offer your opinions on new carpet

[bertha katzenengel]

We have a great room that runs the length of the house. The back half is our living room; the front half, the dining room. We might get new carpet. I want dark. Probably dark green. The ceiling is very high; lots of light from lots of windows.

More detail: we have "luggage" color furniture - leather chair and couch roughly the color of a well-oiled baseball glove. And a black leather chair. Our wood stuff is maple-ish.

Given that you can't actually see my great room, what do you think?

The current carpet is sea foam green. We've never liked it but it was the best choice among what the contractor was putting in, and we couldn't afford to upgrade.

White, tan, beige -- definitely not an option.

Thanks!

[Richardo]

1. What's the predominant color of the kitty hair?

I'd think dark colors would show up the cat fur and traffic paths a lot more than the lighter tones - but I agree, sea foam green bites hard.

If there's plenty of light and the room is big, a dark carpet should be fine. Good luck bertha!

[bertha katzenengel]

2. LOL

Dark. Hmmm. Thanks for the opinion, Richard. :hi:

[demnan]

3. I grew up in a house with dark blue carpet

It always looked dirty and I vaccumed it all the time! It was good quality carpet, the color was just hard to have looking nice.

I have a dark green sofa. My first choice would be a light grey carpet to go with my pale green walls, but that wouldn't look good with your stuff.

It sounds like you have a lot of warm colors in there. Ever thought about a medium moss green carpet, rather than a dark green carpet? This might contrast better with the warm brown tones of your furniture. Then you could accessorize with some yellow accent pillows. You could paint the room a warm pale yellow and it would look all very "put together".

[bertha katzenengel]

4. Haven't thought of medium moss green...

We're going window shopping this weekend. Going to take the leather swatch from the couch.

Here's my fantasy front room, Nan: dark green carpet, some kind of maroon somewhere in the room (trim?), and on the walls, dark tan. ????

[miss_kitty]

5. I think a forest green carpet

would be great. You can have pillows and other accent pieces in the maroon, along with the carpet colour and the wall colour in the fabric.

Sounds like you have great taste!

[calico1]

6. You should pick the color to match your

pets!

Just kidding. I like dark green, especially hunter green. What other colors do you have? I like the combination of hunter green and burgundy. I have my spare bathroom decorated in those colors.

[enlightenment]

7. Have you considered tile or wood instead?

Carpet is such a pain in the tush, trapping dirt, cat hair, dust mites, etcetera.
I'm a fan of tile -- but I live in the desert (alternately known as Dante's previously unknown 10th ring of hell).

If carpets the thing, my vote's for the dark green, although I'd worry about fading with the light from the windows.

[Ready4Change]

9. Beat me to it.

:)

[bertha katzenengel]

13. We might put Pergo in the kitchen.

I'd like to do a wood laminate throughout the house, but I'm pretty sure Mrs. V. does NOT want that. But I'm going to raise it again.

I wondered about the fading too. Will have to do my research, because one can't always trust a salesperson.

[Ready4Change]

8. No carpet. Go with wood.

Use patterned area rugs to provide separation between the dining and living areas of the room.

[Richardo]

10. This is a good idea - especially the laminates...

You can even break away from the wood look and go with a pretty good-looking stone/tile with lmainates now.

[emulatorloo]

12. My dogs have a hard time walking on laminate, cats too

especially as they got older, it was if the dog was walking on a sheet of ice.

ON EDIT -- wood ok

[emulatorloo]

11. Pick a color to match cat vomit -- because you know they will

that was my criteria when I had cats.

[Heidi]

14. Why carpet?

We have terra cotta tile throughout the entire place. It's easy to clean up (area rug in the kitchen), easy to _keep_ clean, and will never have to be replaced. :shrug:

[bertha katzenengel]

19. Mrs. V. wants carpet.

I think she will be happier with carpet than I will be unhappy with carpet. Marriage entails compromise, no?

:hi: How are the kittles?

[Heidi]

20. You're a good spouse.

Mr. Heidi and I currently are discussing installing a "floating" parquet floor in our bedroom, but we're in agreement about it as a matter of aesthetics and insulation. You're absolutely right that marriage involves compromise; we just don't have to compromise much because our tastes are so similar (though his are decidedly more "modern" than mine).

The Wiley and Excellent Cat Named Ginger is just fine, as long as my sister-in-law's new girl cat, Sumi, stays at home and doesn't wander into our garden. :eyes: (I thought "altered" males like Gingi were supposed to be disinclined to stirring the sh!t?!!?)

[bertha katzenengel]

21. That's what I thought about altered males, too. Then I came to know Daddy.

Sigh. He doesn't go for the girls - he just chases them, and everyone else, away. He also picks fights with fully-equipped tomcats and wins. (Except for a couple of weeks ago - but we don't know WHO kicked his ass.)

I thought TWAEBCN Ginger had a companion. Tho't I saw pics of two cats. ???

