Which Flooring Should You Do First When Renovating Multiple Rooms?

When you are renovating several rooms at once, it is easy to get overwhelmed. Do you start with the lounge, the hall, the bedrooms or the kitchen? Should you focus on carpets first or get all the hard flooring done in one go? Knowing which flooring you should do first when renovating multiple rooms can save you money, stress and a lot of shuffling furniture around.

In this guide, we will walk through how to decide the best order to fit new flooring across your home. You will learn which rooms usually deserve priority, how to group jobs so they are more efficient, how to factor in your budget and how to work around real life with kids, pets and work. We will also touch on how pay weekly flooring plans can help you phase things in a sensible order without stalling the whole project.

Why the order of your new flooring matters

It might be tempting to just upgrade whichever room annoys you most first, but a bit of planning goes a long way.

Choosing the right order:

• Reduces how many times you and the fitters need to move furniture
• Helps keep walkways usable so the house is still liveable
• Can cut down on wasted offcuts and repeated call out charges
• Makes your home feel finished in key areas more quickly
• Helps you stick to a realistic budget instead of overspending on impulse

When you are renovating multiple rooms, you are really planning a chain of small projects. Getting that chain in the right order makes everything smoother.

Which flooring should you do first when renovating multiple rooms?

There is no one answer for every home, but there is a sensible way to think about it. Start with three key questions.

1. Which rooms do you use the most?

These are usually:

• The living room or family room
• The hall, stairs and landing
• The kitchen
• The main bedroom

If you spend hours every day in a room, new flooring there will have a bigger impact on your comfort than upgrading a rarely used spare room.

2. Which floors are in the worst condition?

Next, look honestly at what you are walking on now. Prioritise floors that are:

• Worn through, frayed or badly stained
• Uneven or lifting, which could be a trip hazard
• Smelly or damp, especially in older carpets

If a floor is actually causing problems, it belongs nearer the front of the queue than one that is just a bit dated.

3. What other work is happening in each room?

Flooring should usually be one of the last jobs in any room. If you are planning to:

• Have walls replastered
• Move radiators or pipework
• Fit a new kitchen or bathroom
• Do messy DIY decorating

Try to get those jobs done before laying new floors in that particular room. There is no point fitting a beautiful new carpet then splashing paint on it two weeks later.

A typical order for multi room flooring renovations

Every house is different, but many UK homeowners find a version of this order works well when deciding which flooring to do first.

1. Hall, stairs and landing
2. Living room or family room
3. Main bedroom
4. Kitchen
5. Bathroom and toilet
6. Children’s bedrooms
7. Spare rooms, dining room and home office
8. Utility, porch and other small spaces

Let us look at why this order often makes sense.

1. Hall, stairs and landing first

Your hall and stairs are the main routes through the house. They are also the first thing you and visitors see.

Doing these areas first:

• Makes the whole home feel cleaner and more pulled together
• Gives you safer, more comfortable stairs to use while other work goes on
• Creates a solid base for flooring in adjacent rooms to meet neatly

Most people choose carpet on stairs and landings for grip and comfort. If your hall is being done in laminate or vinyl, you can often do the hard flooring and the stair carpet in the same phase, even if they are different products.

2. Living room or family room

Your main living space is where a lot of daily life happens. If the flooring here is tired, stained or cold, it can really drag the whole house down.

Upgrading this room early gives you:

• A comfortable place to relax while other areas are still in progress
• A big visual boost that makes the renovation feel worthwhile
• A chance to set the tone for flooring colours across the rest of the home

Many households choose comfortable pay weekly carpets in the lounge and then match the tone of those carpets on the stairs and landing so everything flows together.

3. Main bedroom

Next, it is worth making sure you have one calm, finished room to sleep in. A new carpet in the main bedroom is often a relatively simple job compared to kitchens and bathrooms, but the impact on your day to day comfort is huge.

Doing the main bedroom early also gives you a retreat while the rest of the house feels like a building site.

4. Kitchen

The kitchen is usually one of the most disruptive rooms to work on, especially if you are having other renovations done. If you are keeping your units and just changing the floor, it can be done sooner. If you are fitting a new kitchen, wait until units and worktops are in before laying new flooring.

Once you are ready, kitchen flooring is worth prioritising because:

• Old vinyl can harbour stains and smells
• Cracked or uneven floors can be hard to clean
• A fresh, practical vinyl or laminate makes cooking and cleaning feel easier

To balance durability with budget, many people opt for a practical sheet vinyl and spread the cost using a pay weekly vinyl flooring plan.

5. Bathroom and toilet

Bathrooms often follow the kitchen, especially if you are coordinating trades like plumbers and tilers. New vinyl in a bathroom can transform the space quickly, but again, it is best done after any major plumbing or wall tiling.

6. Children’s bedrooms

Children’s rooms come next for most families. New flooring here can:

• Make cleaning up spills and toys much easier
• Help with allergies if you are replacing older carpets
• Give kids a softer, safer space to play

You might choose slightly tougher carpet or hard flooring depending on your children’s ages and how they use the room.

7. Spare rooms, dining room and home office

These rooms are often used less, so they can wait until core spaces are sorted. The order between them depends on your lifestyle. For example, if you work from home, your office may deserve earlier attention.

