We have a timber frame and the upstairs "floor" is the tongue and grove ceiling. I was using a bedroom as a sewing room and the pins, needles and everything else kept getting caught in the "groves". The new sewing room has a laminate over the tongue and grove. I LOVE IT!! I even have my longarm up there now!
Easy to clean, flat and smooth!! That left one small problem however - the foot pedal from the domestic sewing machine kept sliding - so what I did was purchase a cheap rubber backed carpet "kitchen mats" (one of those half circle ones that you would see in front of a sink) - no more slipping.