Cheap Flooring Ideas

My wife and I were so tired of looking for cheap flooring ideas after mediocre condo after condo that we lived in.  When we finally moved into our forever home, we were super excited about picking out high quality materials and furnishings that we knew that we would be enjoying for years and years to come. The moment we walked in this house, we knew that we wanted to incorporate a mixture of high end contemporary furniture with rustic home decor.  These gorgeous roughed-up wide plank floors seemed like the perfect accent to the vision that we both had. Sure they cost a pretty penny, but I think that they are just going to keep getting better and better with age.

I feel like I have become an expert on cheap flooring ideas after doing so many beach condo renovations for customers down here in Florida.  Most homeowners live out of state and will primarily be renting out their properties.  They are always asking for flooring ideas that will stand up to heavy traffic and abuse, but do not cost them an arm and a leg since they will not be able to enjoy it everyday. I usually suggest laminate or luxury vinyl plank projects because they look fantastic, are more price conscious, and stand up to heavy use fairly well.  This is an especially fantastic product to use as kitchen flooring, because most is water resistant and can withstand the "beat down" that usually happens to that area of the home. 

I am trying (without luck) to find cheap flooring ideas that would mimic the beautiful golden bamboo wood that they used in this awesome modern-ish home.  We absolutely love the look of wood flooring ideas but definitely can't afford the price of the real deal right now.  I know that there are tones of alternatives on the market, I am just not well-versed enough in types of building materials to really know what to look for or where to begin. My neighbor told us about the cheap wood flooring alternative that they used called "luxury vinyl plank" or something like that.  They said that it is way more durable than your typical laminate and looks a lot more realistic.

We came across LVP (luxury vinyl plank for those who do not know) when we were looking for cheap flooring ideas for our beach condo.  Knowing that we would have pretty frequent renters, I did not want to spend a ton of money on something that could be easily damaged. With that being said, it still had to be high enough quality that it would withstand heavy use and frequent cleaning.  LVP kept coming up in the forums that were discussing inexpensive flooring ideas, because it looks just like real wood, but has a pretty thick wear-layer that is virtually scratch resistant.  Not to mention that it was a fraction of the price of real wood and most laminate products! We covered ours with a lot of seagrass rugs for warmth, but I am definitely thrilled with the result.

After looking into cheap flooring ideas for our vacation/rental property, I am really surprised (and pleased) at how far things have come since the last time I researched it a decade ago.  You would never know that some of these products are inexpensive (or not wood or tile) because they have the look and texture of the real thing.  For example, this home has my favorite product out of all of the cheap wood flooring ideas I looked at -- luxury vinyl planks.  These are actual individual planks that you snap together to look like a traditionally laid wood floor.  They look almost identical to a much more expensive bleached oak plank that I was looking into for our full time property, and supposedly the wear on this product is apparently insane.

We have been trying to find some cheap flooring ideas for our guest bathroom, because after remodeling our master we don't quite have the budget to be so extravagant in there.  I saw some cheap bathroom flooring in a white honeycomb tile design on clearance at Lowe's yesterday, but didn't buy it at the time because I wasn't sure exactly how to incorporate it into an overall style.  After finding these photos of a very classic bathroom but with a slightly modern edge, I am definitely going to go back this evening to see if it is still there.  I love how the honeycomb design gives this room a slightly retro vibe but not in an overwhelming way.  It creates a great neutral base (and an awesome alternative ti the linoleum flooring that is already there) for the rest of the decor and looks like it will wash very well.