Fitted Carpet, Rugs or Wood Flooring?

Way back in the mists of time when the fitted carpet first appeared on the scene, anyone caught with a rug and – oh the shame – their floorboards exposed was seriously out of touch with the decorating trends of the day.

Nowadays it is all about ripping up the shag-pile and crossing your fingers that the original floorboards have got what it takes to be sanded and waxed to perfection. And if you happen to live in a recently built property without a traditional wooden floor, well then get yourself a reclaimed one and put that down instead.

You can achieve a fantastic illusion of even more space in a long narrow room with boards running lengthways, and there are endless designs when it comes to colour, size and finish. Experiment with parquet flooring laid at a diagonal or in a traditional wishbone design for a really classic look.

Bedrooms are an interesting area when it comes to the carpet v wood floor debate: I myself am not a fan of a wood or laminate floor in the bedroom as I like to pad about barefoot and don’t want to get cold. Unfortunately for our visitors however, I have allowed style to overcome practicality and our guest beds sit proudly on some rather lovely dark stained oak. Nobody has ever complained!

A wood floor doesn’t always work in a smaller room somehow either, and the single beds in our children’s rooms are sunk deep into some lovely tufted pure wool – in a sensible mark-disguising shade of course. No chilly extremities for them either! Thinking about it, maybe I need to re-think the spare room, be kinder to guests and at least provide a well placed ‘feature’ rug at the side of the bed as a nod in the direction of warm toes. I’d best get shopping…