10 Carpet Decorating Tips From The Floor Up

home-decorating originally uploaded

by About A Storybook Life.

I thought you might enjoy these 10 Carpet Decorating Tips from Karastan who shared them in a decorating workbook during the Thom Filicia Decorating From The Floor Up national tour.

1. Should your floor set or steal the stage? If you have created emphasis above ground, you may want to keep your flooring neutral. If the room decor is neutral, spice things up with a vibrant colored carpet or a vivacious patterned rug.

2. There are four styles of carpet: plushes, textures, patterns and berbers. Deciding first if you want your carpeting to be soft, sensible or hard will help you figure out which type of carpet is best for you. Note: Carpet depth is not necessarily an indicator of quality. A shallow pile with uncut loops is actually best if strength and durability are of utmost importance to you.

3. If you plan to use carpet in an area where you regularly entertain, you might want to consider a stain-resistant patterned carpet or one that has cut and loops for this space.

4. The family room of an active household will get heavy use by kids, friends and pets, so a woven carpet with uncut pile would be the most practical choice for this space.

5. In choosing a rug size for the dining area, a good formula is to add 30 inches to each side of the table dimensions for chairs with arms, and at least 24 inches for chair without arms. This way, everyone will have plenty of room to push their chairs back without moving off the rug.

6. When it comes to room and hallway transitions, if you are switching colors, continue the predominant color strain in a lighter or darker shade. If you are switching materials, a more radical color switch works better than something that nearly matches but varies slightly. For instance, do not try to match carpet to the adjacent tiles.

7. Create balance: all of the features in a room have visual weight [windows, fireplace, columns, etc.] that engage the eye. Be sure to take these into account when arranging rugs and furniture so that there is a sense of equilibrium throughout the room.

8. If your room isn't perfectly square, you might consider subdividing it into one or more "inner rooms." You can use the edges of your furniture and rugs to form the appearance of these inner rooms.

9. Even sight lines are very important when arranging furniture. If your sofa and chair backs are not matching, try raising the height of the lower one with higher back pillows. If you end table seems too low visually, try stacking books or magazines.

10. To make a room feel warm and welcoming, try colors such as orange, red and yellow. Cool colors, such as violets and blues, make objects, walls and ceilings feel farther away, and can help make a room feel larger. To make a cavernous room feel smaller, use a warm dark, matte color.






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