The Floor We Walk On

Your Home Decor can highlighted with elegant carpeting.

Most of us take carpeting for granted, but when artistic styles and patterns are couple with quality craftsmanship, the results are the finishing touch of any room. As more carpet manufactures have realized this, the choices for carpet types has become quite staggering. No matter how sophisticated your carpet consultant, be sure to research the type of weave, price and manufacture.

The Style is in the Color

The single most important aspect of carpet is the pattern and the color. Just the right color and pattern can accent your entire room and décor collection, changing a nice room into a wow room. As you begin your search for carpet, remember this simple rule – light colored carpet makes a room appear larger while darker carpet tend to look richer and more intimate. On the downside for each, lighter colored carpet obviously will show wear and dirt more easily, while that luxurious dark carpet will likely highlight lint. Either way, too light or too dark for your choice, be prepared to become great friends with your vacuum cleaner. To minimize the need for cleaning, many homeowners use a blend of colors with Tweeds or Berbers which naturally helps fool the eye into looking past minor discolorations or lint.

Comfy to the Toes

Many experts claim padding prolongs the life of the carpet – I can neither agree nor disagree, but I can say padding can add additional comfort to the feet. As an added benefit, quality padding acts as a sound dampener which is very important if you enjoy having many guest over, or if you are like my family, and have the constant pitter patter of little feet playing inside. Most padding will be classified as either felt or sponge, and typically the thicker the better.

One Little, Two Little, Three Little Fibers

Just as with bedding, fiber count and types are a measure of the quality, and the cost, of the carpet. Wool adds a level of warmth, while silk adds a luxurious sheen and polymers can duplicate both and hold up to wear and tear better. For thread count the number relates directly to the amount of fibers looped per square inch. The general belief is the higher the fiber count, the longer the carpet will last. Generally, I do not agree with this, but I will say, higher fiber count carpets typically appear of higher quality and add a noticeable level of class.

Which One Do You Choose

As with all home decorating that is a personal choice. The best advice I can give you is to either buy, or ask for (some carpet stores will give you), a 2 foot X 3 foot section to take home and use for an example. You can easily slide the swatch under a couch, next to a desk or bed, and even next to a wall under a favorite piece of décor to see just how the patterns and colors will blend with your existing furnishings. As always, have fun – decorating is all about creating an atmosphere that makes you feel they way YOU want to feel!