8 Ideas for a New Home Gift
When building your dream home, you have to make a lot of choices: paint colors, kitchen cabinets, shower tile, and, most importantly, your floors.
Luckily, there are plenty of great options out there, so you really can’t go wrong with whatever you choose. However, certain types of flooring are more suitable for you, depending on your lifestyle and whether or not you have kids or pets in the family.
Other factors that impact your decision include location, your budget, and the style you want to achieve in your home.
Once you better understand each type of flooring and its benefits, you will feel confident making this choice for your new home.
1. Traditional Hardwood Flooring
Nothing beats a classic, right? Traditional hardwoods are a beautiful and long-lasting investment, as they can increase your home value in the long run.
The downside of choosing this flooring type is that it is typically on the more expensive side and takes a little longer to install than other options, but can be worth it if you take care of it.
Hardwoods can be scratched, scraped, or dented when used in your shared living spaces. The distressed look and style of hardwood floors can help disguise these blemishes over time, though.
Although it is an extra cost, you can refinish your hardwood floors every 3 to 5 years. Refinishing your hardwoods will keep them looking great and help them to maintain their value over time!
2. Engineered Vinyl Plank Flooring
If you want to mimic the look and stylish appearance of hardwoods, but don’t want the extra cost, look toward vinyl plank flooring. Installing vinyl plank flooring is easy, and can be done with simpler tools.
The number one perk of choosing this flooring type is that it is waterproof – that’s right, no worries about moisture, spills, or accidents! With that being a significant feature, this flooring type is incredibly friendly in a home with children or pets.
There is a wide range of colors and designs you can choose from, giving you plenty of options to fit your ideal home style. Another perk is that there is little to no maintenance required. All you need to do is vacuum or sweep from time to time.
This type of flooring is durable and practical, but that doesn’t mean it is indestructible. Like anything else, you should be mindful of how you are treating it, and it will last a long time.
3. Laminate Flooring
Laminate flooring combines qualities of hardwoods and vinyl plank flooring–it is easy to install like the vinyl plank, but its core is made from wood and is more natural-looking, like hardwoods.
One main benefit of this flooring is that it is resistant to stains and scratches. It is even resistant to fading, which you can avoid any harsh fading by moving around furniture.
When you change up the living space, you're giving sunlight to other areas of the floor, keeping everything looking great and even. Like the other flooring types, there are many colors, textures, and styles to choose from to fit your home.
This type of flooring can tolerate some water, but it will soften and swell if exposed to a lot of water. As long as you are quick to clean up any spills, laminate could be the right choice for you in any areas with low moisture.
Most homeowners prefer to install it in high-traffic living areas rather than the kitchen or bathrooms.
We Are Here to Help
Whether you want hardwoods, vinyl plank, or laminate flooring, M/I Homes wants you to make your decision confidently. Tour our model homes for design inspiration!
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