Reassure me that hardwood floors are a good choice! And help me pick.

[acupuncturemomma]

We will be ripping out old carpet in our bedroom, which is definitely a good thing. What I'm worried about is the fact that hardwood is so HARD--DH and I sure liked having a soft space for when DD was learning to crawl, walk, etc. Even now at toddler age.

I know people live with hard floors all the time, and I just need some encouragement that it's a good choice. It's not like we'd put in new carpet anyway, unless it was wool. But maybe we should consider that? I really want cork, but DH doesn't like the look.

By the way, the room will eventually be living space (3-5 years from now) once we do a remodel and add bedrooms under our house.

I'm off to get more flooring samples this afternoon, and would love some feedback on choices/colors. I'll post photos later!

[nd_deadhead]

We put hardwood floors in our living room/dining room/hallway/stairs 7 years ago, and I have not regretted it for a minute. We have a rug in the living room, one under the dining room table, and one at the top of the stairs, which helps reduce the "echoy" feeling.

We live in North Dakota, keep the thermostat set pretty low, and the floor does not feel cold to me.

The best part is how easy it is to clean. We have a hairy dog, so we vacuum the wood floor (with a small bagless canister vac) once or twice a week (we would do it more if we had a lower tolerance for drifts of hair in the corners). It's so nice to be able to suck that stuff up and SEE that it's gone! The amount of dirt we found when we pulled up our old carpet was frightening.

Hardwood floors are expensive, but they last a lifetime. They add value to your home.

[oneKnight]

I loooove mine, and they are crappy! New ones would be absolute heaven! I can drop glass jars on them and they don't break. Lucky maybe, but I bet your kiddo is tougher than glass!

[lucyem]

Hardwood is wonderful. You can put down throw carpets for warmth and change them as your tastes change. Hardwood is much better for your health. The amount of dirt & dust trapped in wall to wall carpeting is scary. Wait until you pull your old ones up. Yuck. I would never have carpeting again even if my son did not have severe allergies.

[4evermom]

Think how nice it will be to put your feet on a cool wood floor on a hot summer day. And it is nice for minimizing dust and allergens in the bedroom where you spend the most time. Put down a throw rug next to the bed in the winter.

[Mallori]

I love my hardwood floors. Can't help you on buying as our house is old, we had hardwood under our carpet, we just ripped it up and refinished the floors.

They are easier to clean, don't get musty smelling, and I can change the look in the room anytime, it always matches!

The biggest drawback is it's a bit colder in the winter. The carpet was supplying some insulation, so ripping that out took it away. I wouldn't trade it though. Our sinuses did better this year than any other. For the first time, we didn't have bronchitis/croup in the house even once last winter.

[acupuncturemomma]

Thanks fro all of the encouragement--I know logically it's the right choice, but I"m just going to have to get used to the change.

Too late and dark for me to take photos...I'll do that tomorrow for some opinions on color.

[April411]

Hardwood is much better for your health. The amount of dirt & dust trapped in wall to wall carpeting is scary.

Yeah that....I have asthma and I don't think I would ever want to have carpet in my bedroom as the carpet absorbs tons of dust and allergens. Carpets gross me out but that's probably because when I was a teen I had carpet in my room and dropped all kinds of nasty stuff on it like milk, chinese food, raw eggs (science project). Luckily it was dark blue and you couldn't seen any stains but it got real stinky...lol.

[kluella]

We moved to a house with hardwood in Dec. and we love it! The landlord was pulling up the carpet and we had the option of either all new carpet, or refinish the hardwood underneath. We made the right choice! Every time I sweep my house, I think to myself about how all of that dust and ickyness would otherwise have sat in my carpet, and you know even a good vacuum can't get it all out. I have to be conscious of cleaning it regularly or tumbleweeds of cat hair will develop, but it's otherwise great for us! And FWIW, we have a 3 month old and I have no worries about crawling, etc. with the wood. We have a small area rug in the living room, and he does tummy time on it or on a blanket, which works fine.

I love our wood floors!

[robin4kids]

We have hardwood throughout our house. NOT one room has wall to wall carpet. We buy carpet from a whole sale store and have it bound. We spend maybe $100. It is not wall to wall. There is a large perimeter of wood. we try to change out the area rugs every 3-5 years. None of the bedrooms have rugs. I agree that I love seeing the dirt get sucked up. I also love being able to lift up my area rug and sweep under it.

[UptownZoo]

We have no carpet anywhere in our house. Most of it is wood, with tile in the entryway, bathrooms, and kitchen. I love it. My DP and youngest DS have asthma and they've both done better since we moved from our old (mostly carpeted) house. All the bedrooms have an area rug in them and DS has an area rug in his play area.

Remember, wood is not nearly as cold as tile. I thought it would be cold, too, but the wood holds heat pretty well. I can feel the difference on my bare feet when I go from the tile floor onto the wood.