New flooring: part of your spring plans?

Spring. The season when, for many of us, the year really starts in earnest. A season of newness. A season of change. And a season when lots of people start thinking about home improvements – and turning those thoughts into action. Starting with the floors. Choose wisely, and what you put under your feet this spring will outlast any new colour scheme, any new fixtures, fittings and furniture, and will to a large extent influence those choices in future. Make the wrong decisions, and you could find yourselves starting the whole process again all too soon. There are several criteria to consider, but here are just a few:

Cost is a factor – but not the only one

It goes without saying (although we're saying it anyway) – affordability is important! But making the right product choices matters more. Select the right flooring solutions, and they should last long after the cost has ceased to be a consideration.

How are your rooms used?

You will know from experience how much footfall your individual rooms put up with – and how much mess to expect. The hallway, for instance, may suffer from more than its fair share of muddy boots and pawprints. Bathroom floors get wet – it's unavoidable. Aesthetics are important, but arguably more so in the living room and dining room than in the kitchen, where durability is essential. Comfort matters too – do you prefer a fluffy deep-pile carpet in the bedroom, or a smooth wooden floor? All these things deserve serious consideration before you choose your flooring.

Does the flooring need to match what's already there?

It depends, and this will largely depend on the size of the property. A small house or flat usually looks better with a single colour scheme throughout, but you can get away with a mix of colours and materials in a larger property. Of course – taste is subjective, and we’re here to help you do you!

Fashions come and go – but style is eternal

When it comes to appearances, with flooring solutions it pays to think ahead. Not just to this summer, or next year, but a decade or more from now. Trends come and go – but style is fashion-proof. M&D Flooring have been installing flooring solutions since 2005 – long enough to have learned some lessons. One of which is that patterned carpets date far more quickly than plain. But plain carpets don’t need to be boring – it's easy enough to add a bit of zing to a plain carpet with one of our statement rugs. Inexpensive, easy to install, and – just as importantly – to remove.

It’s all about the underlay

Good quality underlay won't just make your floor feel softer underfoot – it will also help your carpets last longer. Wood splinters, dust, small granules of sand – without underlay all of these can work their way into your carpet from the bottom up, damaging the fibre and causing the carpet to fray. Underlay can reduce noise, too. At M&D we recommend Contract and Super Contract underlay from Cloud 9, which is effective at softening not just ‘impact sound’ (the sound of footsteps) but also ‘airborne sound’ (background noise).

Durability

Whether you choose carpets, wood flooring, or anything else, no-one wants to be replacing their floors year after year. It's important that you select lasting flooring solutions that are right for you: for your taste, your budget, your home, and the individual rooms within it. And we think it's just as important to form a relationship with a flooring supplier and installer that's equally long-lasting. That'll be us, then! M&D Flooring are here to help.

Thinking kitchens?

Often considered the heart of a home, the kitchen is also one of the hardest rooms in the house to redecorate or refit. And there's probably no other room in your house where your choice of flooring matters so much. It’s unavoidable: your home's busiest room is also a place of mess. A good starting point is to consider the spill- and stain-resistance of your flooring. There are plenty of options to choose from. Here are our suggestions:

• Luxury vinyl tiles and planks (LVTs and LVPs): Durable, scratch- and stain-resistant, cope well with heavy foot-traffic.
• Wood and engineered wood: wood floors are beautiful, but not maintenance-free.

Throwing in a curveball: mixing and matching

If you have a kitchen-diner, do you go for the same floor throughout? Or do you have different flooring solutions for the two areas, to define the two zones? Talk to us, and we’ll help you figure out your perfect solution.

Home Select

If you're considering new flooring or blinds this spring, don't forget M&D Flooring's Home Select service. Call us on 01480 598800 or send an email and we'll make an appointment to visit you, and bring a range of samples for you to consider. We welcome visits by appointment, but to see how our products would look in your home, let us come to you.

Contact us today to arrange our no-obligation Home Select service.