We recently replaced the carpet in our dining room and study with site-finished 3 1/4 inch oak to match the rest of the house. So our downstairs is now wood with the exception of tile in the kitchen and carpet in the master bedroom. I'm not fond of carpet, but DH likes the way it feels so we'll probably replace the existing carpet this year with a nicer carpet product.

Our upstairs is about 1500 sq. feet, comprised of 3 bedrooms, a game room and a media room. The staircase and hall are carpeted as well. I'm okay with replacing the existing carpet in the media room with a nicer carpet, but I think the hall, game room, and bedrooms should be wood or laminate (basically something that is easier to clean).

So here are my questions:

1) Would you put wood in an upstairs bedroom? My rationale for this is that it's much easier to clean spills, etc. from wood than carpet. DH and DD (who is 4) prefer carpet because it's much softer to roll around on.

2)Would you put wood/laminate in the bedrooms while leaving the hall and stairs carpeted? I still haven't figured out what to do about the staircase. I thought about having it replaced with hardwood as well, but I'm concerned that would make the stairs slippery (I have two young children), and then end up having to put a runner on the stairs anyway.

3) Would you put a prefinished wood or engineered wood product down when the rest of the house has hardwoods? What about laminate?