11 materials for finishing the floor in the living room

For living room necessary choose such a flooringso that it has a pleasant appearance, but at the same time, It was wear resistanteasy to care and durable. When choosing the right material you need consider the style of the interior, as well as the functions that are assigned to the living room: gatherings with the family, receiving guests or frequent dinners. If repairs carried out do it yourself, then you need to consider installation features one or another material. Based on all of these factors and own preferences and it’s worth choosing a certain type of flooring, but there really are plenty to choose from.

No. 1. Wooden floors

By wood coating is meant massive board and piece parquet. These are materials that are 100% made of natural solid wood, but differ in their parameters when the basic properties are similar. The massive board has much larger dimensions and can reach 6 meters in length, piece parquet rarely exceeds 60 cm in length.

Natural wood as a living room flooring has a lot of advantages:

• durability. With proper care, it can last several decades, and in which case the board and piece parquet can be cycled, getting an updated ideal coating;
• beautiful appearancewhich gives the interior luxury and real coziness. Depending on the wood, the wood may have a different shade, and the texture will always remain unique;
• warm surface, which is pleasant to walk even barefoot;
• environmental friendliness;
• warm and soundproof properties.

The disadvantages of wood plating are obvious:

• high price;
• tree sensitive to excessive moisture, to differences in humidity and temperatures, to pests. If the living room also includes a dining area with a dining table, then the tree is better to combine with other material;
• thorough and regular care using protective equipmentotherwise, there can be no talk of any longevity;
• tree do not use together with the system of underfloor heating.

There is another quite original solution for flooring - use treehouse. In this case, all the properties are kept the same, but the appearance becomes original, but the installation process is complicated, because you will have to work with elements that are not the same in size and shape.

No. 2. Parquet board

A more budgetary analogue of wooden floors is the floor using parquet board. This is a three-layer material, only the upper part of which is valuable wood, and the other two are made of coniferous wood. Thus, the material looks no different from piece parquet, has an attractive color and natural wood texture, but you can’t cycle this coating many times, because the top layer is quite thin.

The main advantages of a parquet board include:

• a great appearance at a lower price than a massive board or piece parquet;
• relative ease of installation;
• environmental friendliness and naturalness;
• variety of styling optionsthat will make the living room interior interesting and original;
• opportunity use with underfloor heating system.

But unfortunately, the floorboard is also afraid of moisture, and in terms of durability, even with proper care, inferior to a solid tree.

No. 3. Cork floor

Cork - Another option to equip a living room with a natural floor, but it will look more original, because this decoration option is still rarely used. Cork flooring is a completely natural finish, and it is based on the cork tree bark. The color scheme of this gender refers to yellow and brown shades.

Advantages of cork coating:

• naturalness, environmental friendliness, absolute health safety;
• warm surface, which, when walking, is a little springy, and this will be very useful if there are children at home;
• rot resistance;
• excellent performance heat and sound insulationability to recover after small deformations;
• high wear resistance;
• inability to absorb odors, which will be very useful if the living room and dining area are combined;
• cork floor does not attract dust, which greatly facilitates the care of him;
• high durability;
• easy care;
• fire safety.

But cork flooring cannot be called an ideal coating, since it has some disadvantages:

• installation is best trusted by professionals, since the material is gentle enough, and there is a big risk to get in the end not the best result;
• If sharp objects fall on the surface of the cork floor, noticeable marks may remain.

Number 4. Laminate

Laminate - a multilayer coating that can very accurately mimic natural wood or any other material, such as stone or tile. The laminate consists of a fiberboard plate, which is covered with a protective film on top, a layer of decorative paper with a specific pattern and a layer of melamine resin. Any pattern can be applied to the paper.

The main advantages of the laminate:

• acceptable price;
• a variety of colors and imitations of various materials, so the laminate fits perfectly into the interior of any living room;
• ease of installation and maintenance;
• strength;
• resistance to temperature changes.

Since the living room is a room where the floor is not exposed to excessive load, then you can choose a laminate with far from the highest rate of strength. The material is quite suitable Class 22, 23 or 31, 32.

Among the disadvantages not the highest durability of the coating can be noted, although with proper care in the living room, the laminate can last from a dozen years. If manufacturer dishonestly related to the manufacture of the material, there may be problems with the castle joints, so it is better to give preference to products of trusted companies. If objects fall on the laminate, the sound will be loud and sonorous, and the surface cannot be called warm, but this can be corrected. installation of underfloor heating system. Of course, the laminate can not be called natural material, but for the living room it is still great.

No. 5. Ceramic tile

Tile - an infrequent guest in the living rooms, but her competent use can create an interesting interior, because this material is presented in a huge assortment, it can be of different colors, sizes, textures, ornaments, imitate the surface of wood, stone, leather. The tile can be used in combination with other finishing materials, which looks especially advantageous when you need to carry out zoning of the living room and highlight, for example, an area with a dining table.

The advantages of ceramic tiles:

• durability and ease of care, the tile does not change its appearance with the passage of time;
• resistance to impact high temperatures, moisture, detergents;
• strength and abrasion resistance, which is important if there are always a lot of guests in your house, and they gather mainly in the living room;
• tile is non-toxic, does not emit any smells, therefore it can be used in the home of allergy sufferers and people with asthma;
• wide range of and the ability to create absolutely any interior.

With so many advantages, ceramic tiles not found huge distribution in living rooms, mainly, for such reasons:

• cold surface, which does not give comfort to the room and leads to the need to use a system of warm floors. In summer, a cold surface, by the way, on the contrary, gives a pleasant coolness;
• fragility. An accidentally missed heavy object can damage the integrity of your flooring;
• quite difficult mounting.

