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Picking the right carpet for your home is more than selecting the right color. With these basics you can be confident in your decision.
Selecting the right carpet for your home involves more than picking a swatch that matches your current décor. Since carpeting covers such a large area in your home it creates a dramatic impression. Carpet changes the color, pattern, and texture of the entire room so making the right decision is important. Color is obviously the biggest decision you’ll have to make. Get the largest swatch samples you can from the store because a small one just won’t give you the overall impression you need. What looks like a small colored fleck on the swatch can look like little pieces of dirt all over the floor when you have the final product installed. And what seems like a nice subtle color can turn into a ghastly error on the floor. This is a decision that shouldn’t be taken lightly. Pattern is becoming more important in carpet as more and more styles are incorporating a repeating design or pattern in the carpet. Not just a color pattern, but also a texture (or weave) pattern. You’ll often see a neutral shade with squares or lines or checks throughout to spice up the interest of the product but keep the color neutral. If you’re leaning toward a color pattern or a weave pattern you have to take a good look at the rest of your room. A plain and relatively empty room is best with patterned flooring. And keep in mind that weave patterns can be as busy as color patterns. Texture was touched upon above but it covers so many other aspects of carpeting. Do you want a short pile (low height), or a long, shag type carpet, or something in between? You’ll definitely want to have a good padding under your carpet so you can get the most out of it. Once you’ve covered the three basics of appearance you need to consider the quality of carpet you’re purchasing. Carpeting a room is an excellent solution for reducing noise. We’ll use a child’s playroom as an example. With hardwood floors, tile, or another hard surface you’ll get a nice echo as children run cars over the floor, tramp around and bounce balls. With a short pile carpet they get almost as much “movement” out of the floor but the sound is greatly reduced. You’ll also want to make sure you select a tufted carpet. This is similar to the old latch-hook rugs from the 70’s; the yarn is embedded in the carpet backing. This carpet will stand the test of time and hold up better than the alternative, a continuous loop rug. The continuous loop is exactly what it sounds like, one piece of yarn looped through the backing. The problem with this particular type of carpet is that if it begins to unravel nothing will stop it. Think nylons with a run in them. The kid’s room is also probably worthy of an upgrade. Commercial grade carpeting is more expensive but it will withstand all sorts of abuse that traditional carpeting just isn’t made to tolerate. Of course if you’re not doing a child’s room but are doing a lower traffic room then you won’t need the additional expense of a commercial grade carpet. Finally, make sure your room has some sort of stain protection. Floors get all sorts of dirt tracked over them every day and carpet will hold dirt better than hard flooring and can stain much more easily.
The copyright of the article Selecting the Right Carpet in Interior Decorating is owned by Kristin Abraham. Permission to republish Selecting the Right Carpet in print or online must be granted by the author in writing.
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