Living Room Flooring Options
Your living room is the first and sometimes only thing that guests see of your home. How you do the floors makes a big impact on the impression they come away with. Unlike bathrooms or kitchens, which have special considerations because of moisture and heat, living rooms can be done in any floor style you'd like. Consider the kind of feeling you want to convey---homey, formal, modern, old-fashioned---and also your lifestyle, especially the effects of kids and pets on your floor.
Carpeting
Carpet is a good choice for a living room if it doubles as your family room and television room, because the carpet mutes the echo of sound in the room. Carpets also tend to make rooms feel cozier and more at home, to the point that guests might take off their shoes. If you have pets or kids, go with a thinner, darker style, which will hide dirt better and is easier to clean.
Hardwood
Hardwood flooring is one of the classier floor coverings you can buy. It's a good match for a formal living room, especially one dressed out in nice wood trim and crown molding. Wood floors do have some drawbacks to consider, though. They're not as durable as, say, ceramic tile, and not as warm as carpeting. One way around both issues is the strategic use of throw-rugs, particularly in the sitting area of the living room. If you have young kids or pets, consider the alternative of pre-finished composite flooring with wood veneer, which is more resistant to staining and damage.
Hard Tile
Ceramic, marble and other tiles are usually thought of as bathroom and kitchen materials, but they can look great on a living room floor. When picking tiles for the living room, you may want to go with just the opposite characteristics that would you would for a bathroom. For example, living room tiles generally should be in muted colors rather than bright ones, and flat finishes rather than high gloss. Consider the climate in your region. Tiles are the coldest type of flooring you can lay, which is why a tiled living room can look perfectly normal in Miami but may seem a little out of place in, say, Maine.