carpets or wooden flooring?

minimanminifan

Hi All,

I am in the process of buying a two bedroom apartment in Dundrum. Its a corner unit with wrap around balcony that is not overlooked by other apartments.
I have been renting apartments for 18 years and this is my first purchase so i have no idea where to start, all i can say is that i dont want it to end up looking like another cream / beige rental home.

Its a 1st floor apartment so not even sure that i am allowed wooden flooring (noise complaints) but i am sure laminate is ok.

Point is this, in your opinion would you rather carpet or laminate / wood finish?? i need to do the whole place as only the kitchen and bathroom are tiled the rest must be done before i move in?

I would also be interested on the opinion of folks for the rather large living room L shapped floor to ceiling window? curtains or blinds?? everyone tends to opt for blinds these days but i have seen a really nice display room in Ikea where they used a net curtain only?

i welcome views / ideas to help me end up with an apartment that dont look like "just another rental"

Joanne82

Hi,

It's really down to personal preference whether you go for a carpet or wooden flooring. Wooden floors are extremely practical in a living area as they are easy to keep clean and you could always put down a rug to make it a bit cosier.

I'd be very surprised if you weren't allowed to put wooden flooring down. Is it a new apartment?

J.

Carlow52

minimanminifan wrote: »

Hi All,

I am in the process of buying a two bedroom apartment in Dundrum. Its a corner unit with wrap around balcony that is not overlooked by other apartments.
I have been renting apartments for 18 years and this is my first purchase so i have no idea where to start, all i can say is that i dont want it to end up looking like another cream / beige rental home.

Its a 1st floor apartment so not even sure that i am allowed wooden flooring (noise complaints) but i am sure laminate is ok.

Point is this, in your opinion would you rather carpet or laminate / wood finish?? i need to do the whole place as only the kitchen and bathroom are tiled the rest must be done before i move in?

I would also be interested on the opinion of folks for the rather large living room L shapped floor to ceiling window? curtains or blinds?? everyone tends to opt for blinds these days but i have seen a really nice display room in Ikea where they used a net curtain only?

i welcome views / ideas to help me end up with an apartment that dont look like "just another rental"

1: Good quality Laminate. PM me if interested in good quality.

2: Consider heavy curtains for improved insulation on glass as u are on a corner => more exposed and depending on age of apt window glass may be only the min spec.
3. IMO nets are '70's:) Male opinion:)

4 wish u well with the purchase and fit out.

gingerpantz

Wood floors would increase your resale value, they would last much longer, they're timeless, and area rugs can be used to reduce noise.

minimanminifan

Thanks for all the info folks..

The apartment is brand new so insulation should not be an issue but heavy curtains may be an idea allright!

irishsancho

gingerpantz wrote: »

Wood floors would increase your resale value, they would last much longer, they're timeless, and area rugs can be used to reduce noise.

Absolutely, but don't go for laminate.

Laminate might be cheap in the short term but a good hard-wood floor will last a lifetime. You can only strip laminate a max of 3 times before you damage the surface.

irlrobins

I've bought an apt recently and similar to you it's a 2 bed, with the kitchen and bathrooms fully fitted and tiled. So I only had to floor hallway, bedrooms and the living/dining area.

For the windows, I have large floor to ceiling in the living room and the bedroom windows aren't that much smaller. I went with vertical blinds that are blackout. My thinking was that I could close them fully to block out sunlight (south facing) and at night when I have the lights on, no one can see in (unlike if you have net curtains, you might as well not have them at night time). But I could also angle them to let light as much light in as I need. They're also cheaper than curtains. Once I'm in and settled I'll look to get some curtains for the bedrooms for additional noise reduction and warmth. Nets can look good when they first go up, but they get dirty. And they're dated looking as someone else said.

For floors I went for carpet in the bedrooms. Wood looks great but it's nice to have the warmth of the carpet and wood through out the entire apartment can be noisy.

I also put carpet in the hallway, again as it's warm looking and if people are coming I don't have to worry about their shoes marking the wood. And in a closed corridor wood can make it noisy.

In the living room I put down semi solid walnut. Wouldn't go near laminate with a barge pool. Its cheap and looks it. Guarantee you that if you put it down you'll be replacing it within a few years as it will look crap.

I went for the walnut as I love the colour, with the right furniture it looks really well in daylight and under downlighters. My room is long and the strips of the walnut plank make it look longer. If you look thru my previous posts you can see pics of it. Of course it can scratch if ur not careful but I'll be enforcing a strict no shoes rule! No point in getting solid wood as it looks the same as semi solid but way more expensive. If you look after semi solid you can get 15 to 20 years out of it.

Anyway, hope that helps. At the end of the day people have different tastes, ideas and budgets so what works for one person might not work for you. But congrats on the purchase and hope the fit out goes well!

Carlow52

irlrobins wrote: »

Wouldn't go near laminate with a barge pool. Its cheap and looks it. Guarantee you that if you put it down you'll be replacing it within a few years as it will look crap.

Is this outrageous comment based on much research and experience?

Good quality laminate, say 40 euro sq meter will outlast any semi solid or solid floor in terms of looks, ease of maintenance and lifetime cost.

irlrobins

It's a comment based on my opinion and personal experience of never seeing a laminate floor look like anything but laminate.