6 Affordable Flooring Options to Upgrade a Room

Want to refresh your home without breaking the bank? Here are some inexpensive, attractive flooring ideas.

Note: Most subfloors will have low spots that require filling
with floor patching compound. Never apply flooring on subfloors
that aren’t clean or completely level.

1. Vinyl Planks

When you consider affordable flooring ideas, luxury vinyl plank should rank near the top of your list. It’s elegant and can be installed directly over your existing floor. Just make sure your floor has no mold or dust and then clean it.

Luxury vinyl planks have padding on their base and a rigid core. Then a faux wood layer is added, topped by a waterproof finish for shine.

Best of all? These
planks look just like real wood — with the same knots and grain you would
expect — and an embossed surface.

2. Peel-And-Stick

If you want easy, cheap flooring that doesn’t require much know-how (or many tools) for installation, consider peel-and-stick tiles or planks.

Installation is
easy, and just like it sounds. First, clean the floor. Then peel the film back
from the flooring, revealing adhesive underneath. Then you line the flooring up
and stick it to the subfloor.

Best of all?
Scoring the tiles or planks is easy because all you need is a utility knife!

3. Carpet Tiles

If you don’t want hard floors and prefer something that’s soft underfoot, try carpet tile.

These modular flooring systems feature carpet squares
— usually 18 inches by 18 inches or 24 inches by 24 inches — and come
in a wide variety of colors.

They’re available
in a solid color or with various colors and designs that you can mix and match
for a checkerboard effect.