Basic Carpet Styles and Choices

The flooring in a home may be what a homeowner ends up living on for several years, so careful research into the different types will help a homeowner figure out what type of flooring is best for his or her needs. Since flooring may be a costly investment, education on the materials and styles available is not only wise but essential. Carpet is made in four basic types. Though there are others, these are the styles most buyers will need to be aware of: woven, needlefelt, knotted, and tufted.

Woven is produced on a loom. Because this process is capable of intricate patterns, many colored yarns may be used. One of the most popular types of woven carpet is broadloom. Broadloom is produced on a very large loom, which allows them to be installed without creating seams. They can be pile woven or loop woven.

Needlefelt, because of its technologically advanced design using electrostatic attraction, is normally found in the contract market such as hotels and office buildings, where there may be a lot of traffic.

Knotted are formed by alternating structural horizontal threads with supplementary horizontal threads that rise at right angles to the surface of the weave. Shag is one example of a knotted carpet.

The most common method of manufacturing for domestic carpets is tufted. Tufted has its pile injected into a backing material, which is then bonded to a secondary backing. Berber is one example of tufted carpet.

These are only four of the main carpet options. A wise buyer will assess the uses of the rooms the flooring is intended for and buy the type that is best for the space.

Design your Dreams with Superb Carpet Choices

One of the most popular choices for home flooring, carpets brings color and warmth into every room. Endless patterns, colors and textures still make carpets the number one selling floor covering today.

Indeed, carpet outsold every other type of flooring for the last 50 years and accounts for more than half the flooring purchases made each year. In addition to adding warmth and insulation, carpet is the most practical, versatile and fashionable floor covering. As a design element, carpets can quietly fade into the background or add a loud punch of color. Because carpet can be applied over almost any sub floor or existing flooring, a thick pile carpet will hide irregularities in sub flooring in a way that other flooring coverings can't.

Flooring is the key to achieving the right look and tone to any room in the home. The serenity and calm of natural look carpet and the extravagance in the use of colour, imagination and texture has put flooring to the forefront of interior design. If you want to capture the perfect mood for your home, then look first to the flooring.

Versatile splashes of color ground a room, giving it personality and function. A cheap alternative to changing your room could be as simple as using an area rug, an alternative to investing in a new carpet. Not only will they add warm and comfort to a room, but next to carpet, rugs are definitely leading the way as the hottest decorating feature again this year.

No matter which carpet you choose, it should be serviceable for your lifestyle, and if you are building a new house or renovating an older one, your choices in floor coverings are endless. Contrasting styles can create a variety of effects. A heavy wool twist carpet can create a feeling of warmth and luxury – great to come home to or the perfect welcome for any guest.

A carpet will set the tone of the room - the look and feel of a room - but beyond appearance, the ultimate decision on which carpet you chose, should be based on how a room is used. For example, a room in which there is heavy foot traffic needs a more hard wearing carpet such as a plain twist, which is durable and resilient, laying the carpet on heavy quality underlay will make it feel every bit as luxurious as a carpet three times the price. Not only that, but your carpet will last longer and if you want to change your carpet more frequently you can leave the underlay down, saving both time and money.

Whereas a bedroom floor needs to be softer and cosy on the feet, for pure unashamed luxury, the return of the sumptuous shag-pile carpet that caresses your every step is once again making luxury fashionable.

Regardless of whether you’re looking for a textured and more luxurious carpet or cut pile, Berber, frieze or patterned carpet, today’s retailers have a vast selection of all the styles and colour choices you could need.

Different Carpet Choices

When you choose carpet for your house, you have a number of things to think about and various options to weigh as well. Carpets are available in many different styles and colors, fibers and textures, and there are scores of different qualities to select from.

The two most popular choices of carpet these days are the cut pile and loop pile. The cut pile has the loop cut at the top, leaving tufts of yarn that stand straight up. Cut pile is generally more durable than looped pile. Cut piles come in different styles, such as shag, saxony, velvet and textured.

Loop pile has individual strands of yarn pulled through the backing of the carpet twice, which creates a small loop. Loop pile choices include berber, sisal and cable. For high traffic areas, loop pile is a great option.

One of the things when choosing your carpet is the price tag. Although there is nothing more luxurious than having wool carpet in your house, the majority of us can't afford wool. If you can afford wool carpet you will discover that it is far better than any other type of carpeting. There is no synthetic carpet fiber that comes close to the durability, rich look and the feel of wool.

Acrylic carpeting is very similar to wool, and occasionally described as synthetic wool. It is resistant to moisture, mildew, fading, staining and crushing. It is not recommended for high traffic areas.

Nylon carpeting is popular as well; it is recommended for high traffic areas. Nylon is one of the most costly types of man made fibers, although it is still cheaper than wool.

Olefin is a low cost carpet material, frequently used for indoor or outdoor carpeting. Olefin is strong and colorfast, incredibly easy to clean. One of the disadvantages of olefin is that it can easily be crushed.

Another factor you must keep in mind is the color and patterns of the carpet. Light colors create a spacious effect, making the room appear to be larger.

If you have pets in your home or little children, dark colors are the way to go. Dark colors are perfect for stains or pets, as they do not reveal soiled areas near as much as light colored carpets.

If you choose light colors around little children or pets, you will have to work twice as hard to make stains less visible. It would be easier and also smarter to choose a dark color.