Tips on going from carpet to hardwood floors? Decor and logistics help appreciated

[Violet2]

HELP I feel like I'm doomd to mop 24/7 here.

We embarked on an ambitious total home reorg this year that will give us refinished hardwood floors throughout and a dining room (by repurposing space).

We are doing all the work ourselves (i.e. we don't really have any $$$). DH is super handy too.

The thing is

a) DD keeps slipping and falling--she leaves her play silks behind on the floor and then slips on them. It's aggravating b/c she cries when she falls and I can't seem to keep them up off the floor.

b)bare floors get dirty fast and I'm a lazy house cleaner

So we're looking at area rugs but I feel like we're getting into a garish rainbow effect. One room has a multi-red tone rug. The other has a multi-blue/green tone rug.

I am now thinking I need to make the traffic areas to each room more neutral in rug choice, but that is actually kind of hard!

DD is hanging on me so I may not be able to fully express myself. Typing fast here.

BUT I haven't dealt with bare floors in a house before so any tips, tricks FYIs would be greatly appreciated. OMG the amount of mopping and sweeping is insane and I'm just dealing with one room so far--the rest are still in construction.

AND if you have any thoughts on area rugs--picking colors etc... where to shop all that , please let me know. Specifically, the teeny hallway needs a round rug (6' around would probably be too big) and then the dining room needs a floor runner from the front door to the hallway.

Dining room is wedgewood blue. Hallway is banana cream. Family room is gold/cayenne. Play room is Tiffany blue. Kitchen will be lime green. Bathroom will probably be seafoam green.

Okay, don't make fun of my rainbow. I realize it sounds like a lot of color with nothing tying it together, but we like our colors. The rugs are a challenge though.

Thanks
V

[nd_deadhead]

We replaced ugly carpet in our living room, dining room, and hallway with hardwood several years ago, and I LOVE it! Our house is a split, so we also replaced the stair treads going upstairs with solid hardwood.

I'm not horribly particular about cleaning it, but I do try to get after the drifts of dog hair (our 35-pound dog seems to be about half hair) and dust that accumulates on the floor. For that I use a small canister vacuum, and it works great.

Our walls are more neutral than yours. Under the dining table we have a large wool rug from Sam's - patterned, but burgundy, not real loud. At the top of the stairs there is a smaller rug, dark green. The living room has a tan rug, but if I'd found the dining room rug first, I just would have bought two of those.

Because of all your color, I would stick to earth tones and minimal patterns, if you can. Since area rugs tend to be patterned, you could try going to a carpet store and getting the edges of a remnant bound, in whatever size you want.

[BarefootScientist]

Subbing because I am moving to an apartment with laminate floors. Not quite the same but not carpet!

Good luck!

[Violet2]

Yeah, I was thinking neutral or going with the same rug pattern in the dining room and traffic areas into the hall--that would give some thematic unity.

However, I have found it difficult to find rugs I like and can afford.

V

[mumkimum]

We got a bunch of our wood floors refinished 2 years ago - I use our canister vacuum a lot (and have a small dustpan I keep in easy access). I barely mop or sweep, we're lucky if that happens monthly and usually I leave it up to dh.

That said - we once had an apartment with hardwood too and somehow having a dustmop and mopping monthly happened (that was before kids, though). A good dust mop would save you a lot of the mopping and sweeping, and actually was what the floor guys we had work here recommended.

We got rugs for the heaviest use areas (like middle of the living room) for more comfort. And, hmm. . I was really attached to getting natural fiber rugs. Stuff like seagrass or jute is pretty affordable (but not good with cats, in case you have them). Places I looked at that tended to have more affordable but good quality natural fiber rugs: pier 1, crate and barrel, ikea (we ended up getting ours there), ollie's (lots of non-natural options there too - really affordable if they're by you), sometimes tj maxx or target even. LL bean (I think) has nice wool braided rugs that are really practical and durable too. Sometimes I've come across good stuff on craigslist, around us, too.

