Laminate Flooring in Bedrooms: Where To Start, What To Choose & What To Avoid
Doing your bedroom up and having it be a cosy haven in your home is a delight. You might have an endless number of tabs on your phone of the types of bedding, lights, wardrobes and such that you think will all come together perfectly, but what about your bedroom floor? Your floor needs to tie the whole room together, and if it doesn't hit the mark, your bedroom won't look as lovely as you'll have envisioned.
At Wood Floor Warehouse, we're not amazing at picking bedside lamps or the ideal tog for your duvet, but we do know where to point you if you're looking for laminate flooring in your bedroom. We have a great range of bedroom laminate from top brands at great prices, but if you've never bought laminate before, where do you even start? Let's look at the most popular questions customers ask us for help on when getting bedroom flooring, along with some tips and tricks if you're going to be doing a little DIY with laminate in your bedroom.
Where to start with laminate flooring in a bedroom
Let's start with the easy stuff. Bedrooms typically need flooring that is thinner, matches the colour palette of a room (more on that next), has a lower wear rating/scratch resistance and is easy to clean.You don't typically move furniture around a lot in your bedroom, so you're good to use AC3 and AC4-rated flooring. You'll also want to keep patterns simple with wood effect or oak style laminate- the likes of herringbone is used more in living rooms and dining rooms, although if you have floor space to show off, go for it.
You'll also need to consider whether you need the likes of water-resistant laminate when you have an en-suite, or you're getting laminate for the kids' rooms. If that's the case, we have a great guide on Laminate Flooring in Kids' Rooms.
How to choose laminate flooring colour for a bedroom
Colour is the most significant factor in determining how a laminate can look. Common colours we have in stock for bedrooms tend to be brown, grey, oak & walnut – mostly natural tones which help create a warm and welcoming environment. As bedrooms tend to be the smallest rooms in the house, you'll want to lean towards light and medium shades to help boost the space you have. Dark laminates are harder to pull off, especially black, but some people can make it work. We recommend staying on that medium to lighter side if you know the room needs as much natural light as possible, as dark floors and walls can "shrink" a room.
Knowing the difference between laminate and engineered wood flooring in bedrooms
Some people swear by laminate in every room. Others swear by engineered wood, so which works better in bedrooms? The honest answer is that it mostly comes down to a matter of taste and cost. Both are affordable options when compared to solid wood floors for bedrooms, the primary difference being that engineered has that top layer of wood veneer, which can be re-treated after a few years. Although, laminate won't need any work done in the long term as long as it's kept clean.
And what about laminate flooring compared to other options like vinyl or carpet in a bedroom?
If you're set on having carpet in the bedroom, go for it. If you're comparing all your flooring options, vinyl could be a good choice if you want a fuss-free option. We have bedroom LVT flooring, which is very similar to laminate, although it does cost more per square meter.
Knowing what brands are a go-to for laminate flooring in bedrooms
We're a fussy bunch at Wood Floor HQ. We try out and test every single bit of flooring that comes through our doors. That's why there are only a select few names we recommend for bedroom laminate. EGGER is up at the top and provides the most variety in terms of colours and shades. Swiss Krono isn't far behind and is a safe bet when you want a budget-friendly, no-frill laminate. BerryAlloc do some absolute knockout laminates and would be good if you want rich or vibrant tones (some of their walnut laminates are AMAZING in bedrooms). And we'd be remiss if we didn't mention Lamett – they do more stained and stripped looking laminates, which go very well if you need lighter shades.
How to install laminate flooring in a bedroom
We'll have a full guide on tips for laying laminate down in bedrooms soon, but if you're already in the midst of getting your bedroom ready, we highly recommend you read our advice on How To Lay Laminate Flooring and our tips for Cutting Laminate Flooring – the latter is a must, especially if you're putting vinyl in a box room with angles or jutting corners and wouldn't know where to start.
What is the best flooring for upstairs bedrooms?
We'll touch on underlays and such in a moment, but it's important to know that upstairs floors tend to need thicker planks laid down upstairs to help with noise. Most bedroom laminates come in 12mm thickness, which is ideal for upstairs bedrooms and rooms you can't stand there being creaky noises. In downstairs bedrooms, where you're usually laying over concrete, or maybe even underfloor heating, 8mm thick works well.
What type of underlay do I put under bedroom laminate?
If you are buying a laminate which doesn't have underlay built into the planks, a 2mm-3mm underlay should do the job. Any that have an aluminium vapour shield are a good choice, as they'll help with moisture control. If your bedrooms have underfloor heating, look for underlay with a rubber core as it helps with heat transfer. For busy bedrooms like kids' bedrooms, check the product info to see if it highlights sound reduction or can help with levelling.
Can I install laminate flooring over existing bedroom flooring?
Is your bedroom floor dry, level and clean? Then you can lay down laminate - prep is really important to avoid flooring nightmares down the line. One little tip, though, if you're putting laminate in a room after you've had carpet in, you might find that lifting it leaves you with some gaps between the door and skirting around the walls. If that's the case, we recommend getting beading & scotia that helps the final product look the part.
If you need any help finding flooring for a bedroom, we're always here to assist. The easiest way to do so would be to click the chat icon in the corner and speak with one of the team members. If they don't get back to you right away, they will email you back. Or, if you'd prefer to speak with someone over the phone, give us a call on 0161 274 9565.