Choosing flooring for my sewing room
 

So I've invited some friends from church over for a sewing/quilting night at my house.
My dh has offered to rip out our old carpeting (original to the house & worn down by dogs and our 3 kids for 12 years) and put in new flooring. We have 3 weeks until the get together. We work full time, so basically have 3 Saturdays.

My 3 choices: wood, vinyl wood look planks, carpet tiles.

My concerns: Cost-- the room is 396 sq feet.
Durability-- how will it stand up to rolling chairs? Vinyl and wood will scratch w/o plastic
mat. Will plastic mat change finish or color of floor beneath it?
Practicality-- the carpet tiles wouldn't have issues with the chairs; I'd have to watch
for threads when vacuuming. I'm constantly picking them out now from rolling brush
now. I'd still probably need a mat to roll between machines.
Time to install.

Thoughts and suggestions, please :)

I am super laid back so the thought of random multi-colored carpet tiles does appeal to my love of color and creative quirky side. My walls are all white.

I can't make a suggestion about your new flooring but wanted to make a suggestion on vacuuming up threads. They tend to collect near your machine so I vacuum first with a floor brush(yes, even on carpet) around the machine then vacuum with the regular carpet rolling brush tool. it's easy to vacuum the floor brush with the wand and get rid of the threads that way without the work of untangling the rolling brush.

I love the carpet squares idea. The fact that you can replace just one appeals to me, and you get to choose your own pattern, and color layout. They certainly go down fast. We had them in the store I managed, and they held up to traffic and cleaned easily.

Regarding the office mats, i have wood floors and thought the mats would be a great idea for rolling my chair. After using it for only a short period of time I moved it to another location and discovered the nubs on the bottom of the mat had left indentations (punches) in the wood. If you want to use the plastic office mats then I suggest the carpet tiles.

That's a great suggestion. Thank you :)

If you were already planning to replace your floor covering, then go for it. But I am having difficulty in understanding why you feel the need to replace your flooring because you are having a group of friends come over for some sewing/quilting/chat etc? And, friends from church too?

I'm sorry. I didn't communicate that very well. It is definitely time to replace it. It is the bonus room in our house and was the much coveted room all 3 kids fought over. As such, they each lived in it at some point over the past 12 years. And because they were kids---spilled a multitude of things on it which resulted in stains galore. The house is 20 years old and this is the original flooring. I am extremely frugal, which is probably why I've waited 9 months since getting to claim the room as mine for sewing to do something about the floor. This is the impetus I needed. The stains are embarrassing and the rest of the room is so awesome. It's time to do it :)

I don't have the vinyl planks but I do have vinyl in my sewing room. I've had it for 5 years and also use a rolling chair with no mat. I haven't noticed any wear on it. I would also mention that I'm not in danger of being kidnapped (I'm heavier than I should be). The vinyl will dent but it springs back usually in a day or so. I like it because less danger of getting a lost pin stuck in my foot which is what I worry about with carpet.

I have real oak floors through out most of my house. I use an office mat under my rolling office chair. The underside is smooth. These mats are made for non-carpet floors.

If it were me, I’d take a close look at cork-backed vinyl planks.