When choosing ceramic tiles, it is important to consider not only how much it fits into the interior of the living room, but also the size of the room. For a small living room, not very large tiles are better, otherwise the room will be divided into several squares.

No. 6. Linoleum

Linoleum Today it is considered one of the most popular floor coverings, and in the living room it is also used very often, and all because it has a significant advantage - pleasant value for money. At a fairly low cost, you can get lastingpretty and long lasting coverage, which will also be as simple as possible. The range of colors, patterns and drawings of linoleum makes your eyes run up: can be found on sale any shadeA decent imitation of parquet, tiles and many other options. Linoleum is easy to care for, resistant to abrasion, withstands moisture and high temperatures, and is durable.

At the same time, linoleum has some disadvantages, but they cannot be called significant. So, this is an unnatural material on which dents from heavy furniture and black marks from shoes can remain. Otherwise, this is a great budget way to create a pleasant interior in the living room.

Number 7. Marmoleum

Marmoleum - Another suitable cover for the living room. The material has retained many of the properties of its synthetic analogue - linoleum, but it has one significant advantage over it - naturalness. Even before the advent of PVC linoleum, under the linoleum itself was understood the material, made on the basis of jute or cork, resin, sawdust, oil, lime. As you can see, this is an eco-friendly natural coating, which, in addition, boasts and other advantages:

• durability. The material can last 20-30 years and retain its original appearance;
• antibacterial propertiesthat will help create a healthy microclimate in the house;
• sound and heat insulation properties;
• fire safety, moisture resistance and antistatic, which explains the simplicity of care and the long service life of the coating;
• resistance to mechanical damage and exposure to sunlight.

Among the disadvantages is the price, since we are dealing with natural material, and in terms of installation, marmoleum is inferior to linoleum in terms of convenience. Marmoleum - very fragilethat must be considered when transporting and laying.

Number 8. Stone floor

Stone floor in the living room - a rather non-trivial solution that can create an elegant interior. Natural stone for flooring is rarely used due to its high cost, and its artificial counterpart is more widely used. It is popular as a finish for the floor. porcelain tileobtained by using granite dust.

Stone floor has some advantages:

• beautiful appearance that emphasizes the specific character of the interior. In addition, an artificial stone can imitate any breed of natural, have any color and shape, so there really is something to choose from;
• durability;
• wear resistance;
• simplicity in leaving.

But stone floors are not very often used in living rooms in view of a number of their disadvantages:

• cold surface, which can be compensated by a system of warm floors or several soft fluffy rugs;
• the surface of such a floor is noisy, and harsh sounds will form when almost any object touches it.Moreover, if a vase or glass falls on the stone floor, they are unlikely to survive, although there could have been no damage if it fell on the floor from linoleum or carpet.

No. 9. Self-leveling floors

Self-leveling floors still considered a novelty and curiosity in the flooring market. Their properties allow the use of such floors in almost any room, and the only drawback is the high cost. The bulk floor can have any design: any color, pattern, drawing, landscape, ornament, imitation of any other material. With such floors in the living room, right under your feet you can create a sandy beach, a lake, outer space, use absolutely any image that will get the effect of three-dimensionality.

Self-leveling floor can become a highlight of the living room. Also it long lasting coating that is different simplicity in leaving, moisture resistance and detergents, mechanical stress. This coating without a single seam, which perfectly tolerates even temperature changes. As for the shortcomings, in addition to the price, we can also highlight the difficulties in repair and dismantling, as well as the need to use the services of professionals during installation.

No. 10. Carpet

Carpet - soft and comfortable material for decorating the living room floor. Its advantages include:

• pleasant to the touch fleecy soft surface, and this not only brings comfort to the living room, but will also be an excellent option if children often play here;
• sound and heat insulation properties;
• ease of installation;
• variety: you can choose a coating of any color, with or without a pattern, with the required pile length.

Carpet can not cover the entire area of ​​the living room, but only part of the sofa, for example. In this case, the main floor covering may be laminate, parquet, tile, stone, etc.

Among the disadvantages of this solution:

• the need for careful regular care, because the carpet will accumulate dust;
• if there are people with allergies or asthma in the house, this is not the best option.

Today on sale you can also meet modular carpet tile - the same carpet, but cut into square fragments with a slightly more reinforced base. Such material is actually identical in properties to carpet, but its transportation and installation can be much simpler, and less waste is formed in the end, and ornaments can be made from tiles of different colors.

No. 11. Vinyl tile

Vinyl tile represents the PVC linoleum cut into separate parts. The material inherited many properties from ordinary linoleum: cost, durability, ease of care, sound insulation. The surface of such a coating is non-slip, can withstand a short-term exposure to moisture, and there are a huge number of possible color and texture options, so the living room can be made in any style.

Due to the fact that vinyl tile divided into fragments, it is more easy to install, and almost anyone can handle it. The disadvantages are the same as that of linoleum: it is a synthetic material that can be squeezed under the influence of heavy furniture. If the budget is limited, then vinyl tile along with linoleum is an excellent solution for decorating a living room.

In conclusion

For the arrangement of floors in the living room, there are many different materials, but before choosing, you need to be well aware of the scenarios for using this room. You may need to combine a couple of materials to highlight a dining or work area. You need to consider not only the chosen interior style, color scheme and their own preferences, but also the operational qualities of the material, as well as its cost and the cost of laying it, if necessary.