[Collaborative post]
When we moved in to our flat back in 2003 one of the first things we wanted to change was the flooring. With both of us being in our early 20's and working full-time, we took full advantage of having disposable income and ripped up the old green carpets and replaced them with beech laminate flooring. It looked extremely smart at the time and having pets it was a practical solution for us.
We had a lot of late night trips to Ikea back then and we decked out our living room with units, plants and accessories, we were very proud of ourselves.
Fast forward 15 years and three children to 2018 - the flooring was starting to look a bit tired, we were fed up of the colour and we both felt that after three children - it was time to revamp the living room.
This time we went for a trendy, grey wood effect laminate floor and I am so glad we did, it has transformed the room and has made it look much bigger and lighter. Plus the pale grey matches any colour and gives it a cool Scandi look.
We have an open-plan space downstairs so it has been great to carry the flooring throughout into the kitchen area.
Our dining table has been revamped with pale grey and midnight blue paint and a plastic tile effect top.
The back wall has been painted midnight blue with some framed prints. Our next mission is to replace the skirting and repaint the rest of the room in white - the ceiling also needs repainting.
We would love to continue the laminate flooring upstairs in grey. We started updating our bathroom this year and we have the same colour grey karndean laminate flooring in the bathroom now. The landing is looking particularly shabby, as are the kids rooms, we used second hand laminate which we got from a Freecycle site upstairs which was great at the time but being second hand parts of it were slightly warped, plus it is that orangey pine colour which in my opinion looks slightly dated now.
As our living area is multi-purpose - seriously it really is, my husband and I sleep in it too, it needed to be easy to clean. Laminate is great as you can either give it a quick sweep with a broom daily, hoover it and give it a mop once a week. Spillages are easily wiped up and I don't have any stains to contend with plus I don't have to deal with the smell that a carpet would have seeing as we have pets.
I do have my eye on a rug as I feel that brings a little bit of extra comfort to a room but overall I am so happy that we made this change and I can't wait to finish the rest of the flat - we have spent 16 years here and it has changed drastically - but we have outgrown this flat and we hope that once we get it finished we can sell and move somewhere with that much craved extra space.