Tuesday, January 19, 2010

How To: Select carpet like a Pro

Go into any flooring store and you'll easily be overwhelmed by the many different types of carpets available.  How do you decide which type of carpet will work best for your space?  Start by asking yourself these questions:

-What type of space is getting the new carpet?  Is it a space that is frequently used, a high traffic area, or one rarely lived in.

-What type of surface is the carpet being applied to?  The concrete foundation?  Maybe it's on the 2nd Floor and will be applied to a plywood substrate?  These things can make a difference when deciding what type of backing for your carpet to use.

-How much time do you have for maintenance?  Some carpets require different types of cleaning.

With the answers to these questions in mind you'll be ready to select your carpet.  The first type of carpet that I'll share with you today is Nylon carpet.

Nylon carpet is the most widely used in residential.  This type of carpet is dyed after production and is available in a wide range of colors and patterns.  It's durable and resists crushing.  (You know...what happens after you've walked the same path on the carpet for a while and it starts to crush the fibers and looks like a trail?)  Nylon carpet is fairly easy to clean, and usually a yearly maintenance with a carpet cleaner is all that's required to keep it looking good!  Here are some of my favorite nylon carpets:

Q1485_00755_main{Ethan's Dream from Shaw Carpet}


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{Casco Carpet from the Angela Adams collection for Shaw Contract}



Don't be afraid of patterned carpets either!  When you're looking at carpets, place them on the ground and step back 10' or so and look at it.  Many times when you step back the carpets with smaller patterns will disappear.  It looks like a solid color, but because it has some variation, allows for little spots to not show up as well.  They become camouflauged in the variation of the yarn colors.

Z6267_00714_main


Patterned Carpet up Close


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Patterned carpet installed


{These Dreams from Shaw Carpet}


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1 comment:

jeannie said...

i have this carpet! the one featured in 'patterned carpet up close". i love it. it's a looped carpet, a berber, i suppose, although that conjures creamy chunky early 90s stuff... but I HAVE had to snip a few of the loops that have escaped from time to time. otherwise, it is the perfect choice for us. it hides everything, never looks like it needs vacuuming and with black flecks on camel/caramel color it looks really modern. or, current. and not Berber-y at all.