[Heidi]

22. It's a crazy cat family here, bertha.

Three households in one neighborhood: ours (shared between Mr. Heidi, TWAEBCNGinger, and me), my mother-in-law (Ginger's sister, Tabitha, as well as his mother and uncle), and my sister-in-law (Ginger's brother, Barley, and the new interloper, Sumi).

Once a year, we three women pile into a Volvo stationwagon with six cat taxis in the back, along with two dogs, several guinea pigs and a white rat named Fermando (not mine) and visit our nice English-speaking, Swiss-German native and adopted Swiss-Italian resident veterinarian, who does not (oddly enough) give a "volume discount."

It confuses me, too, sometimes. :rofl:

[bertha katzenengel]

24. I think such a trip in a Volvo would confuse the hell outta me for life.

Sounds cozy, though. Does everyone (not counting the animals) get along?

[Heidi]

26. It's a hideous experience

and a trauma for all 911 cats, dogs, guinea pigs and women involved. The cats all get along in the car, but only because they're subdivided into individual cat taxis.

We tried the route of getting a vet to come to the neighborhood and vaccinate all of our cats, dogs, sheeps (my sister-in-law has sheeps, cats, dogs, guinea pigs, exotic birds, a rat named Fernando, a bunch of rabits, two falcons, several geese and an equal number of ducks), but he was a "large animal" specialist, and he refused to come back after Ginger scratched the crap out of him. (That's whatcha get for picking up Royalty by the scruff of the neck.)

[bertha katzenengel]

28. oops - I meant the living arrangement in your "neighborohood" -- THAT'S

what sounded cozy!

Serves that vet right, Ginger beating the bejesus out of him. Jerk!

[BigMcLargehuge]

15. my opinions offered on new carpet

[bertha katzenengel]

17. BigMcLargeHuge, you are my hero. EVERYONE LOOK AT THIS.

That is fabulous. Thank you! May I keep a copy of the image, please?

[BigMcLargehuge]

25. but of course my dear

use at your leisure

[progmom]

18. ....

:rofl:

It's really nice to have you back.

[Whoa_Nelly]

16. Just some input from this Interior Designer

(Yes, am really an Interior Designer :) )

Since your furniture is somewhat dark, and am assuming you aren't intending to replace it, you may be going too dark, heavy by selecting a dark color for carpeting. However, the first thing you may want to consider is the type of carpeting. Not all carpeting is equal as some wears better longer than others, while some offer a much larger range of availability and price ranging.

Do take a look at the info link box to the left of the article to get some more basic carpet knowledge.

A nice article about types of carpeting:
http://www.floorfacts.com/flooring-guide/carpet.asp?topic=5&p=2&name=Carpet+Types

Frieze is one of the best type of fiber construction if you're looking to not replace your carpeting for quite some time.

Here is also a link to a lot of carpet companies. Many of these companies will send you FREE samples, and usually include carpet pad samples as well, which is another part of installing new carpeting to consider.
NOTE: If you see the word CONTRACT,it means commercial use, not residential.
http://www.floorfacts.com/carpet.asp


Lastly, take a look here to see some choices that include carpeting with distinctive designs for residential use:
Milliken
http://carpet-rugs.com/

AND their interactive showroom:
http://xweb2.milliken.com/candr%5Fpublic/

Other carpet manufacturers that are worth looking into are Mohawk and SHaw.

Hope this info helps you in making a great choice for your home :hi:

PS Whoever you choose to do the purchasing and installation for your home, make sure they have ordered at least 10% more beyond the actual room size needed. this is usually industry standard to do in order to avoid not having enough as most carpeting is cut to fit to meet corners, doorways, and in general, to overall make for a good fit.

on edit:
PPS If you want to PM me, will give you my email addy if you would like to send me pics of your room spaces, furniture, etc., and I would be glad to give you more assist.

[Flaxbee]

27. yay! great post....

I agree about the darkness factor... the dark hunter green sounds lovely, but I've struggled with dark carpet before (somehow it seems that dark colors show dirt more than light - at least, all the lint, etc., shows up on the carpet), it is surpisingly difficult to keep clean.

Might also fade, as others have mentioned.

And the room could look much smaller if you make it too dark. You could go for a moss green, as suggested, or even a silver-gray, maybe, to lighten it up but keep the colors subdued.

At one point I almost bought a dark gold from Laura Asheley - sounds horrid but was really very, very nice and seemed to never get dirty (I got a sample about 2'x4' and stuck it by the front door to test it in the dirtiest part of the house - indoor/outdoor traffic). It also was tightly woven into a nice pattern, so there was texture within the color and that gave it some depth but also kept too much dirt from sinking into the pile (or at least that's how it seemed to me).

Good luck!

[caty]

23. Try to pick one with

a pattern. Something multi colored with little squares in it, etc. It will camouflage any stains that you can't get out. Nothing too light or too dark. A medium multi color.

[Rabrrrrrr]

29. My vote is for wood; forget the carpeting.

But if you have to have carpeting, I bet the dark green would like nice. Though I would go with a lighter color, just to make the room feel bigger.

Dark carpet seems more fitting for the library or smoking room or den.