What To Look For When Choosing A New Carpet For Your Home

What To Look For When Choosing A New Carpet For Your Home

If you are choosing a carpet for your home, then what you will find is a broad range of carpets and piles to choose from. Choosing a new carpet for any room in your home can be a daunting process because of the huge amount of options available. Here we will outline the most important things to consider when you are choosing a carpet for your home.

1) The color of your carpet
Have a look at your home and make a decision about the shade or pattern that you want for your carpet. A good carpet will set off the rest of the room and make it look bigger, brighter and more spacious. Therefore, if you are choosing a carpet its best to take a picture of the room you intend to have it in, so that you can hold the picture of your living room against the carpet that you like in order to ensure a good match. Wherever possible, take a sample piece of carpet and take it home so that you can get the color match that will work best for your room.

2.) The pile of your carpet
The pile of a carpet refers to how deep its fibers are. Deep pile carpets are usually a lot more furry and soft and low pile carpets are much more basic. The deeper the pile, the warmer the carpet is but on the downside, deep pile carpets collect a lot of dust and dirt and are more difficult to vacuum and clean. Low pile carpets are much easier to maintain, although they will not heat up the room as much.

3.) The maintenance of your carpet
Make sure when you choose your carpet that it will survive its use. If there is a great deal of spillage in your home or if you have dogs and children, then its probably not a good idea to invest in bright white carpets which will look awful by the end of the week. As easy as it is to get carried away in thinking just how willing you are to spend money on maintaining your carpet, the more realistic type of thinking would go for a carpet that requires as little ongoing maintenance as possible.

4.) Underlay
Underlay is what is placed under the carpet to make it softer under the foot and protect it from dust and dirt that tends to get ingrained under the carpet. Underlay also insulates your floor so that your floor does not become a source of cold and it also protects the underneath of the carpet from wear and tear giving it a significantly longer life. Underlay comes in many different forms ranging from sponge to rubber, so touch and feel the underlay your carpet store is showing you by standing on it to make sure you get the right level of cushioning under your foot. A good quality underlay can add an extra five to ten years to your carpet’s lifespan. Underlay is a good and important investment, so do not be afraid to invest: it will make your carpet a much warmer, softer and better experience.

Following these straight forward steps will ensure you choose a carpet that is suitable for both you and your home. Fitting a new carpet is not cheap, so it is important to take the necessary steps that will make sure you get it right first time. It is also advisable to get the carpet you select fitted by a professional, it may look straight forward but it’s not!

Ben writes about home improvements and loves moving house using Guernsey estate agents. He tends to buy Guernsey open market houses to renovate.