8. Utility, porch and other small spaces

Finally, mop up the small but important areas like utilities, back halls and porches. These spaces benefit from durable vinyl or laminate, but because they are small, they can usually be done in half a day.

Grouping jobs by flooring type

So far, we have looked at which rooms to prioritise. There is another way to think about which flooring you should do first when renovating multiple rooms, and that is by grouping jobs by flooring type.

For example, you might:

• Do all carpeted areas in one phase
• Do all vinyl areas in one phase
• Do all laminate areas in one phase

This can be more efficient because:

• Fitters can bring the right tools and underlay for one type of flooring
• You can sometimes get better value on materials when ordering more of one product
• It simplifies decisions about colours and styles across several rooms

For example, you might choose a single carpet colour for the living room, stairs, landing and bedrooms, then book one fitting visit to do all of those rooms together. If you are not sure how to make that work in smaller spaces, the blog on choosing flooring for small rooms has helpful ideas for keeping everything feeling joined up.

Fitting order when you are on a tight budget

When money is tight, the question of which flooring to do first becomes even more important. You want the biggest improvement for the least immediate cost.

A sensible approach is to:

1. Upgrade the room where you spend the most time awake, usually the lounge
2. Do the hall, stairs and landing, especially if the carpet is worn or unsafe
3. Sort the main bedroom so you sleep in a fresher, more comfortable space

From there, you can work through kitchen, bathroom and other rooms as your budget and pay weekly plan allow. If you want more help planning this, the guide to picking budget friendly flooring for your entire home is a great resource to read alongside this article.

Practical tips for living through multi room flooring work

Knowing which flooring to do first is one thing. Living through the process is another. A few simple strategies make it easier.

Always keep one main room usable

Try not to have your hall, lounge and kitchen all out of action at once. Plan the work so that at least one main room is usable for sitting, eating and relaxing. This might mean doing the hall and lounge one week, and the kitchen and bathroom the next.

Plan where furniture will go

Before fitters arrive, think about:

• Which room furniture can be temporarily moved into
• Whether you can stack lighter items on beds or sofas to clear floor space
• Whether you need help moving heavy pieces such as wardrobes or corner sofas

Some companies will move furniture for you, others will ask that rooms are clear. Knowing where things will go avoids last minute panic.

Protect new floors while other work continues

If you are still decorating, protect newly fitted floors with dust sheets, cardboard walkways or offcuts. This is especially important if tradespeople are coming in and out with ladders, tools and paint.

Allow time between phases

It can be tempting to cram everything into one week. In reality, leaving a small gap between phases gives you time to:

• Put furniture back properly
• Finish decorating in one area before starting the next
• Check you are happy with colours and finishes before repeating them elsewhere

How pay weekly flooring can shape your order

Pay weekly flooring plans do not just spread the cost. They can also influence which flooring you do first when renovating multiple rooms.

Because you are not relying on a huge lump sum, you can often:

• Upgrade more than one key room in your first phase, such as lounge plus stairs
• Choose better quality carpets or vinyl that will last longer in busy spaces
• Group rooms by flooring type and get a more joined up look right from the start

Instead of thinking in terms of “we can only afford one room this year”, you can think in terms of “which set of rooms can we sensibly include on a plan that fits our weekly budget”. That shift makes it easier to follow the ideal order rather than only doing the cheapest room first.

Choosing a flooring order that works for your home

Deciding which flooring you should do first when renovating multiple rooms is really about balance. You are balancing how much you use each room, how bad the existing floors are, what other renovation work is planned and how much disruption your household can handle.

For most homes, starting with hall, stairs and landing, then tackling the living room and main bedroom, gives the biggest improvement in daily comfort. From there, kitchens, bathrooms and children’s rooms usually follow, with spare rooms and small areas coming last. Grouping work by flooring type can save money and help your home feel more cohesive, while a pay weekly plan lets you spread the cost of doing the right rooms in the right order instead of just the cheapest first.

If you take a bit of time to plan your order now, you will find the whole renovation feels more controlled and less chaotic. You will always have somewhere comfortable to retreat to, and each step will move you closer to a home where every room has flooring that suits the way you actually live.

Frequently Asked Questions

Should I refloor the whole house at once or go room by room?

It depends on your budget and how much disruption you can handle. Doing more rooms at once can be efficient and give a faster transformation, but it can be stressful and costly in one go. A phased approach, starting with the busiest and worst rooms, usually works best for most households.

Is it better to do carpets first or hard flooring first?

There is no strict rule, but many people find it easier to do hard flooring in messy areas like kitchens and halls after any major building work, then fit carpets once dusty jobs are finished. If you are grouping by flooring type, you can still plan the phases so that you are not left without key walkways.

Can I keep living in my home while several rooms are being refloored?

Yes, most people stay in their homes during flooring work. The key is to plan so that at least one main room and a bathroom remain usable at all times. Talk to your fitter about the schedule so you know which rooms will be out of action on which days.

How long should I leave between flooring phases?

There is no fixed gap required, but leaving at least a few days or a week between phases can help. It gives you time to move furniture back, clean up dust and make sure you are happy with colours and finishes before repeating them elsewhere in the house.

What if my budget only allows for one room right now?

If you can only do one room, choose the one you use most that is in the worst condition, often the lounge or hall. Pick flooring that will still work with your longer term plans, so when you come back to do other rooms later everything will still tie together nicely.