Our living room is in desperate need of new carpet! I am so excited to partner with All About Flooring and take you along on the process from start to finish including shopping, sampling, measuring, and installation. Here’s a photo of the living room in it’s current state with the bland, gray carpet along with a design board for the space.
Carpet Samples I Brought Home
I’ve always had my eye on leopard carpet. Everytime I see a designer use it, I’m drawn to it. It’s the perfect neutral, brings in pattern, and feels a little unexpected, but perfect for the space. All About Flooring was so helpful in directing me to their leopard samples! They had quite the variety of animal prints: several antelope patterns, many leopard styles in different scales and colors. Through discussing the patterns and what I liked about it, Becky helped me realize that I’m drawn to small patterns in neutral, warm colors.
She then brought an excellent neutral, grid patterned carpet with wonderful texture and tones to it. This was my favorite non-animal print carpet. Knowing that I like the small scale, she also pointed out this diamond, geometric pattern. I love how it’s an excellent neutral but still has a pattern to it. Becky said this is the top choice when people want the look of natural or sisal rug but need the durability of carpet. Danny suggested picking three samples to bring home; once you get them in, there will be one that is an obvious “no,” and then you’re left comparing two. He was spot on! Which two do you think I’m debating between?
Durability
This is our main living room and it sees a lot of traffic each day; we walk through the center of the room all the time. Durability and performance are a hight priority. Here’s all that I learned about the materials on the carpet samples I was interested in:
- wool // This is the original carpet material; you can’t go wrong! It’s why so many old wool rugs still look good after years and years! Did you know wool is actually really good for allergy sufferers? It naturally cleans the air!
- Nylon // Another classic carpet material; this came around when folks were looking for something as an alternative to wool. Nylons won’t show traffic patterns like other materials. If it’s a super plush nylon with a high pile, you may notice footprints, but they bounce back after you vacuum.
- Smart Strand // This is a special material that only certain brands have; it doesn’t accept dyes like other materials so it’s available in mostly neutrals.
- Polypropolene // This is the newer version of nylon; both are a type of plastic. It’s just as durable, too!
- Loop Nylon // This is a type of weave of the nylon. It’s solution dyed, meaning the dye is all the way through the thread and you can be aggressive when cleaning if you need to; the dyes of the carpet won’t be hurt.
There are certainly all types of weaves and textures and materials, but these are the main types of the samples I was looking at. All About Flooring was so helpful in answering all my questions about durability and being sure this was going to be a smart choice for our high traffic area.
More than Carpet
All About Flooring has any type of flooring you can imagine! They bound carpet to make rugs, they offer several lines of rugs, hardwood floors, laminate floors, luxury vinyl plank, and tile. Beyond flooring options, they’ve got several wallpaper lines and even other wall appliques for statement walls, interesting bar fronts and more!
Stay tuned as we continue through the carpeting process of selection, measuring, and installation! Which one do you think I’ll choose?
