How to find the perfect carpet for home decoration
Decorating your home is nothing less than an adventure. From wall painting to flooring you need to settle everything. Carpets and rugs are an integral part of home decoration. They are great additions if you wish to add depth and drama to your room.
Previously animal furs were used to avoid the cold and rugged ground. With consistent progress, man created carpets. Carpet making is an age-old skill. In fact, the oldest carpet in the world is the Pazyryk carpet which belongs to the 5th century BC. This heritage carpet is entirely made of wool and has 3600 hand knots.
That said, rugs and carpets have evolved with time. They make any space look lively. But here, it is not just about any other space; it is about your home space. Honestly, you have ample carpets to choose from. There are modern, minimalist, traditional, and oriental varieties of carpets. Each of them is eligible to set a tone for your rooms differently. Selecting the right carpet for your home demands you to be upfront about things like patterns, fabrics, texture, and purpose.
Practical Benefits of Carpets
Carpets and rugs are not just elements of beautification. They perfectly strike the balance between beauty and purpose. Let’s know why carpets are also a purposeful addition to your home:
1. Purpose: To provide comfort
What you feel underfoot should be highly comforting. Carpets do that job for you. It is quite heavenly to keep your feet over a softly cushioned floor. Carpets are finely woven with quality threads. They are highly comforting to the feet. Also, nicely compressed strings of wool or nylon are any day a winner over hard wooden flooring. Putting a carpet on the floor creates a perfect comfort zone for you and your family. It is soft to touch and feel. One can pleasantly sit, work, and play on it.
Did you know? The surface you walk on has shocking impacts on your body. Standing or walking on hard ceramic tiles is discomforting for your knee joints. Hard surfaces do not have the flexibility that your body needs. It actually casts pressure on your knees and feet. As a result, it is much preferable to walk on carpeted flooring. They are soft, flexible and their underpad has a relaxing effect on your feet.
2. Purpose: To provide warmth
Carpets effectively trap heat. They have great thermal insulation value. Placing carpets or area rugs in the living room is quite noteworthy. Not only does it keep the room warm but creates an inviting vibe for the guests. Especially in cold places, it keeps the room warm for longer hours. It is said that thick woolen carpets or rugs trap more heat. These warm carpets are highly comfortable and soft.
3. Purpose: To provide safety
This goes without saying. Carpets and rugs offer great safety value. They provide a cushioned surface to walk on. They prove to be quite safe for children especially the ones who run around the house all day. The safety value of carpets assure lesser injuries. Overall it is a reliable safety measure for the entire family.
4. Purpose: It gives character to a room
A carpet holds many aspects like patterns, shades, tones, textures, and fabrics. Apart from offering beautification, carpets enable you to express yourself. Carpets are an excellent choice to breathe life and add character to a room. By choosing the right carpet for your room, you can bring out the best look of that space. A carefully chosen carpet sometimes soars the feel and energy of people living in that space.
5. Purpose: Absorbs sound
This is one of the most practical benefits of carpets. Imagine shouting in an empty room. Your voice is likely to bounce back. However, a room with carpeted flooring will never offer the exact experience. Carpets are known to absorb sound. Thick carpets or rugs have amazing soundproofing features. They minimize the dissemination of noise to the nearby rooms. They block too much noise disturbance to create a serene space to live in.
Tips to Choose the Perfect Carpet for Home Decoration
So now you know that carpets are more than just a piece of décor. They are not supposed to be positioned randomly. The positioning must be logical. Placing a carpet randomly will neither appear gratifying nor will it be of any use. Given so many options and practical uses, we know choosing the right carpet for home decoration might turn out to be quite confusing. Therefore, we will be guiding you through the factors that play a major role in choosing the right carpet:
1. Consider the carpet fiber
Carpets have different types of fiber. Wool, nylon, polyester, acrylic, and polypropylene are the most commonly known fibers. All of them contribute differently to the carpet’s look and purpose. Fibers like nylon and wool are highly durable and do not retain much debris. They can easily bear the high traffic rooms. Whereas, acrylic and polyesters trap a lot of dust and can only survive in low-traffic areas.
2. Consider the carpet pile
All carpets are intricately woven in loops. After weaving, the loops are cut or trimmed in a certain way. The way the loops are treated is known as pile. The carpet pile determines the comfort and durability of the carpet. There are majorly four types of carpet pile:
- Loop Pile – The fiber remains intact and in a loop. It is durable and doesn’t trap too much dust. It is suitable for high traffic areas.
- Cut Pile– Here the fiber loops are cut at the same height. It gives the carpet a leveled look. Cut pile carpets are great for living rooms. The twisted fibers in the cut pile make it easy to shed off dust and remove footprints.
- Saxony Cut – A form of cut pile, here the fibers are twisted together. Although it has a luxurious fuzzy look, it is difficult to clean. If kept in high traffic areas, the twisted fibers can easily flatten and look distorted. You can place them in low-traffic areas like bedrooms.
- Plush Pile – Plush pile is a different version of a cut pile. It is supposed to look velvety. Here the fibers are trimmed shorter than the Saxony cut. However, it is not preferable to keep it in high traffic. They aren’t stain-resistant and get easily dirty.
- Textured Cut – Also a form of cut pile, the textured cut pile has fibers with uneven lengths. They are easy to maintain. A textured cut pile does not accumulate much dust or bears footprints easily. It can be kept in medium-traffic areas
3. Consider the room
You must consider the room for which you are buying the carpet. Carpets are eligible to set a tone for the room. Primarily, you need to decide the tone for the space. Choose a carpet depending on the texture, color, and pile. For example, you cannot keep a Saxony cut pile carpet in a kid’s room. The child will run on it 10 times a day which will easily tear down the fibers. A textured cut pile is more suitable to be placed in a child’s room. Therefore, select carpets thoughtfully for every room in your home.
4. Consider color
Colors equally play an important role in carpet selection. It also weighs in setting the tone of a room. A dark-colored carpet makes the room look cozier whereas a light-colored carpet suggests a larger room. Moreover, the carpet color fades with time. So choose slightly darker versions of the color of your preference. The most basic rule of choosing carpet color is to keep the color of your furniture in mind. Get a detailed insight into choosing the right carpet color from here.
5. Consider the carpet size
Do not take the carpet size for granted. Measure the area where you want to place the carpet. Doing this in advance is a life-saving trick. If not done then you might end up buying the wrong sized carpet and regret it later. It is mandatory to consider carpet size if you are going for complete carpet flooring. What’s better than a perfectly fitting carpet! It gives the room an elegantly furnished look.
6. Consider the underpad
The soul of your carpet is the underpad. It is this underlay that provides comfort in the underfoot. Without them, a carpet would not even stay static at a place. Therefore, while choosing a carpet, deeply inspect the quality of its underpad. A good quality underpad is primarily thick, cushiony, and soft. It is important to consider them if you don’t want to replace the carpet anytime soon.
7. Consider maintenance requirements
Know how you can maintain a carpet before you buy one. Carpet cleaning is not an easy job. It requires hours of dedicated cleaning. Some carpets with certain textures and cut piles are low maintenance while some are absolutely opposite. Evaluate how much time you will be able to shell out to clean the carpet. The cleaning requirements vary from carpet to carpet. Some carpets need cleaning once a year, while some every six months and some every month!
Takeaway
Finding the perfect carpet for home decoration ideally depends on your lifestyle and its usage. It is not tough to find the right one if you know the purpose of buying one. Moreover, you must always have a preconceived pattern or style in your mind before you step out to shop. Carpets effectively level up your room’s appearance. It’s the perfect addition to your home decoration.