A bedroom is your sanctuary for rest after a long and tiring day – a place to relax, reset, rejuvenate, and refresh. All of this should be done in a beautiful and inviting area. And flooring options like carpet and laminate can help create a cozy space in your bedroom, but which one is better?
A carpet is better for your bedroom as it absorbs sound, keeps your room pleasantly warm, and provides you with that relaxing, soft feeling. However, there are many things to consider when choosing between carpet and laminate flooring for your bedroom.
Let’s examine why bedroom carpets make sense for most people and why laminate floors could be a worthy alternative, just in case you’re not sold on carpet.
Contents
Bedroom Carpets: What You Need to Know
When it comes to bedroom flooring, you can rely on carpets that feel soft and cozy. Beautiful carpets complement the decor of your bedroom with their patterns, pile heights, and colors. But looks and style are not the only reasons why you should consider carpets for your bedroom.
Benefits of Bedroom Carpets
In addition to looking good, bedroom carpets are also functional. They make floor activities more comfortable and enjoyable. They can feel luxurious when you remove your shoes or slippers before slipping under the covers. They also help you save money.
Here are the benefits of a bedroom carpet:
Feels Soft
Most people choose carpets for their bedrooms because they are soft. The softness of carpets helps you relax, and it’s so much better than your feet touching the cold floor right after you wake up from a long deep sleep.
Bedroom carpets are made from fibers that consist of filaments. Fine filaments usually mean soft carpets. A typical carpet would have filaments sized 20 to 24 denier, but super soft carpets usually have filaments of 10 to 12 denier.
Carpets generally give you a cushioned feel, which is great when you’re walking around the bedroom barefoot. They can help you relax as you get ready for bed. Or cozy up with the kids on the floor to play.
Carpets are Naturally Warm
In addition to their softness, carpets can also protect you from having to touch the cold floor when you get out of bed. But a well-made and properly fitted carpet can increase the energy efficiency of your bedroom.
Around 10 percent of the heat lost on smooth floors can easily be saved by carpets. So carpets can help you save on energy costs while keeping you warmer when you need it. It can help you delay the time you need to turn on the heater, saving you about four to six percent of your heating costs.
Carpets are natural insulators as they conduct very little heat. These can also protect you by acting as a heat barrier, keeping away the chill from a concrete floor or those prone to cold drafts.
Carpets can Dampen Noise
Carpets are one of the easiest ways to make a room soundproof. Did you know that hard floors like concrete or wood can amplify the noise in the room because sound bounces directly off them? This is especially true when it’s impact noise, such as the sound of objects falling on the floor, children running around, or your own footsteps.
Carpeted floors, on the other hand, consist of individual fiber, underlayment, and tufts, which all absorb different sound frequencies. According to the Carpet Institute of Australia, a carpet and underlayment can dampen the harshest sounds and provide you with a more peaceful bedroom. Plus, carpets are better than acoustical ceiling panels when it comes to reducing impact noise.
According to interior designer Rochelle Morris, carpets can not only eliminate the sound of something hitting the floor but also there’s no reverberation from the ceiling and walls, giving you a quiet space without echoes:
The Science Behind Carpets and Soundproofing
This is not just an observation. Several studies have found that carpets help make your room quieter. It has been found that carpets can reduce impact noise by at least 20 decibels. This means that someone would have to stomp heavily to wake you up.
Another study also found that a laminate floor with a noise reduction coefficient absorbs more than one-third of the sound that hits it. Also, the thicker the carpet, the more sound it absorbs. Additionally, you can double the soundproofing capacity of your carpet by using an underlayment as well.
Low Maintenance
Carpets are pretty easy to care for. You just need to remember to vacuum regularly. According to this site, you only need to vacuum high-traffic areas twice a week. Your bedroom carpet would probably need to be cleaned less frequently.
Also, for vacuuming your carpet, you should use the right height. Raise the height to the highest setting and then turn it on. Lower the height setting until you feel the vacuum moving forward.
To achieve the best cleaning, vacuum slowly. Remember that you should make two slow passes on high-traffic areas, while a quicker pass would suffice for other locations.
Also, keep the filter or bag clean as it can help your vacuum clean better, and at the same time, make sure the dirt doesn’t just get blown back into the air and back into the carpet.
You Don’t Have to Spend a Lot to Have Wall-to-Wall Carpet Installed
Carpets are also cheaper to install. According to Fixr, the typical homeowner will probably spend about $7 to $12 per square foot for carpet installation, or usually $980 to $1,600 to install carpet in a 10 to 14 feet room.
Disadvantages of Bedroom Carpets
Admittedly, carpets are far from perfect. Here are the things you should consider when considering carpets for your bedroom floor.
A Carpet Will Eventually Need Replacing
Bedroom carpets generally last longer than those you would use in the living room or other high-traffic areas. However, they will still need to be replaced when they show signs of wear.
Damages, Wear, and Tear
A carpet can get damaged or worn out. You can probably repair small tears in your carpet, but larger ones will likely mean it needs to be replaced.
Another sign that you might need to replace your bedroom carpet is if it looks dirty even after cleaning. Or if the color has faded and become dull.
You should also consider replacing your carpet if it becomes matted. Matting can make your carpet look flatter than when you first bought it.
Allergies and Other Health Issues
Even the best carpets can trap mold, mildew, and dirt no matter how well you clean them. These particles can often trigger allergies. So if you find family members experiencing allergies more frequently, like a stuffy nose, coughing, or sneezing, your carpet could be the culprit.
Respiratory issues are also a concern with older carpets, including a runny nose, colds, and coughs.
Odors and Stains
Your bedroom carpet is not safe from spills and can often be a victim of messy accidents. This is especially true if you have pets or children running around and spilling things.
