure help increase the monetary value of your home, but not by the amount it costs to install them. If you already have hardwood floors, refinishing them can be an excellent way to prepare your home for sale.

While it is not as soft as carpet, the traditional bedroom flooring choice, hardwood is still a warm, welcoming feature when used as a floor surface in this room. Its natural beauty, durability, and ability to stand the test of time for both style and durability make it a wonderful long-term flooring material for this serene and settled location.

An overall analysis of Carpeting

Being regarded as the direct arch-enemy of hardwood flooring, carpeting is alive and flourish in the housing interior game on the same par as hardwood. Supporters of carpeting argue that there are some places in the home that are just better suited to a soft floor covering than a hard one. They continued as the bedroom is a cozy sanctuary from the bustle and activity of the rest of the home. The softness, quiet, and warmth of the carpet, more often than not,  make it a competitive flooring option for this private haven.

Considering the spatial impact

Unarguably, people tend to prefer quietness during their beauty sleep. No one would want to be woken up by some clomping sound of others making their way through the bedroom. Obviously, carpet is quieter to walk on than hard flooring, and it helps to mask the sound of a partner walking around the room. This can be especially beneficial when partners have different schedules. In addition, carpet absorbs sound—while hard flooring reflects it—reducing the noise of speech and other activities..

📷

Considering the insulation

Most of us don’t enjoy waking up to an alarm every morning and having to leave the warmth of a bed created by hard floor. By contrast, carpet provides a nice transition between the comfort of the bed and the reality of facing another day. At the end of the day, when your feet are tired and sore and you retreat to your bedroom, it’s nice to have a soft, cushioned feel underfoot. 

Considering the safety

Slips can happen easily, particularly if you’re half asleep. Stumbling to the bathroom in the middle of the night when you’re not quite awake could be hazardous on a hard, slippery floor. As a concrete evident, often seen in kid’s room, kindergarten as well as nurseries, carpet serves the ultimate choice of flooring. Children are always at the risk of falling out of bed and will benefit from a softer landing place. especially for babies who are to walk, carpet is much softer on the knees and much more forgiving during crash or uncontrolled landing.

📷

Considering certain health effect

Air quality is an important consideration, especially for people with asthma and allergies. Despite common disbelief, past several decades have born several studies showing that carpet reduces the number of allergens in the air as compared to hard flooring. Carpet prevents allergens from becoming airborne by trapping them in the fibers of the carpet, helping to keep them out of the air and out of your lungs. Recent vacuuming play a role in removing the trapped allergens completely.

📷

Carpeting adds a visual and literal warmth to a bedroom, and is soft on the feet in the middle of the night when you get up for a drink of water. If you're starting from scratch, carpeting may be less of an initial investment than hardwood, depending on the quality of the carpeting. It also provides sound-dampening properties, which comes in handy if some members of the house stay up late in a room beneath the carpeted bedroom. You can replace carpeting whenever a room remodel is order, allowing a completely different look for the room.

Carpeting may be initially less expensive than hardwood flooring for the bedroom, but over time it may actually cost more, as the carpet wears out or becomes outdated far sooner than a hardwood floor. Carpeting stains easily, and traps dust and debris, which means it requires a bit more effort to keep clean than a hardwood floor. If pets share the bedroom, dander, fleas and fur may work their way deep into the carpet fibers. Fumes, dust mites and allergens may contribute to health concerns if you or a family member using the room has asthma or allergies.

Conclusion

As seen from the overall analysis of competitors from both sides, whether it is hardwood flooring or carpeting, each has its own strength and weakness. One’s strength serves as the other’s weakness and vice versa. Hence, it is highly dependent upon the houseowner frame structure and arrangement of rooms, as well as certain preferences and conditions relating to health and family structure to decide whether carpet or wooden floors serves as the better choice.

Hoever, if you're ripped between the two choices, perhaps the best solution is to opt for a compromise. You can reap many of the benefits of carpet by using a partial filament to cover a hard flooring in the bedroom to damper its noise fostering characteristics. Or upon siding towards carpeting, it might be that certain constant awareness should be put into the daily life activities to best maintain the lifespan of one piece of carpet.

However, if you’re ripped between the two choices, perhaps the best solution is to opt for a compromise

if you like wooden floors and an area rug, it’s a great decision.

See the article TOP 10 Best Area Rugs for Bedroom. We have researched, reviewed and evaluated thousands of carpets to choose the best ones

Wishing you a happy experience!