Whether you’re a current homeowner or moving into a new property, one of the most crucial decisions you have to make is what flooring to have fitted.

It’s incredibly important to ensure you have the right options for the right room – some floors fit in spaces that other types may not, so it’s essential that you get it right first time. To help you make the right decision, guest blogger Flooring Republic guides you through some of the rooms in your house and the flooring that fits.

Living Room/bedroom

Your living room and bedroom are likely to be the places that you spend most of your relaxation time, so it’s imperative that your flooring reflects that. The key is to make sure you have fantastic levels of comfort, while maintaining a wonderful style.

The living room is your pièce de résistance; it’s not only used for relaxing, but also for hosting a dinner parties and other social occasions. So, with that in mind, you should try and find a middle ground with your design.

One of our recommendations would be parquet – as well as looking stylish and boasting a beautifully unique style, it’s incredibly practical too. It’s traditional, old-school flooring with a zigzag pattern, adding a stylish edge to your home.

In terms of your bedroom, we’d recommend hardwood flooring, with the best of the bunch being engineered wood. Darker colours create a lovely warm aesthetic, and can give off an incredibly homely feel. It also has the ability to feature under-floor heating fitted beneath to add even more warmth.

Kitchen/bathroom

These are possibly the two most difficult rooms to decide on. Due to being heavily exposed to water and moisture, practicality is the most important thing to think about.

Our recommendation would be laminate flooring; it’s incredibly sturdy and has good levels of water resistance. Easily one of the most cost effective floorings on the market, there are some excellent laminate flooring deals available. Hardwood tends to expand in wet conditions, so we’d recommend avoiding fitting it in these rooms. Laminate also handles high levels of traffic well, and doesn’t damage easily under stress, making it very reliable.

Vinyl tiles are also an excellent option, and have very similar qualities to laminate flooring, except that they’re slightly more upmarket, and more expensive. They’re also excellent in hallways.

Dining room

The final room we’re looking at is your dining area. With this room, style should be one of your top priorities, due to the space being your showpiece during dinner parties. Classy and elegant flooring is advisable, to ensure you truly impress your house guests.

We would suggest vinyl tiles or hardwood as your best options, but also maybe look at parquet flooring. Vinyl is one of the best alternatives to wood and is far cheaper, but still maintains the excellent look of wood. It’s incredibly durable, and comes in a wide number of designs and shades, while coping very easily with scraping chairs and any spillages.

Hardwood is the slightly more expensive option, but in terms of looks and durability, it’s by far your best bet. There’s a wide range of designs and types you can choose from, with both solid and engineered wood being brilliant options for your dining room. There are some great deals on wood flooring available as well, so there are cheaper options.