Floor Carpeting and Rugs

Floor Carpeting and Rugs
Carpeting adds warmth and beauty to your home. A carpet is a loom-woven or threaded floor covering. Many people choose to carpet their home from wall to wall or all of their floor. There are many benefits to carpeting. Not only does it insulate against the cold, add safety, absorb sound, and cushion the feet, but it can also help to tie together a color scheme or make a bold statement of its own.

There are several aspects to consider when choosing carpeting for your home, including color scheme, construction, and cost, as well as its location and the use it will receive. A carpet with a quality rating of 4-5 (on a scale of 1-5) will usually be best for a high-traffic area of the home, such as a hallway or living room, while a quality rating of 3 may suffice for a less-traveled area such as a bedroom. Neutral colors typically blend in well with surrounding design elements, but this is not the only choice in carpeting. There are also many bold colors that can make carpeting the focal point of a room and express an element of style.

In addition to various colors, textures and patterns also lend an air of sophistication. There are several types of carpets, including plush/velvet which has a smooth, level surface, Saxony, which has a smooth surface but more twist to the yarns to create a less formal look, and frieze, which is a cut pile featuring very twisted yarns, creating a "curly" texture. Level loop piles are loops that are not cut, but are the same height, creating an informal look. An example of this is Berber carpet. Multi-level loop pile has several different loop heights to create texture and patterns. Cut and loop pile is a combination of the two and provides the most amount of texture.

Fibers are an important part of carpet construction and may be nylon, olefin, polyester, acrylic, wool, or blends of the above. Nylon is the most popular carpet fiber, while olefin provides resistance to wear and stains. Wool tends to be the most expensive fiber and generally has the most bulk.

Area rugs add a final touch of class to floor. The great thing about modern area rugs is that although many are mass produced, you can still buy great quality hand-made rugs at reasonable prices. You can pay a small fortune for a rug or you can pay next to nothing - it all comes down to the quality of rug you want and how you are going to use it. Hand made rugs are the ones that ultimately cost more, but with a little love and attention they will last you a lifetime and never lose that unique look and feel. This is another attraction of area rugs in general, and many are now considered to be works of art in their own right.

So how do you go about choosing an rug that is right for your budget and looks great too? First, take a look at your room's decor. Take into consideration the colors you have in the room, are they light and bright or more sedate in nature? What mood are you trying to create, is it a traditional or more cotemporary look? What is the existing floor surface? Is the rug for use in a formal or informal room? How much light does the room get? Ultimately what you are trying to achieve from the area rug is a blending of the room's atmosphere and a practcal solution too.

Where to buy rugs is another question. Some might say that you should only ever buy after you've seen the rug first. While this is probably true, there is a marked difference between seeing the rug in the showroom and in your room at home. So if possible, always get some sort of agreement from the rug retailer that if you are not happy with the way the rug looks in your home, you can swap it or get a refund. The best solution would be for the retailer to come to your home with a variety of rugs and demonstrate each in its natural surroundings. There are a few retailers that do this so always ask before you start looking.

Below are a few images of room settings with a different rug in each. These will give you an idea of what a good qulaity, well positioned rug can do for the look of your home.