Today, carpet is often seen as outdated, dingy, and even unsanitary, trapping pests, dust, and moisture deep below the surface.
Though hardwood is incredibly popular, carpeting is making a comeback, in part due to the innovative new options on the market. Carpet is a great choice for bedrooms, dens, or basements where hardwood can feel too cold and sterile, or any room where there is a risk of water damage.
After dominating for decades, wall-to-wall carpet's share of the floor-covering market has plummeted since the millennium—from about 60% of sales to roughly one third, according to Catalina Research. Blame Americans' ardor for hardwood and tile—and the perception that carpet is so 1970s, '80s or '90s—pick your decade.
Industry experts, such as interior designer Sue Murphy, say carpet is rising in popularity because recent innovations make it hold up to traffic and stains much better than their counterparts of decades past. But it's also lifestyle.
Carpeting is a poor choice in any room that frequently sees water, food remnants, or dirt. These elements will quickly damage carpet. These rooms include but are not limited to, kitchens, bathrooms, entryways, mudrooms, and laundry rooms. Kitchens are a poor choice to install carpeting because of food, dirt, and water.
Is it dumb to put a rug over a carpet? No, it's not. First, carpeted floors are expensive to clean.
Carpets are a catch-all for dirt, with dust mites, pet hair, pet urine, dead skin cells, dust, insect feces, insect husks, bacteria, mold, volatile organic compounds, and many other types of allergens clinging to the fibers.
Carpet In The City
Chiaramonte says that some buyers still prefer soft flooring for bedrooms. However, they usually avoid carpeting the entire room. “It's far easier to redo or change the feeling in a room by purchasing a new rug!
Carpet fibers often become matted and frayed within just 3-5 years. A carpet can only be expected to last 5-15 years from installation, so if your carpet it starting to look a little beat-up then it's probably time to replace it. Areas that see the most wear and tear are usually the hallways, stairs, and living areas.
So replacing carpet with hardwood flooring can definitely make a difference in your selling price. In fact, one study found that 54% of home buyers said they'd be willing to pay more—up to $2,080—for hardwood floors.
Dawn Wilson, Keller Williams: “Most buyers prefer hardwood. For selling purposes, it is better to have hardwood. If there is not hardwood in the home already, and it is cost prohibitive to put hardwood in, then in most cases, new carpet should be put in prior to resale. Buyers like tile flooring in the bathrooms.
When it comes down to finding the best flooring to increase home value, it all boils down to your market. Hardwood will likely give you the highest return, but laminate and luxury vinyl plank flooring also offer plenty of perks to buyers.
The best thing about getting a gray-colored carpet is, despite the various shades available in gray including taupe and silver, any shade of gray can still bring in an elegant look to your house. Gray-colored carpets are easily one of the trendiest carpet colors of 2021.
Perhaps the most on-trend, and definitely most popular carpet trend, is natural fiber rugs, materials like jute, sisal and seagrass. Jute rugs grace the floors or so many homes due to their hardwearing nature and versatility, so just take it a step further and go wall to wall with it.
If you go with gray, when you choose carpet colors, you can choose just about any shade and still be in style. Even once out-of-date dark gray carpeting is making a comeback. In addition to looking chic and trendy, gray carpet sets the tone of a cool, contemporary space.
HomeAdvisor.com notes that new carpet in general tends not to affect resale value either way (compared to hardwood, for which 54% of buyers in one study were willing to pay $2,080 more). But stained or outdated carpeting doesn't do you any favors.
In high-traffic areas it can show wear and tear, and laminate can't be sanded or refinished for an updated appearance. Because of its lower price point, laminate also won't do much for your home's resale value.
Hardwood is known for being much cleaner than carpet as it doesn't collect all of the dust and dirt beneath the surface. Despite best efforts, carpeting is never perfectly clean. Well maintained hardwood flooring can last decades!
How can carpet impact health? Carpets may trap pollutants like dust mites, pet dander, cockroach allergens, particle pollution, lead, mold spores, pesticides, dirt and dust. Toxic gases in the air can stick to small particles that settle into carpets.
While carpet has changed over the years, today, its lifespan is usually anywhere from 5 to 15 years. The length of time that a specific carpet lasts depends on the type of carpet, carpet cushion, carpet fibers, and wear and tear the carpet is exposed to.
The thing that most people don't realize is that tufted rugs aren't manufactured to last for multiple generations like hand-knotted rugs are. Latex glue begins to break down after about 10 years, getting powdery and lumping together. Eventually this powder works its way out of the carpet and onto your floor.
The best rooms to carpet are bedrooms and playrooms. Family rooms, hallways and stairways can also benefit from carpeting but these high traffic areas will suffer more wear on the carpet over time. As a rule, entry rooms and rooms most likely to see high traffic or lots of messes should not be carpeted.
By reducing airborne allergens, carpet improves air quality and supports healthier spaces for living. Of course, you still are going to need a professional cleaning every once in a while, because this dust can get ground into the carpet's fibers and even penetrate down to the carpet padding.