We all have had carpets in the past or still have them in our home today! Kathy from TriCity Furniture here in Auburn, is going to tell us more about options available for 2022.
Carpet is still a popular option today for a couple of reasons….it is a warmer option for us here in Michigan, and a softer option that is good for our bodies compared to standing on hard surfaces!
For a lot of people, it is cost as well. Carpet normally comes in much less than hard surfaces such as wood flooring or LVT and Tile. Mainly that is due to floor prep. A lot has to be added and adjusted when doing a hard surface because you can see all of it. Every wave or creaky board you notice. Hard surface has so many requirements to have it installed correctly, such as a good subfloor, and baseboards or quarter rounds can be an issue as well as an extra cost. Probably one big problem is that thickness of a hard surface may not be level with another floor, so it becomes a trip hazard. With carpet and pad, you sink into it, so floor variables are much less noticed!
If you have had your existing carpet a long time, you will notice that the products available today are much different. First of all, there are fewer color options….when I say color, I mean reds, blues, and greens. Most people put in neutrals, and there are a lot of those, but not many choices in true color!
Also, there are two types basically used today… a cut pile yarn, which will be a solid color, a two-tone, which has a light and dark yarn, which helps to hide lint and crumbs. Or a third style which is a multi-tone…several neutral colors are mixed together…this style has the best hiding power!
The other popular style is a patterned carpet! These are smaller patterns that are somewhat like an area rug, but typically in a solid color. With furniture being so solid today, a patterned carpet adds a bit of design!
Most people would say that the biggest problem with carpets today is keeping it clean. But today carpet is the easiest to maintain. The cleanability of carpet is amazing as many of the new yarns are pretty unstainable. I have seen where red pop cleans up with water! The dye ports are somewhat sealed so that a stain cannot attach itself to the yarn, therefore is much easier to clean!
All floors need to be cleaned and I feel we are not doing good maintenance on our floors, especially carpets like was done years ago! Mopping and vacuuming are no fun, so I know I do it less than my mom would have done years ago. Many of us now have robots that vacuum for us. We have to remember that the dirt will not jump off itself. It has to be cleaned. Even hard surfaces get sticky from grease in the kitchen and that grease will get tracked through the house. Don't blame the carpet. Blame the maid!