Nothing dates a room like old furnishings, styles come and go and while it's easy to replace armchairs and the like as fashions change, getting stuck with an outmoded carpet can be a little trickier to solve.

So if you're in the process of redesigning a room, you might want to consider an alternative to a carpet which in a few years is going to be both out of date and suffering from serious wear and tear.

For the style conscious homeowner, and let' face it everyone is style conscious in their own way, laminate flooring can provide a cost effective and sleek alternative to carpeting.

Some people find the thought of laminate flooring off putting, wrongly believing that it is not as versatile as carpets when it comes to the styles available.

This couldn't be further from the truth, with shades running from the dark richness of oak to the rustic paleness of beech.Try checking out the laminate flooring range at Topps Tiles for some inspiration if you're not sure.

Put simply, if you have a design for your room in mind, you'll be able to find a type of laminate flooring which matches it perfectly.

And then there are all the other benefits - laminate flooring adds a timeless feel to a room and can be used in a country getaway or a sleek city apartment.

It's great for families because it's so easy to clean, there's no worrying about staining with laminate flooring - spillages just wipe away.

Then there's the convenience. Obviously switching to laminate flooring is going to take roughly the same effort as replacing a carpet, but once you have switched, your new floor should last for years, if not decades.

If you are used to living in a house with carpets, the move to laminate flooring may seem like a slightly odd idea, but just one glance at a well-designed room with a laminate floor should be enough to convince you it's a good idea.