Having children is a life-changing event in many ways, but one of the changes that many new parents don’t see coming is how their home will be affected. Suddenly the cosy family nest that you have been happily living in can start to seem like a fatal gauntlet of sharp corners and potential injuries.
Child-proofing homes is nothing new, but there are other ways you can make your home more suitable for children beyond those early, adrenaline-filled years. One of those ways is the flooring you have. Now, before we launch into why wooden flooring is better for your children, it is important to note that we are not just thinking about them; we are also thinking about you, the parents.
Easier Cleaning
It is an almost unavoidable reality of having a baby or young child, that things will get spilt at some point. It may be a stray bowl of baby food or it could be a stain from little muddy shoes. Whatever the cause, cleaning things out of a carpet is not an easy task. However, with wooden flooring, it can be as simple as a quick mopping up.
Maintaining the Look of Your Home
No matter how meticulous you are about keeping a carpet clean, you will inevitably run into problems that only a professional-grade carpet cleaner can solve. And even then, it may not be enough. It is important to remember that carpet staining does not have to come from one single catastrophic cereal bowl dropping incident. Stains can and do accumulate over time through regular use.
But what about tiles? They clean as easily as wood, surely? They certainly do clean as easily as wood but what they do not do is flex. This can be a problem if anything sufficiently heavy is dropped onto them, or if an eager child comes stomping into the kitchen wearing football boots! Another benefit of wood is that it can be filled in, sanded, and refinished with minimal disruption to your home.
Rugs
Despite everything we have said, there are benefits of carpet in that it is soft, warm and generally pleasant to walk on. Especially first thing in the morning with bare feet! While there is a level of comfort that carpet brings to the table that you don’t get with wooden flooring, there is no reason you can’t enjoy the best of both worlds.
A few strategically placed rugs will not only give your children somewhere soft and cosy to lay down when reading or relaxing, but it can also significantly improve the look of your home, adding a little interior flair. Just make sure that any potentially stain-producing activities happen away from the rugs.
Efficient and Warm
Wooden flooring is a lot warmer than you might think, and incredibly insulative, which makes for a much more pleasant reading when the heating bill arrives. This is because of two main factors. Firstly, wood is a naturally warm material. It does not hold in the cold as stone does. The second reason is that it will often be sat on top of quality insulating underlay (this is the part where the quality of the materials used make a big difference) which works to keep the heat in the room and the cold coming up through the floor out of it.
Final Thoughts
It is always important to consider the way you live when making a decision as big as what flooring to use in your home. As beautiful and important as your children are, their messier years can be difficult. Wood Flooring allows you to keep elegance and style to your home, while also having an element of practicality.
