Carpet is much safer for seniors. Tile in the kitchen and bathrooms only.

We have carpet now, but our next house will have hardwoods...one of the main problems with carpet is not so much keeping them clean but the flat, "trampled" look they acquire not long after installation. Even with a thick carpet pad I have to vacuum in different directions to re-raise the nap and maintain that "fluffy" look, especially in high-traffic areas. Even more, I will NOT have flooring in our next house that emits any kind of VOC's. Our GS/Husky mix suffered a horrible autoimmune disorder last year that originated with an allergy to our new carpet. The condition is under control now and I have volcanic mineral packs set out to absorb the off-gassing, but we will not make this mistake again.

I love carpets for my bedroom, living room and dining room, carpets are warm and cozy.
I just don't like wood.

K

it depends on the geographical location of the property, area of the house, amount of traffic and personal preferences.

I love the feel of carpet under foot in places like the bedroom, but in work areas, i would take timber over tile any time. I find tile cold & uninviting, not to mention hard on the legs & feet if you need to be on it for any length of time. Do agree with Cancork tho'. It does look good & is softer to walk on that many hard floor options.

I pressed carpet but I meant hardwood :-)

My dog would prefer carpeting in the winter & hardwood in the summer

Hardwood. Easy to clean and lasts almost forever. Carpet gets dirty, makes dust and lasts under 10 years. It's disgusting what is in carpet after a year's time when vacuuming is all you do to it. I like hardwood with orietals or nice rugs which can be professionally cleaned.

Hardwood, or carpeting, they both get dirty. If you buy a good carpet, wish I dod when my daughter started to crawl as a baby, that was 26 yrs ago. But cheap carpeting it will last 10 yrs, Invest into good carpeting, clean on a regular basis & it will last you 25 yrs.

Carpet is an allergy sufferer's nightmare! Prefer hardwood.

Hardwood! Which is fortunate because it was in every room of our home (except bathrooms, kitchen, entryway and basement).

Hardwood! You can change the look of it instantly by adding an area rug.

Hardwood or engineered.....please take my carpet!!! LOL

I like both but I think it really depends on the room.

Carpet. But not that cheap glue filled plastic carpet. I'm talking real carpet, woven with wool. Here's what the wood people are missing. Since the dawn of human existence people have sought to live on soft floors. First with grasses and then hides on the cave floors. This has not changed throughout history. That is until the past ten years! And what exactly has changed in the human condition that would make humans want to live on sticks & stones? At the top of the list is the cheap plastic garbage that turns ugly in a few months the floor covering industry tries to pass off as carpet. We won't even talk about nasty chemical cleaning or the warranties that are nothing but bold faced lies. Second would be marketing by the very same folk who see their customers unhappy with the cheap carpet, they're now being sold cheap wood or some composite version of wood that is mostly glue, laminated or not even wood at all, rather something that 'looks' wood like by the very same people. (( insert heavy sigh here )) No, the optimal floor covering choice for interior spaces that are occupied by humans is carpet. Nice carpet, real carpet, carpet made from natural fibers woven in a quality construction that will not only enhance the space, it will be durable, cleanable and yes, actually improve the indoor air quality and that my friends is the beauty of wool.... and it's all done naturally and ya can't beat that with a stick! ;- )

Sure I can "beat it with a stick"... and Walnut would (wood) be my "stick" of choice... haha

That's really nice Select Hardwood...

Hardwood, when collected in a sustainable way, is a much better choice ... more durable and elegant.

Hardwood without question. Especially with allergies like I have, it's a must. Carpet is not as easy to keep clean and I always think about what is hiding in the carpet from what is tracked in on the bottom of ones shoes. Not the healthy choice in my opinion.

Hardwood

J Design Group, Modern Interior Design Firm in Miami, Florida. http://www.JDesignGroup.com

I know I'm in the minority but I really do like carpet in a lot of areas. Bedrooms, for sure and even in a great room or family room where kids might be playing on the floor. I have a mix of all types of flooring in my home and I love it!

When I go to florida, I find most homes have tile or hardwood. Up here in northern Pennsylvania I refer carpeting to keep my home warm. Our garage is directly under our ranch home, Eveb tho our home is nicely insulated, I still prefer carpeting to keep our home even warmer.

Select Hardwood, that wood is gorgeous!!

Thank you Gracey & Bumblebee!

You're very welcome Select Hardwood :)

I vote wood! Why, well it's in our name, so maybe we're a little biased lol.

-It's healthier
-easier to keep clean (you can't really see the dirt that is still in your carpet after vacuuming, but you can plainly see the results of vacuuming and cleaning that hardwood) Did I mention, just wipe up any spills or animal accidents
-it can be refinished multiple times, and if you buy high quality engineered or solid wood floors then you've just invested in the only floors you'll ever need for that home - seriously! Carpet can't compete. Just think of how nasty that carpet would be after even 50 years! Wood can last well over 100 years. (We just refinished a floor that is 145 years old in Salado TX!)
-when sanding/refinishing you can completely change the color
-you can throw down any rug you want, wherever you want to. Then you can remove it and clean it thoroughly.
-it's a renewable resource and therefore it's greener, when responsibly harvested and manufactured.
- sure wool is really nice (if you're not sensitive to it), but just stick to area rugs.
- I guess I could keep going, but you get my point lol

My $.02 :)

@Kelly's wood floors : Yep, i agree. First go with hardwood. If not to your taste, or protection purposes, you can always add area rugs. We have lots of them, as one pattern is being cleaned we use the other pattern area rugs so the wood is never left unprotected

really depends on a lot of things but the most common answer is hardwood.

