The Best and Worst Flooring Choices for Your Home

Choosing the right flooring is one of the most crucial design decisions you’ll make, as it affects not only the appearance of your home but also its daily functionality and ambiance. The right floor can elevate a space, make it more durable and easier to maintain, and even increase your home’s value. But the wrong choice can lead to constant frustration, costly repairs, and a disjointed look.

Here’s a closer look at the best and worst flooring choices, plus one of the smartest design strategies you can use to make any material shine: continuous flooring.

Best Flooring Choices

1. Luxury Vinyl Plank (LVP)
Durable, waterproof, and budget-friendly, LVP delivers the natural look of hardwood or stone with minimal upkeep. It’s an excellent choice for busy households, kitchens, bathrooms, and basements. Thanks to its stability and water resistance, LVP is also one of the easiest floors to run continuously from room to room, creating a seamless flow throughout the home.

2. Engineered Hardwood
Engineered wood offers warmth, elegance, and the beauty of real wood, while also handling humidity and temperature changes more effectively than solid hardwood. It’s perfect for living areas and bedrooms — and when used throughout adjoining spaces, it creates a cohesive, high-end look that visually expands square footage.

3. Porcelain Tile
Porcelain tile is highly durable, water-resistant, and available in a wide range of styles and finishes. It’s ideal for bathrooms, kitchens, and entryways, and can now mimic a variety of materials, including marble and wood. Large-format tiles, when used consistently across connected spaces, enhance the sense of openness and continuity in modern homes.

4. Natural Stone
Stone flooring adds timeless character and lasting durability. It requires sealing and some upkeep, but the reward is unmatched elegance. Using the same stone throughout multiple rooms ties the design together, allowing the natural variation of the material to become a unifying feature.

Why Continuous Flooring Matters

One of the most overlooked design strategies is selecting a flooring type that can be used consistently throughout your home. Rather than switching materials from room to room, a single floor creates visual flow and makes spaces feel larger, calmer, and more cohesive.

Continuous flooring eliminates awkward transitions, allowing your furniture and décor to shine without visual interruptions. It also simplifies cleaning and maintenance, especially in open-concept layouts where rooms naturally flow into one another. Materials like LVP, engineered hardwood, and large-format porcelain tiles are especially effective for this approach.

Flooring Choices to Think Twice About

1. Solid Hardwood in Moisture-Prone Areas
While beautiful, solid hardwood is vulnerable to moisture. Bathrooms, laundry rooms, and basements can cause warping or cupping, so it’s best to use engineered alternatives or LVP in those areas.

2. Carpet in High-Traffic or Wet Spaces
Carpet adds warmth and softness but struggles with wear and stains in busy or damp areas. Reserve it for bedrooms or quiet spaces where comfort is the priority.

3. Laminate in Wet Areas
Laminate flooring offers a wood look at a low cost, but it’s easily damaged by moisture. While newer waterproof options exist, LVP or tile are better long-term solutions for wet spaces.

4. Cheap Vinyl Sheet Flooring
Although budget-friendly, sheet vinyl is often thin, tears easily, and can look dated. Repairs are challenging, and they rarely achieve the high-end look that today’s homes demand.

The Right Choice, Done Right

Ultimately, the best flooring choice depends on your lifestyle, budget, and the spaces you’re designing. But beyond selecting the right material, how you use it matters just as much. Extending the same flooring across multiple rooms can instantly elevate your design, add value, and make your home feel more spacious and harmonious.

When chosen thoughtfully and installed with intention, flooring does more than cover your surfaces; it sets the tone for your entire home.