We just built our house 3.5 years ago and my husband and I were at odds about what to put on the floors .... He wanted hardwood and I didn't. He's a boarder line germs phone and thinks carpets are gross and I said hardwood will look awful within weeks as we have three young kids and a dog. The daycare area is in the basement and we decided to put carpet down there for the warmth and ceramic tiling in the kitchen area, bathroom and entrance and upstairs we put carpeting in the bedrooms and porcelain tile in the kitchen and great room. I told him that carpeting is cheaper and easier to replace in ten years when the kids are older and if he wanted hardwood then then that's the time to do it. So far the carpeting still looks great but it has been steam cleaned once.