carpet talk
Thursday, January 19, 2012 at 8:37AM 5 years ago i would have punched carpet in the dick.
but not these days.
these days i kind of want carpet in places (that's what he said).
my bedroom and fiona's room, namely.
but i wouldn't kick it out of my living room either.
there is something about it that is a little bit nostalgic for me and i like that.
NO I DO NOT LIKE THE CARPETS OF MY PAST..
not the dirty, cheap shags;
the whores of the rug kingdom.
plus i think there is something luxurious about it.
oh, carpet has it's drawbacks.
one- it holds dirt and dust and other gross stuff and you have to have it cleaned a lot..
and truth be told until 1 of my cats dies (i'm talking to you naggie) we can't even have rugs.
we have 1 rug, a cowhide, in our whole house.
and let me tell you...cowhides are the most practical rug to have if you have pets.
and children.
nothing penetrates them (that's what she said).
spills just wipe away.
sorry some cow had to die but that cow honestly is doing a great service to my floor.
so, thank you cow.
but i digress..
this is about carpet.
wall to wall in fact.
here are some delicious shots of wall to wall carpet..
this carpet is ridiculous.
that whole room is ridiculous.
i'll bet the carpet alone cost more than my house is worth.
not all carpet of the past is shag and/or puke green.
this one from daivd hicks is circa 1960's and it still is quite awesome.
it would seem that the majority of wall to wall carpet i found out there had some sort of pattern..
and i like that.
k.w. is not afraid.
miles is definitely not afraid.
so why don't we use it more?
these are our design heroes, right?
so why do none of us have carpet?
and i'm not talking about the builder grade bullshit that came with your house.
most of us need to rip that shit out immediately upon moving in.
but i'd say only .4% of us design savvy people would even consider replacing it with more carpet.
is it bc the pretty ones are unaffordable or are we just giant carpet pussies?
or am i the only one who likes it?
or is it too permanent?
katie ridder uses carpet like a champ.
then there's the natural choices.
like sisal or jute or sea grass...
i love this option the best for living rooms and the like..
it's such a great neutral and offers up so much texture.
but don't think for one second that it's cheap.
cuz it's not.
so...the point is...
fiona needs a rug.
and i have no idea what kind of rug i want to get her.
and the more i thought about it the more i realized it was less about the rug and more that i wanted a feeling of luxury underfoot.
the kind of padded luxury that carpet allows.
AND...she has a lot of toys and books and kid shit..
and that stuff gets dustier than an old, taxidermied beaver.
i believe that carpet would help absorb some of that dust.
seems logical.
and i vacuum like a boss.
that translates into i legitimately enjoy vacuuming.
i rent so i obviously am not going to lay down carpet.
but i can get some padding and a carpet remnant and have it edged or whatever it is you call it.
and have it fit to size.
right?
can't i do that?
who has experience with this?
let's talk about carpet.
Reader Comments (44)
I think the reason people (I) am scared is the permanence...If there is a stain, you have to have a bunch of potential cult members in to clean it!!! We have carpet, and its not even particularly luxurious, in Gracie's playroom and every time someone walks in there with shoes on I have a complete coronary.
Also, we did fancy rug remnant for our master bedroom and I am obsessed. We got a super thick squishy rug pad and it is like a fabulous foot massage every time I put my tootsie to the floor.
Myers carpet in ATL (on Northside) has great well-priced sisals and seagrass that can be custom sized and edged. But my all time favorite (found via the genius Nick Olsen) is Ikea's Tarnby rug-- an inexpensive jute rug that looks like English Rush mats and feels wonderful in bare feet (much softer than sisal or seagrass)
juliann
I have a house full of builder beige crap and I want to cry everytime I look at it. There are just sub floors under so I have to have $ to replace it with something else and 3000 square feet ain't happening anytime soon. I love the idea of bound edges (that what they are called) on a luxe remnant.
Go to Myers Carpet on Northside Drive. You'll find what you need as well as what you want!