[cristeen]

We have hardwood throughout and a rainbow also.

We do not have rugs. They're a pain. Even just the playmat in the LR is tough to keep clean.

For cleaning, a canister vac is your friend - don't bother with the broom. I can vacuum the whole house in 20 minutes - a good vacuum makes a difference. We also have an "electric mop", but I only use it a few times a year. I spot clean if there's a spill, or just vacuum the rest of the time. And I'm one of the laziest you'll ever meet when it comes to cleaning.

As for the slipping, socks (or slippers) with grippies are your friend for the littles. I slip if I'm just in socks.

And for the playsilks and slipping - honestly, she will eventually learn to pick them up or avoid them if she doesn't want to slip on them. That just comes with experience. Yeah, it's tough now when she cries because she slipped, but it's part of life IMO. Personally, I wouldn't redecorate the house to avoid the bumps and bruises that come with growing up.

[Violet2]

DD's got the rubber socks and still manages to go down. She's special that way.

Considering I broke my arm at the age of 4 in a similar situation, I'm a little more vested in preventing falls.

What brand canister vacuum are you ladies using?

V

[sunnysandiegan]

We got a Roomba (robot that vacuums) from woot.com for a great price. It is excellent for hardwood floors and our cork floors!

Sometimes I run it in one room every day of the week... Sometimes I run it in two rooms, then charge it and run it in the rest of the place - all in one day. It gets up all the cat hair and kid messes and general dust and life stuff.

I only mop once a month or so, but I have the fastest mop ever! I can mop nearly 700 square feet in less than ten minutes and it looks GREAT! It has a large flat rectangular shape head on a long telescoping pole. It came with one white/blue striped cover and I got an extra one (total cost for all pieces was less than $10 at the local discount store). I use hot water, get the first mophead cover wet, squeeze it mostly dry, pop it on, mop the front of the house, flip it over, mop some more. If it gets dirty fast, then I get the second mophead cover wet with hot water, wring it out, and continue on until the whole main level is done. It dries pretty fast, too. (Most of the time, I only need the one cover, both sides.)

[lonegirl]

I just sweep a lot. Dust bunnies from two cats and crumbs from ds's snacks end up all over. As for mopping....I am lucky to mop it once a month. I use the eco mist hardwood and laminate cleaner....it cleans quickly and is nice and non toxic http://www.ecomistsolutions.com/hard...minate_pro.php

[cristeen]

We have a Riccar vacuum, which is spendy, but will last years, if not decades. But if you're going to be vacuuming mostly hardwood with some carpet, then you want a canister that comes with a powered head attachment - non-powered heads will not do jack for getting the carpet clean.

When we got the vacuum, it had been years since the one room with carpeting had been vacuumed, and that was the first thing we did. I spent 10 minutes going over every inch of that carpet and filled a vacuum bag just from that one room (we had cats and they loved rolling around on the carpet). I was amazed that the carpet was actually brown and not gray.

[momofmine]

Originally Posted by sunnysandiegan

We got a Roomba (robot that vacuums) from woot.com for a great price. It is excellent for hardwood floors and our cork floors!

Sometimes I run it in one room every day of the week... Sometimes I run it in two rooms, then charge it and run it in the rest of the place - all in one day. It gets up all the cat hair and kid messes and general dust and life stuff.

I only mop once a month or so, but I have the fastest mop ever! I can mop nearly 700 square feet in less than ten minutes and it looks GREAT! It has a large flat rectangular shape head on a long telescoping pole. It came with one white/blue striped cover and I got an extra one (total cost for all pieces was less than $10 at the local discount store). I use hot water, get the first mophead cover wet, squeeze it mostly dry, pop it on, mop the front of the house, flip it over, mop some more. If it gets dirty fast, then I get the second mophead cover wet with hot water, wring it out, and continue on until the whole main level is done. It dries pretty fast, too. (Most of the time, I only need the one cover, both sides.)

