There are many flooring types available for homeowners to choose from. However, when you have little ones running around, it’s wise to have a more kid-friendly flooring option.
Plus, many kid-friendly flooring types offer several advantages. Some flooring materials can protect them from hard falls and allergies, while others are simply easier for parents to maintain. Not to mention, it will make your life a lot easier and affect your family’s quality of life.
So, what are some of the best flooring options for a busy household? From safety to hygiene, here are five kid-friendly flooring options.
1. Wood Flooring
Hardwood flooring offers a truly natural kid-friendly option–and looks gorgeous, too! Solid hardwood offers a non-toxic flooring material to ensure better indoor air quality in your home and is also fairly easy to clean and maintain. Hardwood flooring is also guaranteed to increase your home’s resale value. Twenty & Oak offers waterproof hardwood by Raintree as well as water-resistant hardwood by Hearthwood.
In addition, hardwood is also much less porous, which means it inhibits bacterial growth. Unless you experience severe water damage that can cause cupping and buckling, your hardwood will last for many years and can be repaired by sanding and can even be re-stained.
The one disadvantage of hardwood is that it’s more prone to scratches from toys. Wood flooring is also a relatively hard surface, so it’s not ideal for households with young toddlers.
2. Laminate Flooring
Laminate flooring is a fantastic kid-friendly flooring and offers many advantages. For starters, laminate is quite affordable for parents looking for a high-end flooring look without the high-end price. In fact, laminate flooring closely resembles genuine hardwood floors to achieve the same classic design.
Laminate also has a protective scratch-resistant layer and is indentation-resistant with a high-density fiberboard (HDF) or medium-density fiberboard (MDF) core, which means it can protect against dropped objects. It’s also stain-resistant in case of any spilled drinks or messy little hands and is exceptionally easy to maintain.
With these advantages in mind, there are, however, a few disadvantages of laminate flooring. One drawback is that it can become quite slippery when wet, which can become a hazard to kids. Make sure you choose laminate products that have safe levels of VOC emissions. Laminate flooring options from Twenty & Oak are certified by FloorScore, the most recognized indoor air quality (IAQ) certification standard for hard surface flooring materials.
3. Vinyl Flooring
Much like laminate flooring, vinyl flooring is a breeze to install and easy to maintain by a simple vacuum and damp cloth.
Vinyl flooring is also extremely water-resistant and spill-resistant, which means if kids spill bowls of cereal across the kitchen floor or splash around in the bathtub, this flooring can hold up. It also offers a non-porous material that is mold-resistant and prohibits the growth of bacteria. Vinyl flooring is also great for toddlers still learning balance, offering a soft material whenever they take a tumble.
One thing to mention when it comes to vinyl flooring is to ensure you choose a phthalate-free vinyl. Learn more about this and other environmental certifications for flooring to maintain a clean and eco-friendly household where your child can grow.
4. Rubber Flooring
Rubber flooring, such as Momentum Tile Rubber Flooring by Centaur Floors, can also offer wonderful kid-friendly flooring. Momentum Tile offers a vulcanized rubber composite that’s perfect for a child’s playroom, offering a resilient, shock-absorbing material for tumbling toddlers and rowdy kids. They’re also manufactured in tile shapes, making them easy to install, and are easy to clean with just some warm water and a cloth. Rubber flooring is also highly dense, which lends an acoustical value by tempering noise levels.
5. Area Rugs
Sometimes homeowners have to work with existing floors, like hard ceramic tiles, and sometimes you just need to add softness underfoot. Whatever the case, area rugs offer a nice kid-friendly option for households, protecting little knees and hands as they crawl.
While many parents prefer wall-to-wall carpet as a soft flooring material as opposed to bare floors, it has many drawbacks, such as allergens, dirt and grime. Plus, they’re difficult to keep clean. Instead, we suggest using one of the above kid-friendly options and unrolling an area rug over it to achieve the same effect.
With an area rug, you can also easily change a room’s style. For a nursery, you may want something with soft pastel colors, but as they mature, your child may request something more fun and vibrant.
Still undecided on a kid-friendly flooring option? Find your perfect floor by taking our Floor Genius Quiz and be sure to check out our virtual flooring showroom.