I love the warmth and coziness of wall to wall carpet especially in bedrooms. The good stuff is soo expensive though (I mean I'm usually on like a $40 budget so everything seems expensive). I'm pretty sure you can get anything cut to size so it doesn't have to be permanent. I'll be interested to see what other people's advice is! We have crappy carpet that my husband installed before I moved in, but it's warm in the winter which is really nice. Also, the carpet pad makes a huge difference. If you can find something that's not expensive but looks good and get a really good rug pad it will feel more luxurious.
i love the pics you posted, and def. think people are scared of carpet.
i like the padding/edging idea fo sho, and i freaking LOVE vacuuming, it's the only domestic chore I really enjoy, except I have all tile. I used to have a super adorbs seagrass rug in my room, and i loved it, but it got soooo dirty after like 5 years, and i couldn't get anything out of it! i say go bold with the rug for the little one's room!
This is very funny and timely as I just went to Myers Carpet in Nashville yesterday. Coincidence? I was looking at their bound sisals, etc. to replace my dining room rug. I also got pricing on some wool carpet runners for my stairs just because I was curious and like the look. One was the David Hicks hexagon wool beauty - to have it installed on just my stairs would be about $2,000. Yes, that's what she said. So, that's the main problem with nice, cool, patterned carpet. Just too effing expensive for me. We do have builder grade crap in portions of our home that we haven't replaced yet because A. it's expensive and B. we have 2 dogs, I cat and 2 children. While I've gotten pretty good at cleaning up "accidents" it's still disgusting, but I know that having them soil a new (and expensive) carpet might just send me over the edge. We have gotten the carpet in our master replaced with a very neutral cut pile that has a little pattern. It cleans well and looks decent. It's also good for layering area rugs over. Re: Fiona's room, you can totally get a piece cut and have the edges serged or bound. Myers does have a good selection. That's all I got. Good luck!
Girl there's nothing I love better than talkin bout yo carpet in the morning. Or something like that.
What about FLOR? Don't they come up easily and have killer patterns? I've never used them but it's a thought.
I have M. Weinrib rugs in almost every room of my house. They are flatweave but have an uber thick pad below that makes them yummy. They are pricey but are built like tanks. Plus abc remnant dept always has a ton in stock for cheap.
Xoxo
Please oh please post a follow-up to this with the top 10 pieces of carpet advice you received. We pulled the runner off our stairs and now it is like "which young child or dumb mother/father is going to fall down these slick wooden stairs the soonest?" We need to figure out our carpet situation on stairs, an upstairs hallway, and kids rooms. And I'm not accepting berber. No.
Would love some fresh thoughts and advice. This is great. Love this. Those are some gorgeous things you posted...but frankly if it is not available at Home Depot I'm probably screwed. And now I'm back to berber, huh. DAMMIT, this is all so haaaarrrrrd.
Also, I'm sure you're being pointed to Pinterest and Overstock like crazy...but yes, good places for ideas and purchases. Got me a fine new rug coming later this week...gonna look real nice with my new painting...! :)
Carpet and wallpaper. Don't call it a comeback.
I am totally down with carpet. The ones you featured are gorgeous and I have no commitment fears whatsoever. Empty wallet, now that's another story.
I want this one for my stairs soooo badly:
http://www.starkcarpet.com/carpet/?idsgn=ANT%20AX&page=sizes&colcd=ANIM
I think everyone's scared! Carpet pussies!!
seagrass is wonderful.. I haz some...it wears like iron... can be cleaned... love the texture it gives to a room... can't say that it is soft or plush.. I walk in bare feet on it all the time.. patterns in carpet.. would you tire of it quickly? that is my concern.. the bigger or bolder would you get sick of it fast?
i've never brought up carpet that wasn't utterly repulsive underneath. it may be pretty but it's just gross. a friend just did a large FLOR rug in her daughters room and it's perfect. If you get a stain you can't get out you just replace one square, not the whole thing. ??
