Want to step into your new home in comfort and style? This informative guide has everything you need to know about choosing your carpeting, including styles, maintenance and care information, and which type of carpet works best for which room.  

Carpet can add a soft and elegant touch throughout your home. While the broad array of carpet styles and colors can at times feel overwhelming, the best approach is to get a general feel for the categories of carpet and the areas where certain styles work best. Once you’ve narrowed down your style options, you’ll be free to focus on the colors that best suit your décor.

STYLE BASICS

• Saxony: Saxony has a velvety, plush texture with a luxurious feel. It is often used in rooms with lower levels of traffic, such as a master suite. This style has a uniform color and a formal look, achieved by shearing the tufts of yarn to a smooth pile height.
• Textured: Textured carpet offers a varied finish with a less formal look. Wonderful for all areas of your home, this popular style minimizes the appearance of footprints and vacuum marks. The texture is created by twisting the yarns or mixing a blend of yarns.
• Frieze: The yarns in this style are tightly twisted to create a curly, textured appearance. This style is also extremely durable and minimizes the appearance of footprints and vacuum marks.
• Shag: This carpet has even longer yarns, creating a soft, comfortable, casual appearance. Once again, footprints and vacuum marks will not be noticeable on shag carpeting.
• Loop: All the loops are the same height for a dense, firm surface. This type of carpeting is ideal in high-traffic areas such as entryways.
• Patterned Loop: The loops are two or three varying heights, and are arranged to create a wide range of patterns and textures.

ROOM BY ROOM

Now that you know the basic styles, you can choose carpeting that works best for each area. For example, in an entryway your primary consideration would be heavy foot traffic, so you might want to consider loop carpeting, which will hide dirt and stand up to repeated wear.

For the living room, think about your daily lifestyle. Will children and pets frequently be in this room? If so, you’ll want to choose carpeting that will hold up well. In rooms like the master bedroom suite, you can opt for something luxurious and plush since daily wear-and-tear is not a primary concern.

Most carpet selections come with a performance rating to help you determine how well a given style will stand up to extended wear. Take these ratings into consideration when making your selections.

CHOOSING A COLOR

Once you’ve found the style that best fits your needs, you can focus on picking colors to reflect your taste and décor. When choosing a shade, keep in mind that installed carpet always looks slightly lighter than the sample you see in the showroom. Neutral colors are generally the most popular because of their great versatility. Lighter colors will also tend to expand the sense of scale in a room, while darker colors can create a more intimate feel.

Another thing to keep in mind is that very unusual or eclectic color selections will often require a deposit upfront. They may also impact the value of your home when you’re ready to sell it in the future.

INVEST IN QUALITY PADDING

Your investment in quality carpet padding will go a long way toward enhancing the life and comfort of the carpet in your home. Many people aren’t aware that higher quality padding can also help to keep your carpet cleaner. Because the cushioning raises carpet off the subfloor, it provides air space underneath. When you vacuum, that space allows more air to come up through the carpet, carrying more dirt along with it. This might be an important factor to consider if you have pets or children.

MAINTENANCE AND CARE

Make sure to ask about manufacturer’s care and warranty information when choosing your carpeting. The larger manufacturers generally offer a variety of options, including stain and soil protection, anti-static control, fade resistance, and texture retention warranties. As a general rule of thumb, the higher the quality of carpet, the longer your warranty will last and the more coverage you’ll receive. Richmond American highly recommends getting some type of stain and soil protection on your carpet.

In the years to come, you can do simple things to prolong the life of your carpet. Place mats at all entrances, occasionally move heavy furniture to avoid continuous wear, and reduce long periods of direct sunlight exposure that may cause discoloration and fading.

As you consider the many styles, textures and colors that are available, just remember that the carpeting you choose will have a tremendous impact on the look and feel of your home’s interior. Know what to look for and you’ll be stepping into your new home with comfort and style.

The Home Gallery by Richmond American gives homebuyers a wealth of resources to assist with carpeting and other design selections, including innovative Color Studios, beautiful model kitchens, an array of product samples, and professional Design Consultants who provide personalized assistance and advice. To learn more or find a Home Gallery near you, visit DiscoverHomeGallery.com.