The good news is, there are stains that come out quickly, or you can always hide them under furniture. But others might leave permanent marks on your carpet. You might also consider having your bedroom carpet professionally cleaned to remove odors and stains, but that might not always work.
The thing is, some stains can lead to lingering smells, and they’re harder to deal with if the liquid has penetrated the carpet padding or fibers.
Bugs, Dirt, and Dust: What Your Carpet Might Be Hiding
As your bedroom carpet ages, you can expect it to get dirtier. Sometimes, dust, dirt, or debris may come out when you vacuum regularly. But there’s a whole slew of things you might be surprised to find lurking in the carpet fibers.
Bugs: This study published in Scientific Reports found that the carpeted room had more arthropods, regardless of whether you were neat or had pets or used pesticides. You will always have more insects, spiders, silverfish, booklice, aphids, mosquitos, springtails, and cockroaches if you have carpeted rooms.
Moisture Damage: Sometimes, you spill water and other liquids on your carpet, and those soak your carpet before you can get paper towels to blot it up. The extra moisture can quickly become a home for a variety of molds.
Mold under your carpet can mean odors and stains that grow over time. And mold often releases spores into the air, causing allergies.
According to this article from the International Association of Certified Home Inspectors, carpets are high-risk areas for molds. Moist and humid carpets that contain some dust can be very conducive to mold growth. If a mold spore that commonly occurs in the air we breathe lands on a moist part of a carpet, it can grow quickly.
How to Tell If Your Carpet Has Mold
You probably think your carpet is spotless and free of mold just because you can’t see it. But in reality, mold growth is not always easily visible. Sometimes, the mold grows beneath the carpet instead of on top of it. In this case, it’s not always easy to see.
Carpets can also emit a smell or show discoloration when mold is growing. Others might even mistake it for mildew.
Remember that carpets that have been water-damaged, such as those from flooding, need to be replaced immediately unless you can remove, clean, and dry the carpet within 24 to 48 hours after it gets wet. The same goes if the carpet padding gets wet.
Bacteria and Germs
According to immunologist and microbiologist Dr. Philip Tierno, you might find about 200,000 bacteria on every square inch of your carpet.
But that’s not all. When you walk or roll around on carpets, you kick up the bacteria, causing some of them to surface. Just your shoes alone can bring in a lot of bacteria onto your carpet, including those that can cause infections in multiple organs, including the lungs, eyes, urinary tract, and blood.
Other Things You May Notice in Your Bedroom Carpet
In addition to that, your carpet could contain:
– Dead skin: People usually shed about 30,000 to 40,000 skin cells per minute. If you want to imagine how many skin cells those are, it’s about four kilograms if you collect all that skin shed over the course of a year.
– Dust mites: All those dead skin cells may be disgusting enough, but it becomes a problem when they attract dust mites, which consider them food. Dust mites are invisible to the human eye and imperceptible, but these microscopic creatures can often trigger allergic reactions in some people.
– Pollen: Leaving your bedroom window open can bring in pollen quickly, settling on your carpet. Pollen can trigger asthma attacks or hay fever.
– Pet feces and cat litter: If you don’t remove your shoes and walk them in the house, there’s a chance you’re bringing in dog feces into the house and into your bedroom. And if you own a cat, that cat litter can get tracked onto your carpets.
Laminate Flooring: An Overview
Laminate floors are budget-friendly flooring options you can consider if you like the appearance of hardwood floors without spending too much on them. Laminate floors are no longer the cheap-looking plastic affair they used to be. They look much better and are more durable than most flooring options.
This type of flooring is often seen in mid-value homes, with high-end properties often opting for luxury vinyl planks, stone tiles, or hardwood. However, there are cases where you can have a well-made laminate floor installed that doesn’t look tacky.
Laminate Flooring: What is it Made Of?
Many people are mistaken in thinking that laminate floors are made of plastic. It used to be true, but most laminates today have four different layers:
- The wear layer is the topmost layer. This transparent protective layer made of aluminum oxide protects your laminates from burn stains, stains, and fading.
- The design layer is actually a high-resolution image that gives the laminate flooring its wood-like appearance. It’s located right below the transparent wear layer.
- The core layer is made from a high-density and durable fiberboard that is moisture-resistant and resistant to dings and dents.
- The backing is at the bottom, helping protect your laminate from moisture. It’s also a foam padding that allows for an even and balanced floor.
Benefits of Laminate Flooring
Why should you consider laminate flooring? Here are the advantages of laminate flooring:
Easy to DIY
Laminate floors are a breeze to install. You lay down the foam or plastic underneath and then snap the planks together. Most of the work is making sure the planks fit together.
Here’s a video showing you how to install laminate flooring properly:
Cost-Effective
Laminate floors are affordable. According to Fixr, the average homeowner will probably spend about $1,500 to $5,000 to install 200 square feet (18.58 square meters). The average cost will set you back by more than $2,000.
Think about it this way. You only spend $7.50 to $25 per square foot to have laminate floors. That’s much more affordable than the cost of installing hardwood floors, which will average $2,800 to $6,400 to cover the same area, or around $14 to $32 per square foot, according to Fixr.
Furthermore, since it’s easy to install, you save even more money if you’re doing it yourself.
No Sweat Care
While hardwood floors may look pretty and pristine, do you really want to bother keeping them constantly clean and unscuffed? If you have kids or pets, a hardwood floor can just stress you out as you try to keep them from tracking dirt on it. Or worse, wait for your kids to come back from soccer practice and make sure they don’t wear their cleats, which can ruin your hardwood floors.
Moreover, it’s so much easier to clean laminate floors. You just have to make sure to keep it dry, wipe up spilled liquids, and occasionally use a microfiber mop to keep it pristine.
Furthermore, you