Laminate has come a long way. Today's planks have realistic wood grain, click together without glue, and hold up well to pets, kids, and daily traffic. It's a good fit for living areas, bedrooms, and hallways.
Start with the subfloor. Laminate floats over the floor beneath it, so any dips or humps show up as bounce or gaps. We check flatness, grind or fill where needed, and lay underlayment before the first plank.
Leave room for movement. Laminate expands and contracts with temperature and humidity, and a floor pinned tight against the walls will buckle. We leave an expansion gap around the room and cover it with baseboard and quarter-round.
Plan for the details too: transitions at doorways, trimmed door casings, and stair nosing. Those are the parts people notice every day, and they're worth doing properly.