Do you use just plain hot water?

[chel]

we have hardwood in most rooms. i just use a regular vacuum every couple of days. i never mop but i do spot clean with a special solution that came with the house (spray out of a spray bottle and wipe up with a washcloth)

[zoebird]

i just swept my floors every day (usually in the AM) and then mopped them once a week or every 10 days or so. i would spot clean if there was a place that needed it. i had 1300 sq ft and no area rugs.

ikea is good for neutral, inexpensive area rugs.

[sunnysandiegan]

Originally Posted by momofmine

Do you use just plain hot water?

Yes.

Except two times. When we first installed the cork flooring, it was really DIRTY. I used some warm, soapy water (lightly soapy) followed by plain hot water to remove gunk and soap residue. Recently, due to a bunch of reasons, we hadn't mopped the floor in a few months. There was some grime, so I repeated the warm, soapy water scenario.

All other times, I use plain hot water.

[gothnurse3]

I have no rugs or carpet because I kids with asthma. I have an ORECK vacuum that is worth it's weight in gold. I paid around $400.00 for it 10 years ago and have not had 1 ounce of problems. They now have hepa filters and all that. Plus it weighs 8 POUNDS!!!! And it is originally from a man from New Orleans...I'm from the area

[artemis33]

We have NO carpet in our home and I love it that way!

A few things:

Don't wear shoes in the house! This makes a big difference.

For our upstairs, which gets much less foot traffic (just bedrooms, laundry and bathrooms up there), I vacuum weekly (Meile canister vac - love it!). In between I dust mop if I have time. Get a good one! I used to have just a swiffer that I used old rags on (reusable ), and that was OK, but now I also have a great dust mop with a washable head. It is much more durable and the head is more flexible so it can get into places under furniture more easily. It is also better on our old wood floors, which aren't perfectly even like they may be in a new house (this place was built in 1918) - the swiffer is very stiff/flat and often misses spots . It is basically this one (the head on mine is all white, so I guess it is slightly different). I have an extra head so I can send one through the wash and put the other on right away. I found mine at a local hardware store.

http://www.amazon.com/Casabella-1751...235926&sr=8-15

Downstairs where the main living areas are gets much dirtier so I vacuum 2-3 times/ week. The 'dirt' here is much more than dust so I do use a regular broom to clean up localized messes - esp in the kitchen. I have a 4yo who loves to help me cook, so the area around the stove/island often needs a quick sweep but I don't like to drag out the vacuum every time.

We do have a few rugs but they get SO dirty! I have a special head for my vacuum for the wood floors and another I can use for the rugs. One in the LR area for comfort, one in DD's room for comfort since she plays on the floor, and one in our upstairs hall, mostly for looks and to muffle sound. I used to have one under the dining room table and hated it! It was constantly dirty and I found it is much easier to keep the area clean without the rug - I can clean little messes with the dust pan and brush much faster than having to drag out the vacuum for the rug.

I'm still experimenting with the best mopping system. The downstairs needs it about once every week (and I spot clean as needed), though it doesn't usually get done that often! The upstairs only needs it monthly or so.

[jennifercp8]

Originally Posted by artemis33

Don't wear shoes in the house! This makes a big difference.

This was going to be my suggestion. No shoes in our house at all. I make exceptions - if we have a party, etc - but for every day stuff, no shoes. DS does really well with it, it is DH I have to keep after. I sweep the kitchen a couple times during the day, and run a vacuum every other day. I have a Bissel that I run on the "hardwood" setting. It does a good job with getting stuff, but not dust. For mopping/cleaning, I cut down microfiber towels, and then attach them to my Swiffer mop head. I use a vinegar/water solution, and then soak up the cloth, wringing it out and re-soaking it as a go.

We have cherry hardwood floors, and the dark color shows everything. Keeping the floors a little cleaner by no shoes, and making sure I mop while the kiddos are down for naps makes it much easier.