The best flooring type for your parenting style.

After seven months of home renovating I feel like I’ve learned a lot about designing a home interior that is Instagram-worthy yet parent-practical. With two wild ones under four it was important for us to choose fixtures and fittings that would withstand the onslaught of toddlerdom yet still warrant a thumbs up from a styling guru. When it comes to flooring, there are myriad options out there for every budget and taste, so how do you choose? Well one method is to pick a floor that matches your parenting style.

"Choose fixtures and fittings that would withstand the onslaught of toddlerdom". Image: supplied.

Laissez-faire = Laminate

If you’re a super chilled free range parent who shrugs at the sight of a side-spray poo-nami, then laminate flooring from the Plantino Laminate Range was made for you. It can withstand the stickiest flick of yoghurt or blob of bolognaise from a toddler’s swinging spoon, and uncommissioned potato-print art is no match for its stain resistant surface. Super easy and quick to install, it replicates the best timbers so no need to fess up when visitors mistake it for the real thing. It also copes well with topical moisture (read wee) and can create a sense of space even if every room in the house has been hit by a toy hurricane.
Pro: You’ll have money left over to take the kids to Dreamworld.
Con: You’ll come back more exhausted than when you left.

Cautious = Carpet

If your rugrats are never far from arms reach and you fancy a luxurious surface for them to fall on when they bungee jump off the couch, then you can’t go past cushy carpet. Warm and cosy in Winter and comfy all year round, carpet is a great choice for parents who are happy to hover during the horror of potty training and have a local steam cleaner (and therapist) on speed dial. It also acts as a noise dampener when your children decide to wrestle each other over whose turn it is to mercilessly harass the family pet.
Pro: Warm and cosy for romantic nights in front of the fire after the kids go to bed.
Con: Romantic nights in front of the fire? ROTFL. Netflix in bed come at me.

"Warm and cosy in Winter and comfy all year round, carpet is a great choice". Image: supplied.

Au Natural = Bamboo

If your bubba is currently pooping his organic tofu veggie stir fry into a cloth nappy and you last wore mascara in 1996, then bamboo might be for you. Plantino Bamboo looks similar to hardwood flooring but is made from the bamboo plant that takes three to five years to grow to maturity as opposed to over 20 years for wood. Massively trendy at the moment, bamboo is fairly easy to maintain and relatively resistant to water (read wee). Bamboo reportedly brings a peaceful energy into the home which may come in handy when your preschooler decides he will only eat yellow food or has an epic meltdown because the sky is blue.
Pro: The feng shui properties of bamboo might stave off a parenting-induced nervous breakdown.
Con: Wine works better.

A natural flooring look is timeless and suits a range of interiors. Image: supplied.

Fun-loving = Luxury Vinyl

If you enjoy craft-time more than your kids do and know every Wiggles dance, then luxury vinyl from the Genero Collection may be the perfect surface for your mashed potato moves. It’s super easy to keep clean and soft under foot to reduce the severity of injury when the “whirly bird” goes wrong. Luxury Vinyl is also the perfect option for parents whose bank accounts have been siphoned by paying for childcare, endless activities and the $200 bicycle from Santa currently rusting in the garage. Economical, durable and surprisingly attractive, vinyl has come a long way since the interior design abomination of the seventies.
Pro: When Emma says dance you can do the dance…for hours on end.
Con: In a digital world the chance of your moves going viral is distressingly high.

Darker floors help to hide the shoes scuffs from your kids. Image: supplied.

Luxe Lover = Timber

If you’re the kind of parent who insists on wearing dry-clean only clothes despite having a reflux baby whose projectile spews are reminiscent of The Exorcist highlights reel, then you probably love the luxury look of a wood floor like the Plantino Engineered Oak Range. I’ve been known to prioritise soft furnishings over food in the family budget so couldn’t go past an engineered oak floor when we renovated. It oozes class and quality and can be textured up with a speccy rug which you get for free if you spend over $2,000 on the Plantino or Genero Collections at Choices Flooring.
Pro: Sexy as hell.
Con: Sexy ain’t cheap (but the rug is free!)

What is your parenting style?