Fantastic Floors

(CBS)  One good way to give any room a bold new look is to start from the ground up.

So The Early Show invited Danny Lipford, the host of "Today's Homeowner," to provide a variety of fantastic flooring ideas to fit anyone's particular taste and budget.

But first, you must remember that for a professional look to your floors, you will need them to be professionally installed, says Lipford.

There are many options available when choosing a new floor covering for any room of the house, and it can be overwhelming. Lipford recommends some things to keep in mind. Consider the type of floor, style, function and cost that fits you and your home. He says style is a matter of taste, function depends on the type of room you are putting a new floor in and how much traffic goes through the room.

Here are the different types of floors:

Carpet: In the past few years, "Berber", was very popular because it's durable and affordable. The term "Berber" refers to the speckle in a carpet, but most people think that it refers to the style of a flat, no shag and high durability type-carpet.

Different types of shag rugs are popular again, those with deep piles and a combination of both. Generally you will shop for the carpet and choose an installer recommended by the retail outlet where you bought the carpet.

Cost: $18 to $30 per yard to installed (Includes the average cost of the carpet and the installation)

Vinyl Floors: Vinyl has a reputation for being inexpensive. There is a new generation of vinyl floors that are very durable and offer a wide variety of colors and styles. It's important to choose a quality manufacturer that you know has been around for a while such as Armstrong, says Lipford.

Cost: $18 to $30 per yard installed. It is commonly used for kitchens, bathrooms and laundry rooms. It's good for rooms that will have medium to high traffic.

Ceramic Tile: Lipford says there are several different sizes, colors and styles of ceramic tiles today and are larger than they used to be.

Cost: $6 to $10 per square foot installed. It is good for kitchens, bathrooms, a front entry of a home.

Hardwood Floors: Whenever you are shopping for a home, one feature you will always see advertised is hardwood floors. The look of a new hardwood floors or even newly refinished hardwood floors add an unmistakable quality to your home. The choices in hardwood floors used to be pretty limited. Now, new wood floors and even "engineered wood" floors are now becoming more popular.

Cost: $7 to $12 per square foot installed. (Includes the average cost of the material and installation)

Laminate Floors: The laminate floor is a wood construction with a layer of manufactured or engineered material on the top that is very hard. It comes in long thin planks and there are many companies that make it.

This is a floor that will virtually last forever. The "floating" nature makes it quite simple to install. This means the laminate is not permanently glued to the floor. There is a thin fabric that goes down first over whatever you are laying it on top of. Then, the planks of the floor are assembled on top of that and there is an edging (trimming) installed to finish it off. The main benefit of having a laminate floor is that it's very durable. It doesn't show skid marks or scuffing or marks from moving furniture.

The floating nature makes it less hard on the joints and it's easy to install. That doesn't mean that it's cushy, but it has more give than a hardwood or ceramic floor. The range of styles and colors is now virtually endless; from simulated wood and tile, to creative and decorative choices that will provide any home with an amazingly durable and beautiful floor.

Cost: $6-12 per square foot installed.