This past year, we did a complete remodel of our home, the backyard, the downstairs, even the garage door. Inside our home flooring was one of our biggest decision. In the past, we had laminate flooring and I was really looking for a change. I initially was leaning towards getting tile, but after testing out so many different samples I realized I love hardwood floors. Here are 4 reasons I absolutely love my hardwood floors for our home!
4 Reasons I am in Love with my Hardwood Flooring!
*This post is in partnership with Lumber Liquidators, my love for their brand and all opinions below are 100% my own.
You just can’t beat how hardwood floors feel under your feet.
One of the biggest reasons I love my hardwood floors is because of how they feel under my feet. Sure, it looks absolutely stunning and can change the personality of any room, but it also feels incredible! I slip my shoes off after a long day at work and feel the sleek planks.
Hardwood gives your footsteps a robust, sturdy sound. You can feel its depth in your bones when you step onto it. And, with the proper underlayment, it has a surprisingly soft give to it. Hardwood has a thicker, heartier and overall richer feeling than any other flooring option. It’s easier on your joints and surprisingly refreshing!
Hardwood has a way of helping the ambient air be more comfortable. It’s cool in the summer months and gives your feet a little bit of a wake-up. In the winter months, it can trap the warmth surrounding a fireplace or heat vent, making for extra cozy nights by the fire.
The type of hardwood you get can play a role in how it feels to walk on it. Hand-scraped varieties allow you to feel the character of the wood itself as the soles of your feet run along the knots and grooves. Oak feels sleek and elegant and bamboo feels almost light and airy.
Hardwood floors bring an undeniable warmth to a room.
Hardwood floors can conjure up memories and whisk you away to an old log cabin or a chic downtown loft with each step you take. Different shades and types of wood can evoke entirely different personas for a room. Mahogany feels rich and inviting, offering a perfect place to light a candle and read a book. Dark shades can be sleek or cozy when paired with different furniture and colors. Even lighter shades can give that feeling of warmth, especially if they’re coupled with coastal colors. Who doesn’t want to be transported to the beach whenever they walk in their front door?
The great thing about hardwood is that it can transform a room. Hardwood gives a space a personality that carpet, vinyl or tile just can’t do. Each board is unique, making your flooring one of a kind. It invites you to make yourself comfortable no matter where you are. When I stand back and look at my holiday decorations and lights shining off my floors, it always reminds me of being a kid at grandma’s while her cookies baked in the oven on Christma Eve.
Don’t settle for bland flooring options that are just enough to get by. Hardwood’s warmth is timeless and will adapt with you as your style evolves over time. If your living room was once a flourishing farmhouse but now you’re more of a mid-century modern, putting a new rug on top of the wood floors can transform your floors in seconds.
Color and texture hide just about everything.
You’ve seen homes or offices with white tile or boring linoleum and you know they are nearly impossible to keep clean. Every speck of dirt, dust, and hair jump out at you like a big red target. Everyone has seen carpet as it accumulates wear and tear and amasses big stains and chunks of who knows what caked into the threads. These scenarios are just facts of life when living with flooring options besides hardwood.
Of course, hardwood requires some maintenance and regular cleaning but it does a good job caring for itself for the most part. Given the unique textures, grain patterns and natural variations of the wood, many mishaps can go unnoticed, especially with the darker varieties of hardwood.
Scuffs from furniture, shoes, and pets can happen from time to time. The good news is that often these accidents just add a little more character to the floor. Minor scratches and dents easily blend in with the natural texture of the wood. The other great news is that the floors can be sanded and stained if they ever need it!
It’s inevitable that guests will appear at your doorstep unannounced. With hardwood floors, your days of being embarrassed by stains and dirt are over. The varying shades and grain do an excellent job of hiding minor dirt and dust in a pinch. Plus, spills are a breeze to clean up, leaving you worry-free and mess-free!
An almost carefree flooring option.
Your days of lugging the carpet cleaner out of the attic- or even worse, the home improvement store- are long gone. Cleaning carpet is an expensive and time-consuming task that generally has very little improvement to show for it. Forget the days of scrubbing and trying different concoctions to get up pet stains or that red wine you accidentally spilled.
Tile grout gets discolored quickly even if you seal it. Steaming the grout can be back-breaking only for it to become discolored and dirty again in a few weeks. Vinyl can easily chip or peel and leave unsightly blemishes.
It might be hard to believe, but hardwood floors actually do better if they are cleaned less. Sweep them regularly to get rid of the obvious debris and unavoidable dirt of course. But, hardwood floors are overall meant to stay dry. Steam mops can be used on hardwood floors but they are not recommended for unsealed wood flooring and they should be used very rarely and on a low setting.
Dust mops are great for hardwood floors. Clean up is quick and most of the dirt is collected in one quick pass. Special cleaners are made for tougher stains or stuck on grime. These cleaners protect the coating of your floors and don’t saturate the wood when applied in a thin layer and promptly removed.
Polishing your hardwood floors gives them a shiny new appearance in mere minutes! Simply apply the polish, spread it with an applicator and then allow it to dry. You’ll be left with a shine that will be noticed by any guest who steps foot through your threshold.
Quite possibly the best part about hardwood floors is that they don’t retain odors the way carpet does. Odors with carpet linger no matter how much scrubbing or vacuuming you throw at it. Hardwood floors help keep your home smelling crisp and clean, which tends to be the first thing people notice about your home. *Great perk for people with pets!
Hardwood floors are the clear choice when it comes to flooring options. Don’t believe me? Homes that were built in Abraham Lincoln’s time are still using original hardwood flooring. That means they survived wars, Prohibition, and probably even being buried by orange shag carpet in the 60’s! No other flooring can prove as loyal.
We found our hardwood floors at Lumber Liquidators and we were so happy with the incredible service we received from their staff. You can find a store near you here.
Want our exact flooring? Great choice!! We are totally obsessed with how our floors turned out. You can find them right here.
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Thank you for the information this helps a lot.
A good article to know some valuable tips on wood flooring. I want to renovate my room as it was a long time to renovate rooms. Hardwood floors improve the look and feel of the room and also have some specific advantages which are not present for concrete floors. After reading this content I am confident enough to install hardwood flooring in Utah.
I like how you stated that hardwood flooring can help hide things like dust and dirt making it not very noticeable and easier to clean. I’ve always had the frustration of trying to clean up after my kid whenever he makes the room dirty and how my guests and relatives would notice it. If I can renovate my house by getting a hardwood flooring contractor to install some, I’ll definitely have a more carefree approach to cleaning it.