I used to have tiled floors at the old place ..the whole downstairs was tiled ( lounge, study, living room , kitchen, laundry) terracotta ones..not cold at all contrary to what people think .. the kids loved riding their trikes around the house as it was massive open living space 36 squares in all. we had a wool rug where the living area was so kids can lounge around.. I find tiles are easier to maintain than floor boards.A quick vacuum and mop is all it needed and it hid the dirt well..whereas floor boards collects dust and hair etc.. Timber floorboards are nice to look at..the floating /laminate looks cheap and nasty I'd rather tiles instead.

There is a good reason why tradesmen prefer to quote with reputable brands. A large component of your cost will be the painter's labour. If you use a cheap, low quality paint, that has poor coverage , inconsistant colour from tin to tin, starts to bubble, starts to peel, etc, are you going to seek compensation from the cheap paint company (who probably don't have an office in Australia, and don't back their product), or go back to your painter, who will only blame the crappy paint you specified? Cheap materials usually lead to a more expensive job as they often need to be reworked or redone, and it is the labour cost. If I was your painter and you insisted on using crappy paint I would charge a premium to cover my costs to get the job right. Same goes with tiles, tiles are relatively cheap, but it is the skilled labour that costs. A good tiler can't do a great job working with tiles that are inconsistant in flatness, size, thickness and brittleness. You get what you pay for, but the labour still costs. Best of luck Stingy Steve Dr Retro of Dr Retro House Calls.

Here in NZ , carpet is made from this new material called wool . Thats not quite true -- you can get synthetics ( they are cheaper and get used in budget builds I gather ) , but I've never heard of wool carpet getting sticky , and seems to last longer . I'd say talk to the suppliers and ask about cost , longevity , problems with heat and humidity -- sometimes its better to spend more $$$ -- works out cheaper in the long term .

In an apartment you need to check before you add floating floors. Some buildings have regulations to assist with noise control. If you keep the tiles, do they have the same under tones as the paint you’re considering using?- a clash between a cool and warm white will always look odd.