Playroom and Bonus Room Flooring for Oklahoma City Families
· 6 min read · By Floors To You OKC
Many Oklahoma City homes have a room that does a bit of everything: a bonus room over the garage, a converted spare bedroom or a family room at the back of the house. Right now it may be the playroom, full of toys, crafts and kids on the floor. In a few years it may be a game room, a home gym or a guest room. The floor has to handle all of that. Here is how the options compare.
What a playroom asks of a floor
Kids use a playroom floor differently than adults use any other room. They sit on it, lie on it, build on it and fall on it. They spill juice, drop paint and glue, and drag toy bins across it. Add a dog that follows them everywhere, and the floor needs to be soft enough to play on, tough enough to take the abuse, and easy to clean.
Those goals pull in different directions, which is why there is no single right answer. The best choice depends on the ages of your kids, how messy the room gets, and whether the room is upstairs.
Carpet: soft, warm and quiet
Carpet is still the most popular floor for upstairs bonus rooms, and for younger kids who spend their time on the floor it is hard to beat. It is soft to sit and fall on, warm in winter, and the quietest choice for a room over a living area. Our in-stock lines include stain-resistant and pet-focused carpets, and lifetime stain warranties are available on many of them.
The trade-offs are crafts and spills. Paint, slime and glue are much harder to get out of carpet than off a hard floor. A denser carpet over a quality pad also tends to hold up better under toy bins and play traffic than a very loose, plush one. Our carpet pad guide explains why the pad matters.
Luxury vinyl plank: easy to clean
Luxury vinyl plank is the easiest playroom floor to keep clean. It is waterproof, so spills and pet accidents wipe up, most craft messes come off with a damp cloth, and a good wear layer stands up to toy cars and dragged bins. Most families pair it with a large area rug or play mats in the play area, so kids still have a soft spot on the floor.
It is also the most flexible choice for a room that will change. When the playroom becomes an office or a guest room, a hard floor with a rug works for any of them. Our guide to flooring for pets, kids and high traffic covers durability in more detail.
Laminate
Laminate has a hard, scratch-resistant surface, and we stock AC4 and higher commercial-grade lines that handle toys and furniture well. It is a good choice for a dry bonus room or game room. It handles everyday spills wiped up promptly, but its wood-based core does not like water left sitting, so for a room with a lot of juice cups or a child who is potty training, waterproof vinyl is the safer pick.
Noise in an upstairs bonus room
A bonus room over the living room will be heard below. Running, jumping and dropped toys carry through a hard floor more than through carpet. If you want a hard floor upstairs, choose a product with an attached acoustic underlayment or add one rated for sound, and use large rugs in the play area. The underlayment has to be chosen before the floor goes down, so it is worth raising at the estimate. Our guide to bedroom flooring covers upstairs noise in more detail.
Stairs up to the bonus room
Most upstairs bonus rooms come with a staircase, and the stairs get the same kids and the same dog. Carpet on stairs is softer and gives better grip, which matters with small children. Hard-floor stair treads look clean and match a hard floor upstairs, but they need a slip-resistant surface and proper stair nosing. Our guide to stair flooring compares the options.
Keeping it clean
A few habits keep a playroom floor looking good whichever floor you choose.
- ✓Put a washable mat or a drop cloth under the craft table
- ✓Lift toy bins rather than dragging them, and use bins with smooth bottoms
- ✓Put felt pads under furniture and toy shelves
- ✓Blot carpet spills right away rather than scrubbing them in
- ✓Follow the floor maker's care guidance for which cleaners, mats and rug pads are safe for the product
Plan for the room it will become
The playroom stage does not last forever, so it is worth choosing a floor that will still suit the room when the toys move out. A neutral carpet or a wood-look floor that matches the rest of the house will work for a teen hangout, an office or a guest room. Our post on choosing a floor color helps with picking something that will last.
Book a free in-home estimate and we will bring carpet and hard-floor samples to the room, measure the room and the stairs, and give you an itemized quote, with next-day installation on in-stock carpet. Our crew moves the furniture out and back.