The reason why i posted my previous comment is this: In my growing up years we had wall to wall carpeting. And i loved it. Yes, it was the 70's and it was shaggy. Then in the 90's it was removed. The hardwood beneath was then cleaned and polyurethaned. I loved that look also. The drawback ? Now i can't decide between hardwood and wall to wall carpeting. They both look good. As a compromise, we use area rugs

The medical doctor who is our allergist asked many questions in our initial environmental survey. One was: "do you have carpet in your home?" (We had a tight weave & only in bedrooms/closets) he replied: "change it to anything solid as soon as you can." Carpet can never ever ever be cleaned fully. Dust mites/pollens/dirt/fines etc. will always settle at the mat and into the pad even w the most efficient and expensive of vacuums. And in geographically humid areas if you steam clean it, it will never dry and it will be a mold spore factory.

Now to find pre-finished "healthy" hardwood...no VOC emissions is another beast if you have chemical allergies on top of dust mite/pollen...and cost exponentially increases as the health of the floor does. But still: hardwood is better than carpet for those with allergies.

Hardwood is my preference with area rugs made of wool to help with sound absorption.
I did some research on my own when my husband's asthma flared. It revealed dust mites do not like wool, and frequent vacuuming helps if there are pets in the house. His Respirologist sent his technician come to our home to evaluate the conditions, and he supported my findings.

I love carpet and realize that I am in the minority. Hardwood is so..... HARD and uncomfortable to my feet and it is LOUD, even with wearing tennis shoes. And I really don't get the whole idea of getting hardwood and then covering it up with a rug. Leaves me baffled.

When we first moved into our house, there was this awful berber carpeting in the dining and living room. Our colicky-acid-rflux twins arrived shortly after and the rooms were transformed into a playroom slash spit up land. Finally got a carpet cleaner to come out and do something about it. His exact words, "Ma'am that carpet was real dirty.' It was a great carpet to abuse and we happily ripped it out. Now the only area with carpeting is the stairs. The kids still fall down and it's a softer landing. That too will be ripped out in time. Spit up land is now our new kitchen and that poor carpet didn't have a chance.

hardwood makes any room nicer!!

The hardwood will help to carry your wonderful modern look through.

I had carpet for years and it stayed pretty clean...for carpet.
It looked clean.
When we had the May Day Flood I knew I was not going to have carpet again.
I saw the dirt dripping out of my "clean" carpet as we cut it up and hauled it out of the house.
We could not do hardwood without replacing all the doors in the house and that was not going to happen.
So we settled on porcelain tile that looks much like wood.
When it looks clean, it is clean.
But every dog hair and piece of grass that gets tracked in seems to glow.

Alll well and good , hardwood. I have reached the age where I can't take a chance on sliding, slipping and falling if I'm in a hurry in the middle of the night of any other time.. Is anyone else as old as me? We have a tendancy to lose our balance. Area rugs are just as dangerous. If we have wall to wall carpet we are much safer. The emergency rooms are full of senior citizens who slip and fall and wind up with broken bones. Sorry to be gloomy but it's the truth.

nehama, that is being practical.
Practical is good.

Thank you Paula..It's good to know that someone understands.

My last house had hardwoods (dark oak) throughout and I loved them. I loved that it was so CLEAN. I had lots of flexibility with area rugs which was great. You can even have rigid pad cut to go beneath your area rugs at a carpet store and then they are extra soft for laying on and the carpets stay in place better. My new house has carpet and I can't wait to replace it with hardwoods. A great thing about the oak is that it doesn't show every single thing on the floor, blond maple is awful for that. If you go to the showrooms that have been around a while, if their woods are installed on the floor, you can tell which ones wear better.

Concerning the hardwood floors being slippery, consider one of the engineered hand scrapped products that have a great look and a considerable amount of texture to them. That is if you love and want the look of hard wood, but are concerned about slipping in your home.

Hardwood with radiant heated floors.

The great thing about wood floors is that Persian rugs look fantastic on top of them. To me, Persians look kind of lame on wall-to-wall carpet. Anyway, I've got this thing for Persian rugs.

Hardwood because you can always add an area rug on top! Hardwood also raises the value of your home and it's timeless. You can refinish a hardwood where a carpet will eventually wear and need to be replaced.

We think anything made out of wood is beautiful. Bring nature inside.

Hardwood definitely has a better look; however, if you have young children, carpet is worth the compromise in look for the benefit of safety. Or go with hardwood but place large area rugs down for children.

Besides being unable to afford the good quality hardwoods throughout my home, I have a very active and large extended family (I'm 64 and a grandmother to 20, ages 18 to 2 weeks). If I could afford regular housekeeping help, I would do hardwood or engineered wood throughout but knowing I won't dust mop every couple of days, and knowing how I hate to relax on a sofa and see dust when the light filters across the floor where I see the other side of the room (even if it's only outside a rug), the maintenance is just too high. I remember clearly when I was young and our home was built in 1958 with hardwood. My mom couldn't wait to add wall to wall carpet. The 7 of us kids were loud running through the house and my mom was constantly dusting the floors and stairs. Carpets need to be vacuumed at least once a week but not every day or two unless there is a lot of activity. So, if after work, gym workout or errands, I don't do it, I can still relax without stress. The kids can be lively without excess noise from feet. So, I am in the process of remodeling. My kitchen and entryway will have a hard, strand bamboo but the rest of the living space will have carpet. Fortunately, I don't have asthma so I can enjoy the warmth and ease of carpet. I should clean carpet more frequently than I do, but if I don't, my sanity will be OK. At this stage in life, comfort and low maintenance is extremely important to me.

Each of them does carry a list of pros and cons.Good carpets are a big investment,so it’s worth protecting them.Regularly having your carpets cleaned can significantly extend their life.Our Carpet Care service is dedicated to the use of only the safest and most effective products.Keep sharing.

I have reclaimed Butternut floor. I like the dings,makes floor look even older