Your Carpet and Your Personality Type

When it’s time to choose the right carpet for your home, look in the mirror. If it reflects a room with unattractive floors, it’s definitely time to get a nice new carpet. Once you’ve decided that for sure, though, look at yourself. The type of person you are determines what lifestyle you lead. The lifestyle you lead at home determines the best carpet for your space.

Choose the personality profile that fits you best, and find the right carpet for you:

The Entertainer
Are you checking your reflection on the way out to the next cocktail party? Soon it’ll be your turn to host, and you’ll want a carpet that will stand up to traffic from minglers and wallflowers alike. A sturdy level loop cut pile carpet can handle high heels and high traffic without wearing down. Look for stain-resistant nylon carpets in darker colors to camouflage spilled wine, or be prepared to institute a clear cocktails only rule.

The Parent
The pitter-patter of little feet will be blessedly muffled by a carpeted floor, but that doesn’t mean your worries are over. Shop around for carpets that are thick and textured enough to mask footprints, like frieze or multi-level loop carpeting. Kids’ rooms are also a good place to consider large, room-spanning area rugs. You can find area rugs with kid-friendly designs like cartoon characters, and once they’re past the cartoons and spilling everything stage, their room will still have a great stain-free carpet underneath.

The Homebody
If your home activities include channel surfing, reading under the lamp, and reveling in the glorious quiet, then you can have your choice of carpeting. Cut loop pile carpet is great for informal areas like dens or living rooms. If you want a cushier walk from the recliner to the fridge, try Saxony plush carpeting. Reading rooms look great with lighter carpets to pick up the sunlight, and a deeper-colored carpet in a den can bring a cozy feel.

The Hedonist
It’s Saxony plush carpet all the way for those who value the good things in life. This thick, luxurious carpet is perfect for walking on barefoot, and it looks great in all areas of the home from formal to informal. Step up the luxe factor even further by getting your Saxony plush carpet in a pale, rich shade like beige or champagne. Hedonism doesn’t include a whole lot of cleaning, so make sure you get a carpet with the maximum level of stain resistance.

Source : findanyfloor.com

What you should know about carpets

Let's get down to the bottom of it all and talk more about carpets. After all, buying carpet is an investment that will hopefully last a long time, giving comfort and ambiance during its lifetime.

So let's get started on the whats, whys and hows:

First, check the quality: There are two ways to do this: The finger press check and the smile check.

durability of a carpet: often depends on the density, resilience and weight of the pile. If you press your finger into the pile and it recovers quickly, it is a quality carpet.

Another test is to take the carpet sample and bend it backward. Do the fibers spread in a big "smile" so the backing is easily visible? If the answer is yes, the quality isn't too good.

Short, dense carpets are the most durable. Long strands and big loops may look bulky, but are of less weight and therefore of less durability.
The underlayment of a carpet is important, too. If foam padding is used, check the quality. Your finger becomes the tester again. Rub the foam with medium pressure. If it crumbles a little, reject it. Most experts consider rubber padding as the best support for the carpet, as it is resilient and durable and won't rub the backing off the carpet.


Now for some carpet terminology:

Berber: Originally this carpet was a looped-pile carpet in a natural, undyed wool. Currently, Berber is any looped or nubby carpet in any fiber and it comes in many colors.

Broadloom: Any carpet wider than 6 feet qualifies as a broadloom. The most common size is 12 feet wide, though 9-foot, 13-foot and even 18-foot widths are available.

Body carpet: This is the baby brother of the broadloom. It is only 6 feet wide. The body carpet is used in corridors, stairs and for awkward-shaped areas.

Bonded: The fibers are bonded into an adhesive base. This type of carpet is often of superlative quality.

Cut pile: Here the strands of fiber are cut rather than looped into a carpet.

Looped pile: Uncut loops. That was a tough one to describe.

Tufted: The individual fibers are punched into the base material. This pile may be looped or cut.

Source: the daily journal