Your home is your fortress against the harshness of the outdoors, and it provides you with the maximum comfort and security you can have. We tend to design our homes with the most aesthetically-pleasing, yet cozy furnishings that truly make a house a home.
Carpeting is one such luxury that can provide you with the soft, plush, comfort that makes you feel like you’re stepping on clouds. Upon deciding to carpet your floors, you may have already acquired a sample book with different types, textures, and materials of home carpeting. While the different styles may be confusing, some materials work better than others.
You will need to remember that carpets require a higher level of maintenance than hardwood or stone floors. For instance, carpets will need washing and maintenance performed by professional carpet cleaners to upkeep its appearance and condition.
Here’s a short list of different rooms in the house that you may be considering adding a carpeted flooring to, and which types of carpeting we recommend for each room in the house depending on durability, comfort, and style!
For the Living Room: Cut-loop Nylon Carpet
Versatile, luxurious, and durable – these all describe the abilities of nylon carpets, which make perfect additions to mid-traffic areas like living rooms. Nylon is also a popular choice for many homes, as it is readily accessible, affordable, and comes in a variety of styles.
We recommend a cut-loop nylon carpet for your living room, as the cut-loop style provides you with a plush comfort without being overly shaggy. With a cut-loop, you minimize the fraying that tends to form with cut-pile styles, and the nylon material resists stains, water, and dirt well. Nylon also resists pressure well, being able to hold its shape even after decades of use.
For the Bedroom: Natural Wool Carpet
Your bedroom has got to be the most comfortable place in your home, as it is where you go to get some well-deserved shut-eye after a long day. The plush softness of a natural wool carpet provides you with the best texture in creating a cozy atmosphere.
Wool carpets, made from the wool of sheep, angora rabbits, or alpacas, are surprisingly durable, but are high-maintenance and much more expensive than other types of carpets in this list. Best to reserve this material for the place you retreat to the most – the bedroom!
Concerned about the ethical side of wool? Scout for sustainably and ethically sourced wool carpets for your best interests, as many startup wool suppliers are now moving towards cruelty-free practices in harvesting the wool needed to create products like wool carpeting and similar wool items.
For the Hallways and Staircases: Low-pile Polyester Carpet
Hallways and stairs are tricky to carpet, as these areas in your home see the most foot traffic each day. However, if you decide that a soft carpet would benefit your stairs and make it safer for you and your family, then a low-pile polyester carpet is the way to go!
A low-pile carpet loops tightly together, and remains close to the ground unlike high-pile carpets that offer a fluffier texture. Low-pile is ideal for areas where you would rather not trip or fall in, as the low-pile does not interfere with your steps.
Polyester makes a perfect material for carpeting high-traffic areas, but will need some professional cleaning from time to time to maintain its plush and condition. Polyester carpets can go for years’ of foot pressure without being weighed down or denting, making the material ideal for hallways and staircases.
For the Den: Cut-pile Acrylic or Nylon Carpet
The den is a terrific place to add a carpet, as you would typically invite guests over to stay in the den, or relax by yourself as you read a good book. A cut-pile acrylic or nylon provides a frayed, fuzzy texture that mimics that softness of fur or wool without the hefty price tag or the guilt of animal-skin rugs.
Acrylic and nylon carpets are also fairly durable, and are affordable for when you’d like to revamp the look of your den to impress guests coming over. You can always find a cleaning service that will get rid of any stains and discolouration too, so you don’t need to cover up that wine spill before guests arrive at your home!
For the Children’s Room: Polypropylene (Olefin) Carpet
Besides comfort and luxury, carpeted floors also provide safety unlike hardwood or stone floors. Carpets, with their fluffy texture and plush feel, minimize the impacts of falls, trips, and dropped items. Families with small children would typically install carpeted flooring in children’s rooms for the safety of the kids, and no carpet does a better job than a polypropylene or olefin carpet!
Polypropylene, or commonly referred to as olefin, is a resilient and stain-resistant material that creates a soft, wool-like feel on carpeted flooring; making it the perfect choice for children’s rooms. As a plus, olefin is usually colourfast – in that the colours don’t tend to bleed or fade quickly, so you can choose vibrant, child-friendly colours for the room.
For the Bathroom: Triexta Carpet
Truthfully, the bathroom isn’t the ideal location for a carpeted flooring as the environment in the room is humid, and there are often germs lurking about the bathroom. Regular cotton, nylon, or wool carpets would tend to mold, giving you a bigger problem in the future.
If you must place carpeting in your bathroom, however, stick to the powder area away from the shower and toilet areas. Go for Triexta carpeting, which is made from a relatively new material that is water-resistant, mold-resistant, and does not stain easily. Triexta also comes in a variety of colours and textures, so you can always find one that matches your bathroom design!
If you’re worried about the cleaning and maintenance of your Triexta carpet, you can always find a good, reputable carpet cleaning company around your area who can work with the Triexta material, and keep it looking fresh and clean for years to come!
