Look down: Floors are a key part of a stylish room

Acid-stained concrete. Vintage hardwood, painted ultra-white or shimmering black. High-tech, eco-friendly laminates in a wild array of textures and colors.

The options for fashionable flooring are endless these days, says designer Brian Patrick Flynn, and even the most cutting-edge styles don't have to break your budget.

In many homes, floors are the design element most likely to be ignored. But they can be the perfect place to add glamour.

Flynn and fellow designers Janine Carendi and Mallory Mathison comment on what's new, what's hot and what's timeless in flooring:

FAKING IT

Love the look of wood floors but can't pay for something that involves days of installation, sanding and finishing? Flynn recommends pre-finished laminate floors that mimic the look of exotic hardwoods.

"These are tongue and groove 'quick click' systems that only require a table saw to cut end pieces to size," he says. Panels can be installed quickly because they rest over the existing floor ("floating" is the industry term) and don't have to be nailed down.

"You can do an entire kitchen in three hours," he says. "The directions are super-easy to follow. You simply put down foam underlay over your existing floor, as long as it is level, and then lay down each piece and stagger the lines."

Flynn says the newest laminates are quite stylish. "My favorite one right now is a gray-toned line from Armstrong that has a high-gloss finish."

The cost is considerably lower than real wood: Flynn's favorite styles cost about $3.69 per square foot, he says. The downside: You're stuck with the style you've chosen. Because laminate isn't real wood, laminate floors can't be stripped and re-stained a different shade a decade from now. Carendi also points out that some laminates don't wear well in the long term.

CLASSIC HARDWOOD

If you have the money and time, installing hardwood is the best choice, say these designers. Installation and re-staining can be expensive and messy, but the results are worth it.

"You can't replace the warmth and texture a wood floor gives you," Carendi says. Many homeowners are now using hardwoods throughout the house, even in kitchens and bathrooms.

In homes with scuffed or faded hardwood, Mathison suggests painting it. Re-staining a damaged hardwood floor can draw attention to imperfections, but painting often brings out the charm of aged wood. Flynn agrees: "If you have tons of dings and divots, paint makes the imperfections look cool. And paint makes the lines of the wood more pronounced and kind of creates a nice, linear architecture in the floor."