The Christina Haack-Favored Flooring That's Both Beautiful And Budget-Friendly

Whenever you're planning to redo just about any space in your house, you'll likely need to consider your flooring options carefully. Hardwood floors are a classic option thanks to their natural elegance and timeless simplicity. Ceramic and porcelain tiles, meanwhile, offer a completely different visual style, and are relatively straightforward to install compared to competing options. Of course, there's also laminate, which occupies a sizable portion of the flooring market thanks to how budget friendly it is. However, according to HGTV star Christina Haack, there are often more than a few reasons to select luxury vinyl plank flooring, or LVP, over all of the other more traditional renovation choices. In an episode of her show "Christina on the Coast", Haack notes that luxury vinyl is usually about "half the price" of engineered timber, and that it's also "a lot more durable" than many alternative materials (via Realtor).

In fact, Haack is such a big fan of luxury vinyl flooring that she has actually released her own product line of this material, known as the Christina Collection. In a promotional video for the collection on Instagram, she reiterates that this flooring can be both "affordable" and "durable", and offers many great color options. In the same video, Haack also states that luxury vinyl is a great alternative to products like SPC (stone plastic composite) and laminate, which are materials she has never been satisfied with during her home flips and renovations. And though Haack doesn't mention it when promoting her floors, installing vinyl plank flooring in your home is actually something you can do yourself, without any professional assistance.

There is no shortage of benefits to using luxury vinyl panel flooring in your home. Beyond its cost and easy installation, it's also a great choice for homeowners who are seeking the look of natural wood, but don't have the time for maintaining such a material. It can look and feel so similar to wood that some of Christina Haack's clients couldn't even tell the difference! For example, in the episode "Another Dime in the Jukebox" on "Christina on the Coast," when Haack installed LVP in a client's home, he shared during the reveal, "I would not have even known. It even has really cool texture."

In short, you can get LVP flooring in a wide variety of textures and colors, which means you won't have to worry about changing the rest of your interior design to match your flooring. Just make sure to watch out for the popular flooring color trend that's becoming outdated when browsing LVP options. Luxury vinyl is also ideal if you, your family, or your pets are prone to spilling things, because it's often 100% waterproof. For the most part, a basic floor cleaner, a mop, and vacuum are all you'll need for looking after the surface — you don't need to seal it or wax it.

One notable downside of LVP that you should be aware of is that prolonged exposure to sunlight can cause its color to fade. To prevent this from becoming a problem, you'll need to apply a UV protective coating to the top of the panels during installation. It's also worth noting that luxury vinyl can be easily damaged if something heavy falls on it. And unlike hardwood, you can't sand it down or refinish it; you'll need to replace the affected planks. Even considering this fact though, LVP is among the best bedroom flooring options for resale value.