Carpet has always been the go-to flooring option in most homes. If you've ever been inside a new building, you'll see that most of them are decked out with carpets everywhere bar the kitchen and bathroom. There are a few reasons why carpets are so popular, and we'll run through some of them in the following piece. "It's essential to balance a child-friendly atmosphere with aesthetics and practicality," said a spokesperson from Designer-Carpet.co.uk. "Look for durability, ease of cleaning, and the ability to withstand the playful chaos of children. Choosing your home's carpet is a decision that impacts not just the interior aesthetic, but also its functionality and ultimately your well-being."
However, the main focus of this post is to help you work out if carpets are worth having in your home or not. To be specific, in a home with kids running around. Yes, this is a key factor as some of the downsides of a carpet aren't relevant when you don't have kids - and a couple of the benefits as well!
So, without wasting any more time on introductions, let's see the pros and cons of carpets in a household with children:
Pro: Protects your kids if they fall
If you have really young children who are just learning to walk, carpet is highly beneficial. It's a lot softer than other flooring options, meaning it offers more protection if your child falls over. Can you imagine the damage that could occur if a small child falls over on a hardwood floor? Their bones are soft and brittle, so they can easily break something! By contrast, the carpet offers a bit of extra cushioning. Will it still hurt? Yes, but the damage will be far less extreme than with some of the other flooring options you could choose from.
Con: Hard to clean
The biggest downside of carpets in a house full of kids is that this is the hardest flooring to clean. It stains so easily, and you will really struggle to get certain stains out of the carpet fibers. Sometimes, the only way to do this is by paying for carpet cleaning services, but you don't want to do this for your whole life! This is one of those things that wouldn't be a big issue if you didn't have kids. Sure, adults spill things now and then, but there's less chance of it happening. With kids in your home, you're almost guaranteed to deal with spills on the carpet. So, you have to decide if it's worth dealing with all the maintenance that this brings.
Pro: Cheap
One thing you can use to counter the staining problem is that carpets are usually the cheapest flooring option out there. This is beneficial for a couple of reasons - the first being obvious; you save a lot of money. When you have a family to look after, every penny helps. So, opting for the cheaper option of carpets over fancier flooring can be a smart financial decision that helps you support your family.
Secondly, you don't have to worry about the carpets being stained that much. You know that it's cheap, so you can easily replace it if need be. That's also a benefit of carpet; it's so easy to install and remove. Anyone can do this when a carpet is already laid down in your house, whereas installing and uninstalling things like laminate or hardwood flooring is significantly harder.
Con: Wear down easily
A huge benefit of hard flooring options is that they're very durable. You can walk around or crawl on hardwood flooring for years and it won't wear down. With carpet, this simply isn't the case. It's all down to how carpet is made, and the fact that it's essentially a type of fabric with fibers. As more pressure is put on a piece of carpet, it will start to flatten and wear down. Eventually, it begins to wear so thin that it breaks apart. From here, you end up with ugly bald or thin patches in your carpet, which can't really be fixed. The only alternative is to relay the carpet!
Now, imagine you have kids in your home, running around all the time. They pound the carpet every day, not to mention your own added foot traffic. This can literally lead to carpet wearing down in a matter of months, let alone years.
Pro: More personalizable
Don't get it twisted, other flooring options can be really customizable in that you have loads of different varieties and patterns to choose from. Look at things like tiling as an example - the possibilities and designs are endless! However, carpet is probably the most personalizable in that you can make it suit your own specific tastes a bit better. In the context of a family home, think about the flooring for your kid's bedrooms. The carpet just makes a lot of sense as you can choose one that suits the rest of the design and is more kiddie - if that makes sense. It's easier to get a carpet that personalizes a bedroom than any other flooring type out there.
Con: A hotbed for allergies
Another bad thing about carpets is that they are a hotbed for allergies. Pet fur gets caught in the carpet, as will dust. If your kids suffer from any allergies, this can trigger them. They're also just a lot less hygienic, in general. Carpets are pretty dirty and can hold so much filth in them from many days in a row. With something like laminate flooring, any debris or dirt can be quickly swept up and wiped away. Allergies aren't a concern, so there's no need for you to worry about them!
Conclusion: Should you get a carpet in a house with kids?
Keeping all of the above in mind, should you get a carpet or not? In all honesty, the answer is a bit of a tricky one. The instinct is to say yes, get one. It might have disadvantages, but carpet is definitely better suited to kids than other flooring types.
Nevertheless, you can't really ignore all of those cons. As such, you have to be a bit smarter in how you approach the flooring situation. You can have carpets, but only in certain areas of your home. Carpeted bedrooms are always a good choice as they're cozy, warm, and can be personalized a lot better than other floors. Plus, you have the safety element, and your kids will spend a lot of time playing in their rooms. You may consider carpets in the living room or on the stairs and upstairs, but it's entirely up to you. Just be aware that the more carpets you have, the more maintenance you'll need to keep up with.
With that in mind, it doesn't make a lot of sense to have carpets in rooms like the kitchen or bathroom. Here, you're just asking for trouble as the carpet will stain easily or suffer from water spillages. It also makes more sense to go for hard flooring options in high-traffic areas of your home. This mainly includes the hallways or the stairs. Of course, you then have to weigh up the pros and cons of this - is it maybe too unsafe with small kids running around?
There are many things to keep in mind and concern yourself with, put it that way. Still, you should think back to one of the advantages of carpeted flooring; it's cheap and easy to install/remove. So, nothing's stopping you from having carpets in your home while your kids are young and reckless, then ripping them up and opting for a different option as they get more responsible.
At the end of the day, it's entirely up to you! Think of this as a nice little guide that will make the decision slightly easier for you to make.
