5 Tips to Choose the Best Carpet

Nothing compares to the soft, luxurious feeling of carpet underneath bare feet. The right color and style of carpet can dictate the atmosphere of a room, making it anything from a cozy and safe place for kids to play to a formal and sophisticated place for business meetings. However, the wrong type of carpet can make a room feel unwelcoming, awkward, or even out-of-date. Here are a few tips from The Vertical Connection Carpet One for selecting the best carpet to complement your space.
 

1) Start with the Padding

Just because you won’t see the carpet padding after it’s installed doesn’t mean that it isn’t an integral part of the carpet. Just as a building needs a solid foundation, a carpet needs the right padding for support, strength, and cushioning. Carpet padding is generally made of rubber or foam materials. It works by essentially evening out any imperfections in the subflooring, while also insulating the floor and acting as a noise barrier. Most importantly, it prevents backing and fibers in your carpet from coming loose, preserving it for years to come. Choosing the right padding now means that there will be less wear and tear on your carpet down the road.

2) Understand Different Fiber Types

Four main types of fibers are used to manufacture carpets today, each with its own unique qualities and strengths. These fibers are nylon, polyester, polypropylene, and PTT. Some carpets will be blends of these fibers, but most are made of just one of these fibers. Each has its own level of stain and dirt resistance, color and style options, and texture retention. Choosing the best carpet for you will depend upon your specific needs.

Nylon is the most versatile of these fibers, with strong stain and dirt resistance, a large variety of color and style options, and excellent texture retention. Polyester carpets, although not as durable, are marvelously soft and come in a selection of vibrant colors. Polypropylene carpet has a uniquely strong color consistency since it is solution dyed. This means that the color is built into the fiber when it is made since polypropylene is hydrophobic and will not absorb color with traditional dyeing methods. Since the color is a part of the fiber, this means that the color will not fade, even with exposure to sunlight. Finally, PTT carpets are made of a specific type of polyester fiber. Although PTT does not have strong stain resistance, this carpet looks fantastic in low-traffic areas.

3) Consider the Various Styles

There are many styles of carpet to choose from, including plush, Saxony, Berber, textured, and frieze. These terms refer to the “pile”, or the surface of the carpet that is created from yarn tufts that are folded over into loops, cut straight across. or both. Rather than thinking about how the carpet looks, think about what will fit best into your lifestyle. For example, you may be in love with the softness of plush carpet and want to put it in every room of your home. However, plush carpet tends to show footprints and vacuum tracks. So, you may want to reserve the plush carpeting for casual areas of the home, like the basement or the family room. In high-traffic areas, high-pile carpeting that is easy to clean and doesn’t show footprints will be the best choice.

4) Consider Color and Pattern

Color and pattern is a huge factor in choosing the best carpet. There is so much you can do for a room with the color and pattern of the carpet. Generally, opting for neutral colors is a safe choice. If you’d like something a little more interesting, you can choose a cut-loop or a random shear carpet. These carpets have different levels of looping of the yarn throughout the carpet to create a textured look. This is great for keeping the carpet neutral but adding a designer touch. From here, you can add layers of patterns and colors in the room without the carpet drawing away attention.

Carpets with patterns are great for adding a tailored look to a single room. Patterned carpet can be overwhelming if you run it throughout your room or business, but it can look impressive and upscale in a single room, like a VIP suite, a den or study, or a guest room.

Finally, a carpet with color, texture, and pattern creates a powerful impression. Choosing one of these styles of carpets means that you will be designing your room from the floor up. These types of carpets are great for bringing a room together that does not have many patterns, colors, or outstanding features otherwise. Consider, for example, a home library. There is likely to be a lot of wood in the room with wooden furniture, bookcases, and wood floors and door. You can soften the room and add interest with a colorful, patterned carpet.

5) A Word on Stairs

Purchasing carpeting for stairs is different from choosing carpeting for other areas of the home or business. Carpeting on stairs gets a lot of wear, plus has to bend over each step. For stairs, it’s better to opt for a cut pile rather than a looped pile. This is because carpet with a looped pile will open up over the areas where it bends over the stairs, showing the carpet backing in an effect called “grinning”. The loops also tend to snag, especially at seams or transition areas.

You also want to consider the density of your stair carpeting. A less dense carpeting may show its backing in the areas where it curls over the stairs. A denser carpet is the best carpet for stairs, as it will not have this problem and will look seamlessly consistent over the entire flight of stairs.

At The Vertical Connection Carpet One in Columbia, we are proud to offer carpet to the area of Ellicott City, MD.