To carpet or not to carpet?

[Lizzie]

Hello everyone,

I hope you are having a great week.

There are usually many different reasons why we have particular flooring in our homes; design, cost, weather, preference, being just some examples. When it comes to flooring there is certainly a lot to choose from. 

Whenever I have spoken to friends/family about their homes, i've always been quite surprised about how passionate they get over whether to have carpet or not. So with this in mind, I thought I would see what your feelings are on this. 🙂

Are you a fan of carpet in your home or not? Perhaps you have gone for something different for your guests, if your listing is seperate. Why have you chosen your flooring? 

(@Marzena, recently shared about some very clever flooring she has in her listing.)

Personally, I like a mixture! I am a fan of carpet in the bedroom, I like to get out of bed and sink my toes into soft carpet. I also like floor tiles in the kitchen, this way if I spill anything whilst cooking up a masterpiece (ok, just food), then it is quick and easy to tidy up.

I look forward to hearing from you.

Thanks,

Lizzie

[Kimberly54]

Hi @Lizzie,  I'm okay with 'throw-rugs' but for me, carpet is out because it simply can't be cleaned. 

Before we went all-hardwood or stone, most of the house was carpeted.  As we were slowly making the transition (this stuff is not cheap), we had one room--a 'living room' that for some reason, never got 'lived in' unless we were having a party with a whole lot of people.  (Only a few times/year.)

Nonetheless, this room was vacuumed and completely cleaned EVERY WEEK.  Must be spotless, right?  And nice, tight burber carpet?

Well, the floor guys were pulling up the carpet, and as each little tack let go, the carpet would pop up a little more, and with each pop, there was the most AMAZING amount of dust/dirt that just JUMPED UP!  25 years of being vacuumed every week and this stuff is still in the carpet????  I was horrified.

All of the carpet went; only throw rugs.

I totally get the 'warm, comfey' thing, but I almost immediately became a germ-phobe!

Best,

[Lilian20]

everybody agrees that guests and carpets don't go together well

[Marzena4]

It's so true, @Kimberly54, that carpets, especially those fitted carpets accumulate all that dust over years. 

Having a soft rug in front of the bed feels comfy, yeah? 

In this country, in some neighbourhoods we have racks for beating carpets in the open air. 

But floors must be durable, and possibly patterned - you'll not have to chase every single strand of dirt.

[Alexandra316]

@Lizzie I don't like carpet. Our home is all hardwood and tile, and both of our Airbnbs are all laminate and tile. Even if you have a good quality vacuum, it's not going to clean all of the dust and dirt out of a carpet. Never mind whatever else that doesn't bear thinking about that could get on there.

We do have some throw rugs, but they get washed or thrown away as required.

[Matthew285]

I always grew up with wall-to-wall carpeting, but I would only put hardwood or tile in an AirBnB listing.

It would be very difficult (and time-consuming) to keep a carpeted room as clean as we can keep our hardwood-floored room.

[Sarah977]

To me wall-to-wall carpeting is gross. It doesn't matter how often you vacuum it, and even if you shampoo it a few times a year. How often do you wash your kitchen and bathroom floors? Would you go as long between those washings as you would with a carpet? Also holds lots of allergens and if someone spills something on it, it can't really effectively be cleaned. There are so many different types of throw rugs, cushy ones for next to the bed, colorful ones for other places, that can be easily thrown in the wash.

[Jessica384]

Would never have carpeting. I get it, people don't like cold feet, want a soft surface. But the upkeep, especially where I live winter is harsh and you track so much in with you with the salt and dirt. If you have pets, children, you can spend more time maintaining carpets than anything. I love wood floors. A swifter and it's done. Doesn't hold dust, dander, or any allergens that hide in your carpet. Doesn't stain so spills don't matter. If you want to make a place a little cozy, a few rugs here and there solve that issue.

[Rebecca181]

I've always been a fan of hardwood, but grew up with horrible 1970's forest green shag carpet. Decades later it was removed and underneath was some of the most beautiful parquet flooring I have ever seen!

Our rental Cottage currently is a mix of hardwood, laminate, and carpet. The carpet is in the bedrooms, so you'd appreciate that, @Lizzie. The hardwood is original to the home, which is a classic cedar-shingle beach cottage that was renovated in 2009 (we live in what used to be a separate house on this same property; the two houses are now connected by a breezeway / courtyard). 

I plan to pull the carpet up out of the bedrooms. I want to do hardwood throughout. The kitchenette has beautiful, original-to-the-house hardwood flooring, and I don't have the heart to remove it, so it will stay as is. The bathrooms also have this original hardwood flooring. The laminate on the second floor looks like wood but the seams are 'faux' and this makes it a breeze to clean between guests. The stairways to the 2nd and 3rd floors are carpeted. I would love to redo them someday with wood and colorful tiles.

We have some very cool green traventine tile in part of our own house (kitchen and one bathroom) and laminate everywhere else, no carpet. I do use area rugs throughout both houses as well, and I make sure that the corners are tamped down and that there are slip-guards underneath - This is especially important on the

guest side. Below is a photo of the 2nd floor of the guest cottage with the laminate flooring. I did all the design and had a lot of fun!

 

[Lilian20]

lovely pic !!

[Lizzie]

Thanks for your replies @Rebecca181, @Jessica384, @Sarah977, @Matthew285, @Alexandra316, @Marzena4, @Kimberly54, so far not to carpet seems to be winning so far! 🙂 

Lovely photo Rebecca, it looks very inviting. 

You all make a great point that carpet is generally harder to look after. Kimberly, I was quite shocked to hear how much dust you found when you replaced your carpet. 

Do you think in general the fashion of having carpet in a home is changing or do you think this is still quite location and preference specific? 

[Marit-Anne0]

In Norway hardwood has been standard since the seventies. Those dirty, awful carpets are well and truly out. In rooms with a lot of wear and tear like kitchen, bathroom and entranceway tiles with underfloor heating is often used.  Bedrooms and hallways are eiter hardwood or laminate.

Personally I would never choose to stay in a room with carpets as I have severe allergies.  

Nowadays you hardly ever see carpeted hotel rooms, only corridors to absorb the noise. Even Gatwcik airport has gotten rid of the carpets in the corridors and that awful dirty carpet smell.  

In our French beach home there are tiles throughout. With all that sand and welcoming children and dogs, it is the only flooring that can withstand such wear and tear. It means that we need to wear slippers in winter, but that is not such a big deal.  When we added the winter garden, we also installed underfloor heating - no cold tiles and no rug needed.

[An-Maré0]

Definately no carpets. To be able to see everything is clean - is first prize.

[Jessica-and-Henry0]

Korean homes may have large area rugs or carpets but NEVER wall to wall carpeting - it's just not suitable for typical Korean style living. Most Korean homes have some version of vinyl flooring and more recently laminated floors or tiled floors have become popular. Heated floors (ondol) are a really and truely a "Korean' thing. 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ondol

FYI, I have laminated floors - but not my choice 🙂 the flooring just came with the house. Also, most Asian homes are built to have people take their shoes off in the house. It's unimaginable for us to wear shoes worn on streets outside also in your home. 

A lot of Koreans I know absolutely hate wall to wall carpeting - "unless you can put it in the wash and launder it, it can never be truely CLEAN" says my Mom 🙂 IMO, carpets where people wore shoes indoors which were also worn outdoors is just totally disgusting. 

[Sarah977]

Most Canadians I know take their shoes off at the door as well. It does seem distasteful to walk into a home in the shoes you've been walking around on the street in.