I have just struggled with this one myself. We're downsizing and have replaced all the carpet in the small house we bought. I just ordered some from Lowe's called Beachwalk. It's a Stainmaster that suggests seagrass. I so wanted to do leopard wall to wall in my family room but my budget just wouldn't allow it. I'm waiting for the installer to call me to set up an install date. I'm nervous and excited too. I've lived on all hardwoods for the past ten years and I'm ready for a little softness underfoot. The patterned carpets you showed are wonderful - just out of my price point.
I HATE wall to wall carpet in a living room. HATE. It just seems so hotel like... I don't dig.
I like it in a den, or bedroom... in those places, it makes the room cozy, and you want those rooms to be cozy. But to me wall to wall carpet in a living room is like wearing sweatpants out to dinner.
love it in the cheetah/leopard variety
My friend also used the FLOR stuff. It's easy, comes in great colors and is very easy to replace squares.
I love carpet in the bedroom but not in the high traffic areas (hall ways, living room) but my family is pretty damn dirty. We don't allow shoes in our house but somehow the floors get gross anyway. I can't imagine trying to get all that crap out of my carpet every day because I sweep/swiffer every day.
Personally I love the hotel look b/c I've always had this idea that I wanted to live in a hotel....
1) All these rooms are fab
2) Yes. Carpet remnant in Fiona's room. Love it. Go for it!
3) I want leopard in my bedroom now.
When we built our condo we agonized over the wood floors and rugs. My neighbor did everything but his entry hall in wall-to-wall wool and it was stunning. Also, we bought carpet and had it cut and bound. It's no big deal, the binding is a buck a foot or less.
In the current house we've had our hardwood floors refinished and the dog's nails have already done a number on them. I'm thinking I'd like to put down seagrass but I know my partner's head would explode.
We ripped out our Seagrass wall to wall when I was pregnant because it hurt our feet and couldn't imagine a little one crawling on it. Also it frayed like crazy where it met the tile in our baths and on the stairs. Replaced it with some sort of "corn based" natural carpet and it has been soft and worn well. My daughter (now 4) is on the floor in her room playing all the time and it is great. However - bad for allergies, needs LOTS of vacuuming and looks blah. Love the options above though and would think in a bedroom/living room/playroom to be a very stylish and warm option. We are afraid - of commitment/color/pattern. We suck. BTW put in dark wood bamboo floors downstairs and want to shoot myself. I could clean them all day long and never be done. Would trade for stylish, patterned, colored carpet in a second!
My husband used to install carpet for a living. Which means he also removed carpet as part of that loverly job. Because of the mulitple times he was almost brought to vomiting by seemingly clean carpet, we are not allowed to have it. But it does look nice in other people's homes. I just embrace the cow rugs. (And I think maybe the cow was already dead for hamburgers...atleast that is what I tell myself).
We rent too, and for my kids' room I got a beautiful wool Karastan remnant bound at the edges to fill the entire room. Its a medium sorta mottled teal with cream stripes, can't believe I found it in the right size! Also got the cushiest pad, and their room is so cozy now. Plus it's the only rug in our house I will lie down on and put my face next to. This is very cost-effective: the whole thing including pad was around $500 for a 12x12 room.
well, i looked around my showroom, and what you need to look at is made by Stanton Carpet/Royal Dutch Carpet. they have great new graphic prints, animal prints, fantastic shags, etc. synthetic fibers. the royal dutch is much more affordable than the Stanton. we sell it like hotcakes out here in west texas. wall to wall or custom rugs. please do not fall prey to the natural fiber thing. looks great, but the sweet princess would not like it at all.
Thank you for the post on carpet! Just like you, I know I need it in the bedroom but the thought of crappy home depot carpet makes me puke. Trolling the decorating blogs finds million dollar solutions. How about us common folk?
Excited to see what you go with.
I do believe that carpet is of the deebil, however I think the bound carpet rug thing is a good idea for Fiona's room. I have Flor tiles in my family room and I love them hard. However, they are not plush, they are super thin. We have already had a red wine accident, a white wine accident, and an apple juice accident and they still look brand new.