How to Choose Flooring: Timber, Tiles or Carpet?

Your flooring choice makes up a major part of your budget, so naturally it merits thoughtful consideration.

But what are the best flooring options for your new home? How do you weigh up taste and style with practical concerns like maintenance and energy efficiency?

In this guide, we introduce you to some of the best flooring options and unpack how to choose flooring colour for your home.

How to Choose the Best Flooring for Your Home:

Tried-and-true timber

Engineered timber flooring is extremely hard-wearing and available in many colours, woods and finishes.

Both aesthetically pleasing and environmentally sustainable, its timeless appeal makes timber the material of choice for many homes.

So what is engineered timber, you ask? Basically, it’s a layer of hardwood timber bonded to the top of engineered timber like MDF or plywood.

Engineered timber solves the usual problems you get with hardwood like expanding and contracting.

And depending on the thickness of the hardwood layer, it can be sanded and polished much like a solid wood floor.

Timber pros

Healthier: Engineered timber doesn’t harbour allergens like hardwood or carpet can.

Versatility: Whether you love the rustic look, prefer the modern or chic, or want to spunk it up with industrial, timber never goes out of style.

Timber cons

Engineered timber can hike up your new home costs, but it can often pay for itself as a long-term investment.

Timber tips

To make the room look bigger, opt for lighter colours and run the timber parallel to the longest wall in the room. For a contemporary aesthetic, choose wider boards.

Loveable Laminate

For a budget alternative to timber, you can also get excellent quality laminate flooring that looks just like wood.

Laminate is one of the best flooring options because it faithfully mimics the look of timber or tile at a fraction of the price.

Compared to the old days, new manufacturing methods give you deeper texturing and more realistic graphics. Plus, it’s quick to install whilst being hygienic and easy to maintain.

Naturally, families with young children often choose laminate for its strong resistance to scratches and damage.

Laminate pros

Cost-effective: While cheaper than timber, laminate gives you a beautiful finish that’s perfect if you’re on a budget.

Realistic appearance: Gone are the days when laminate looked like… well, laminate. When you choose laminate flooring in your new home with JG King Homes, your guests will never know the difference!

Laminate cons

Laminate cannot be refinished if it gets wear-and-tear, but at least it’s easy and cost-effective to re-install.

Laminate tip

Laminate flooring can be used in semi-moist areas like kitchens as it bears some resistance to water.

Comfy Carpet

There’s nothing like the feeling of wool or wool blend carpet under your feet.

This is especially true in areas where we tend to walk around barefoot, such as the bedroom.

Carpet offers great heat insulation in winter and sound insulation all year round, helping to eliminate noise when walking through your house.

Carpet pros

Colours and textures: The huge range of JG King Homes carpeting gives you the ultimate freedom of choice. Not sure how to choose the flooring colour for your home? Read about Features and Finishes in your Dream Home.

Minimises noise: Particularly useful in double storey homes, carpet’s great for muffling those annoying footsteps.

Carpet cons

Spills are harder to clean compared to timber, tile or laminate, but superior quality carpets can withstand a wash or two.

Carpet tip

Lighter coloured carpet will help make the room feel brighter and larger.

Terrific Tiles

Tiles are the preferred surface in wet areas like bathroom, kitchen and laundry.

Tiles are also a great option for the alfresco and barbecue areas where fuss-free cleaning is a must.

While matte or lappato finishes are more common choices, the wide selection of patterns will allow you to break things up with a feature tiled wall in a bold colour or interesting pattern.

Tile pros

Customisable: With an array of colours, styles and designs, tiles give you the freedom to make your home unique.

Easy to clean: Tiles in your kitchen will be breezy to mop, a great option if you’ve got young kids.

Tile cons

Tiles can sometimes be cold to walk on, so make use of some great floor rugs in areas where you might be spending a lot of time.

Tile tip

Neutral coloured tiles are easy to live with and to maintain. But for a high-end gloss floor that’s still practical, go for dark polished porcelain tiles.

What are the best flooring options?

While style is an important consideration, the best flooring options are the ones that suit the lifestyle you want to live.

If you are raising kids, go for a stylish yet easy to clean fuss-free option, rather than stressing out every time there’s a mess.

You should also think about your budget when making your flooring decisions.

At JG King Homes, our new home consultants are here to help you make the right choice from top to bottom!