Choosing flooring for your home can be a time-consuming decision. Our floors are something we live with for a long time so it’s worth taking the time to make the right decision.

Flooring is not an item we change often in our homes and sometimes a change is needed. I have found that applying the right accessories such as floor lamps, plants and the right kind of rug for the room can keep the space fresh and up to date.

AD may also contain affiliate links.

As I live in a renovated stone cottage, my home originally had slate flooring when first renovated. This would have lasted forever but the dark slate along with the cottage ceilings made the house feel dark. I chose to change the floor to a light oak which brightened the place and gave a much cosier feel. More about my kitchen in will be soon on the blog.

To add to the cosiness, I have added a bespoke rug from Designer Carpets, a company based in Derbyshire as they a supplier of a great range of premium carpets and rugs. I loved that the website has a rug visualiser where you pick your own material and edging, and you can see your rug instantly. They also offer discounted prices for high-quality products.

This allowed me to choose the materials and edging that I wanted to suit the cosy feel of my home. I chose the size, the colour and type of materials of the main rug along with the right kind of edging to give that classy look. In my case, I chose a Crucial Trading Sisool Twine Smooth Cotton with Cotton Herringbone Cream edging. Creating my bespoke rug was simple and I am so pleased with the outcome.

I was concerned that the light colour chosen may not stand the test of time within a high traffic area. I have been pleasantly surprised by the durability and ease of cleaning. With this in mind, I decided to relocate the rug to my living room, an area heavily used in my home. It has given my living room a new lease of life and goes with the fire and coloured stone so well. I like nothing better than to snuggle up in front of the fire on the rug. The increased insulation offered makes it that much cosier whilst reducing the echo you get in old homes.

You don’t need to change your whole floor to bring that fresh feeling to your floor, a well-chosen rug, made bespoke for your home can do that for a fraction of your cost. With a wide range of options available you can transform your room at an affordable price. This means you do not need to compromise and can go for the style and quality that you want.

Tips to save money on premium flooring:

Sample

Always order a sample. Even with our rug, we still got samples. You can compare it against other materials in your home and see whether you like the shade as seeing the product on screen, the texture and material may be completely different from what you expected. As much as wool may sound soft and cosy, it can be quite hard especially with floors to its durability so you may pick anther material that is softer, always order few samples so you can compare. This way, you won’t make a mistake and saves the hassle of ordering and returning products.

Colour

I have instantly fallen in love with our ivory rug with that cotton look to it, I was, of course, worried about spills and marks, especially that we have two young children in the house. However, I thought the ivory would brighten our house and it was spot on for us, as it exactly what I expected, made the house appear brighter and cosier.

I would always say to pick a colour that is the most neutral when it comes to flooring. This way you can save money as rather than spending on an expensive bit of flooring, pick a floor that is neutral and pick up on cushions and soft furnishings to add colour and patterns.

Also, pick the colour that is rather a middle shade of what you originally wanted. The too dark floor will show dust, pet hair and will require more often cleaning and too light flooring will show all spills and dirt. Medium shades are always the best.

Existing 

Think about your existing flooring and the surrounded areas. If you are putting your new floor in only one room but is connected with another, make sure the floors don’t clash with each other, colour wise. Also, make sure you have a suitable trim for the flooring to connect nicely and smoothly with another floor.

Also worth emailing the company that is proving your floor, as often companies will either recycle your old flooring/carpet for free or even provide with a discount.

Sustainability

As mentioned before about recycling your old flooring sometimes you can receive a discount, and in most cases, it is with commercial flooring that can recycle old floor, but with domestic flooring lately become quite common for companies to do it as well. Unless wooden, mostly some carpet has a plastic underlay that can be difficult to recycle but lately, companies are producing recycle materials which is great. Look for these little marks and logos to check if the company is providing these services. Most companies will have information about it in their ‘about us’ page.

Texture/Materials

Another thing to think about when choosing your new floor is what texture/material you want to go for. There can be many factors contributing to your choice, like how well-lit is your house, whether you have pets or children as well as traffic within the area and insulation issues. You can save so much money by choosing the right texture and materials. If you choose right, it will last longer, can help with insulation (especially carpets) that can keep your bills down. But also, if you chose the softest and cosy carpet, it will be children friendly, while shorter wood ones, easier to clean and more pet friendly. Pick the texture that will more likely suit your lifestyle.

• • deep pile carpet is better for home without pets, but with small children.
  • shorter carpets would suit more homes with pets. 
  • more textured carpets/pattern would be better for areas with high traffic/ corridors etc as t would hide dirt & worn off areas.
  • patterns can add to the room, making bigger or smaller, choose a pattern that will enhance the room.

Stain resist treatment

When ordering a flooring always ask if they can apply a stain-resist treatment. This may add cost to it, but it will save you money in the long run. It will help you to remove any stains, whether oil or water based. This is the best investment you can do. Also, always ask if they have a suitable product to clean from the carpet manufacturer as this would be the best product to clean your carpet.

Remember, you can always save money when choosing high quality flooring as it will be more durable, stain-resistant, have a better guarantee from manufacturers and the the quality will last longer. From a sustainability point, the longer the carpet lasts, the better the environmental point of view.