Carpet Choices

When you select carpet for your home, you have many things to consider and many different options to weigh. Carpets come in many different colors and styles, textures and fibers, and there are many different qualities to choose from as well.

Types of Carpet
The two most popular choices of carpet today are the loop pile and cut pile. Loop pile has individual strands of yarn pulled through the backing of the carpet twice, which creates a small loop.

The cut pile has the loop cut at the top, leaving tufts of yarn that stand straight up. Cut pile is normally more durable than looped pile. Cut piles come in many styles, such as shag, textured, saxony, and velvet. Loop pile choices include berber, cable, or sisal. For high traffic areas, loop pile is an excellent choice.

Carpeting Fibers
One of the factors with choosing your carpet is the cost. Even though there is nothing more luxurious than having wool carpeting in your home, most of us can't afford wool. If you are able to afford wool carpeting you'll find that even though it costs more to install, it will prove to be far more superior than any other type of carpeting. There is no man made carpet fiber that come close to the durability, rich look, or even the feel of wool - which can also last for 30 years or more.

Acrylic carpeting is very similar to wool, and sometimes referred to as man made wool. It is resistant to moisture, fading, mildew, crushing, and staining, although it isn't recommended for high traffic areas.

Nylon carpeting is also popular, as it is recommended for high traffic areas. Nylon is one of the most expensive types of synthetic fibers, although it is still cheaper than wool.

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

Color Considerations
Another consideration you'll have is the color and patterns of the carpet. Light carpeting colors help to create a spacious effect, making the room appear to be larger. Light color carpets will of course, show much more soil than dark colors.

If you have pets around the house or little kids, dark colors may be your best bet. There are many different varieties of dark colors, which is great for those interested in style. Dark colors are ideal for stains or pets, as they don't show soiled areas near as much as light colored carpets.

If you end up selecting light colors around pets or little kids, you'll find yourself having to work twice as hard to make stains less noticeable. It would be easier and also smarter to select a dark color and make it easier on yourself.

Final Thoughts
Make sure you look at all the options above when selecting carpeting for your home. Make decisions based on how you live in the home now but also consider the future use of those rooms. It will save you money in the long run from having to clean the carpeting often to replacing it every 5 years.

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Rhonda Morin, owner of http://myinteriordecorator.com and author of The Decorating Bible, enjoys writing and teaching others how to decorate the homes of their dreams.

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Copyright (R) Rhonda Morin, MyInteriorDecorator.com. Article may not be reprinted without permission and may not be reprinted without author byline including the active links.

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