Despite what you may have read online or inferred from trendy design posts, there’s no all-or-nothing rule when it comes to replacing residential flooring. While there are times when it makes sense to replace all a home’s floors at once, most homeowners take a phased, room-by-room approach.
Here at Creative Floors, we always advocate minimizing stress when planning any home design project; that includes respecting customers who are interested in tackling one small project at a time to honor their calendar and budget.
Creative Floors: Our Roadmap For Replacing Residential Flooring
When Casselberry homeowners say they want to replace the floors in a single room or a couple of well-worn areas of their homes or condos, we say, “No problem.” There’s never any pressure to do anything more than you’re ready for in the moment.
Our experienced Creative Floors flooring pros are happy to help customers design a room-by-room roadmap for replacing residential flooring. Here are our suggestions on where to start for flooring remodel planning that takes a scaled approach.
1. Areas With the Heaviest Foot Traffic
Rather than asking, “Which room should I replace flooring first?” we recommend thinking about which area(s) need it the most right now. For some homeowners, that may be a specific room, such as the kitchen or a well-loved family room. Often, the entryway, foyer, or hallways are the most well-worn.
For example, we sometimes show up for an in-home consultation because clients plan to replace the kitchen or living room flooring. However, once we’ve walked around, we may determine that the outdated carpet in the living room is actually in decent shape (and can be covered by an area rug for now), while the hallway or entryway carpet is pretty threadbare and needs attention ASAP.
By replacing areas with the heaviest foot traffic with luxury flooring that withstands real-life wear and tear, your home automatically gains a fresher, more up-to-date look.
2. Bathrooms or Laundry Rooms with Carpet
Carpeted bathrooms became a desirable design feature in the 1950s. At that time, carpeting bathrooms was a sign of the ultimate in luxurious comfort. That trend continued well into the 1980s, so it’s not uncommon for our clients to purchase fixer-upper homes with the original bathroom flooring. Some of you may even have carpet in the laundry room or in a portion of your kitchen.
Today, we recognize that carpet and water-centric spaces are not a good mix. That is especially true in a climate like ours, where hotter temperatures and higher humidity put all our homes at elevated risk of mold and mildew growth. Also, carpet around the toilet simply isn’t a very hygienic option, as there’s no way to adequately clean and sanitize it.
If you have an older home with carpet in any rooms or areas with higher moisture exposure, this home flooring project guide would place those rooms toward the top of the replacement list. And, in fact, we’d bump these rooms to the top of the list if:
- Those rooms have a musty or damp smell.
- There is evidence of mold/mildew growth (dark discoloration or staining).
- The subfloor feels spongy or soft compared with other carpeted areas of the house.
Again, your in-home consultation is the ideal time for our flooring pros to conduct a walk-through and recommend which areas to prioritize based on both structural and aesthetic value. Creative Floors is here to serve you, right where you’re at. We never press clients to do more than they’re ready for. We help clients create flooring upgrade plans, beginning with the rooms that need it most, personalized to match their lifestyle and goals.
3. The Kitchen & Bathrooms
These days, homeowners are interested in turnkey kitchens and bathrooms. Upgrading the flooring in those spaces sets the foundation for any other upgrades you want to make over time. These rooms are the perfect place to enjoy the benefits of LVP flooring, which can replicate the beauty of hardwood or natural stone without the typical maintenance.
If you’re planning to sell your home in the near future, you’ll appreciate that tasteful, timeless upgrades to the kitchen and bathroom tend to have the highest resale value, so that’s something to consider as you prioritize the return on your investment (ROI).
4. The Living Room or Family Room
Does your home have an open floor plan? Or has your living room or family room been through the wringer after raising a house full of kids (or pets)? If so, this may be the area to start.
The residential flooring footprint occupies a significant amount of visual space. So, in open-plan homes or in homes where the living or family room is the main place to hang out, replacing the flooring packs a powerful style punch.
If you start here and there is a continuous visual path into adjacent rooms – such as the kitchen or a formal dining room – we can discuss flooring renovation priorities that will flow well with the current flooring until you’re ready to move on to the next phase.
5. The Bedrooms
While LVP and other hard-surface flooring options are among the top requests for flooring upgrades, Casselberry customers make, we also see a fair number of customers who prefer carpet in the bedrooms. This is understandable, as carpet is softer and warmer on bare feet and can reduce noise.
If the rest of your home has floors you love – or can live with for a while – but you’re not happy with the flooring in the bedroom, then make this a top priority. Things to think about when choosing bedroom flooring:
- Do you plan to sell the home soon?
- Is there any chance this home will become an investment property within a handful of years?
- Do you plan to age in place?
If any of these are a possibility for you, we will make recommendations for both hard-surface and luxurious carpet options that are beautiful, durable, easy to maintain, and that can accommodate mobility aids as needed.
Let Creative Floors Support Your Flooring Renovation Priorities
Are you ready to replace some of your floors, but are not sure where to start? Begin with a visit to the Creative Floors showroom, where you can learn all you need about flooring upgrades in Casselberry.
Or, better yet, schedule an in-home design consultation where we can do a walk-through and provide expert recommendations for how to proceed with prioritizing your home’s flooring projects.
