Do you go for something traditional or contemporary? Do you choose a light or dark colour? What about the maintenance of it – have you thought about how easy it is to clean? It can certainly be a daunting process picking a bathroom floor if you don’t know where to start.

When it comes to picking a the right floor for your bathroom, you’re literally spoilt for choice.

Do you go for something traditional or contemporary? Do you choose a light or dark colour? What about the maintenance of it – have you thought about how easy it is to clean? It can certainly be a daunting process picking a bathroom floor if you don’t know where to start.

With that in mind, Flooring Supplies has come up with some top tips on picking the perfect floor for your bathroom needs.

In considering the level of water in your bathroom, such as simple splashes or the odd drip here and there, you really have one of four options: Natural stone, ceramic tiles, laminate or vinyl.

#1 – Natural stone

If you can afford it, natural stone is a great bathroom floor choice because it simply looks amazing. Materials like marble, granite and limestone look beautiful and really give your bathroom the wow factor. However, the downside of natural stone is that it is very cold underfoot – which isn’t so great come winter. The second drawback with natural stone is that it can be incredibly slippery once it gets wet. Yet the biggest drawback is that it is the most expensive out of all the floor choices you could make for your bathroom.

#2 – Ceramic tile

Coming just behind natural stone in terms of the wow factor is ceramic tiles. It can help deliver that rich and textured look, without you have to spend as much.

There are many different types of ceramic tiles, and come in all different shapes, styles and colours. You can even find ceramic tiles which give the impression of natural stone! You could design a custom mosaic and lay a floor and come up with some creative patterns. Ceramic tiles are easy to clean and resists standing water well.

However, like natural stone, ceramic tiles are cold in winter and can be slippery too. You can get round this by adding a bit of texturing – the more grout you use the less slippery it is.

#3 – Laminate

Although wooden floors are a definite no-no for a bathroom floor, laminate flooring could be used as it’s a wood imitation.

Made of several layers, the thicker the planks the more rigid the floor will be. With a plastic or melamine backing layer on top, laminate floors are designed to resist moisture. A pattern layer gives it the wooden look, while the thickest part – the substrate layer – is usually made of MDF. This is the downside of a laminate floor in your bathroom – should this wood chip base come into contact with water it will expand and bubble up. The only way to fix this will be to rip it out.

However, laminate floors do look classy – and they are easy to clean too. Warm in winter and not as slippery as natural stone or tiles either, they are an inexpensive choice too.

#4 – Vinyl

Perhaps the most functional, cheapest and easy-to-install and clean of all your bathroom flooring choices is vinyl – otherwise known as linoleum, or ‘lino’.

Vinyl floors are a popular choice because they are waterproof, hard to scratch and can be easily cleaned. This is really important, especially because of the amount of water involved and everyday spills of toothpaste, shampoo and conditioner. Another benefit of vinyl is that it’s soft underfoot, made of a mixture of materials which give an extra bit of bounce. Plus it’s warm come winter.

However, the downside of vinyl is that if it becomes scratched it will need to be replaced. It can also become dated over time – but as it’s so cheap compared with the other three is that such an issue?

So there you have it – four floors – four choices. When you come to choose your new bathroom floor we hope this guide will help you weigh up the pros and cons of each floor, allowing you to pick one for your needs.