If your home's interior flooring needs an update, you may hesitate to have this work done because of the price of materials and installation. You may also not look forward to having your life disrupted for days and even weeks while new floors are being installed! The good news is that there are many very affordable options from which to choose for an interior floor, and which are faster and easier to install. Note the simplest and cheapest options for an interior floor update and some tips on how to ensure these get installed properly in your home.

Carpet tiles

If you can't afford wall-to-wall carpeting installed by a professional, consider carpet tiles. As the name implies, these are single tiles that have padding attached to the bottom, and a peel-and-stick backing that allows you to install them without adhesives. Many homeowners can then manage this installation on their own. Note that you will still typically need a large pair of shears to trim carpet tiles to size and work them around corners and obstacles, but they can provide a great alternative to expensive carpet rolls.

Paint

If your home has a concrete subfloor, you can actually paint that concrete a nice colour and then have it buffed and sealed for a very attractive finish. If the home has plywood subfloors, these can also be painted and then sealed; be sure to use an epoxy paint that is meant for floors, and don't skip the topcoat, and this can provide a cheap flooring surface that is very durable. You can even use chalkboard paint in a child's room to provide them a surface on which to draw and colour, and which then comes clean with a standard damp mop!

Floating floors

Floating floor tiles and planks aren't attached to the subfloor but are snapped to each other as they are put into place. This allows them to be installed over your current flooring; some floating floor options can even be put over carpeting. Floating floors are also good for floors that are not perfectly level and even, as they move more readily with the floor's surface.

Floating floor tiles can be any number of materials, although laminate and vinyl may be easiest to cut and fabricate, and planks can be made of laminate, vinyl, or engineered hardwood. Even if you opt to have floating floors installed by a professional, the work is usually faster and more affordable than tiles and planks that need to be glued or nailed to the subfloor.