Carpets vs vinyl, laminate or hardwood for the living room
When choosing a carpet for the living room the first thing you need to ask yourself is whether a carpet is the right choice for you!
You need to consider:
Your lifestyle and how you normally use your living room.
What factors are ultimately the most important to you, whether it be aesthetics, ease of cleaning, price, how long the carpet will last and so on.
Families with young children sometimes prefer carpet in the living room because it’s safer than a hard floor and is better at hiding dirt and stains. If the living room is where your family spend a lot of the day, a carpet will keep the room warmer and give you more comfort than the alternatives.
In households where a harder floor isn’t so much of a concern, vinyl or hardwood is often chosen for its aesthetic benefits.
When it comes to carpeting for high-traffic living rooms, the main aspect you want to be looking for is durability. Durability comes from the thickness of a carpet’s pile, the way the fabric fibres have been cut and the material the carpet is made out of. Durability is incredibly important for carpets in high-traffic areas because a low-durability carpet could quickly become damaged and need replacing.
All household carpets in the UK are graded according to durability. If your sroom is high-traffic you want to be looking for heavy domestic or extra-heavy domestic.
This strength of construction combined with its opulent, deep pile ensures both the carpet's plush appearance and comfortable feel underfoot are long-lasting.
This strength of construction combined with its opulent, deep pile ensures both the carpet's plush appearance and comfortable feel underfoot are long-lasting.
Luxurious, deep pile Saxony that combines comfort, style and practicality.
Balances a hardwearing durability with a soft feeling underfoot.
Living room carpet for pets
As adorable as pets are, they can wreak havoc on your carpet! Sometimes a sticky claw or an “accident” stain can leave a carpet in a pretty bad state. Here’s a couple of quick tips when choosing a carpet when you’ve got a pet.
Dark colours – perfect for concealing pet hair and dirt! Plus it makes large rooms feel much cosier.
Nylon – provides an incredible amount of durability; perfect for your active pets.
Polyester – very stain-resistant; great if you’ve got a puppy or kitten who hasn’t been fully toilet trained yet.
Frieze cut pile – contains short, durable fibres that hide a lot of dirt and hair.
Find out more about choosing the right carpet for your pet by visiting our guide: pet-proofing your carpet
Incredible durability for a carpet that looks fabulous and stays looking fabulous for years to come.
Easy bleach cleanable properties.
Designed to withstand the pressures of modern life.
Carpet that hides stains and spills
If you have young children, practicality might be your main consideration when buying a carpet. You should look for darker colours to hide any spillages or stains. There are several styles of carpets which are incredibly stain-resistant, while still keeping a luxurious look and feel.
The most practical choices are:
Polypropylene – quickly becoming the most popular material for home carpets. It’s stain-resistant, resists fading and is very affordable!
Wool – extremely soft and rich in appearance and is a natural way to hide stains. Considered top-of-the-line, it’s the perfect combination of luxury and practicality.
Looped – a low profile and higher density construction than most, making this a great all-round performer.
Carpets that are to be situated in areas of the home where a spill is likely to occur or where there is a high amount of foot traffic can show wear very quickly.
High performance yarns stand up well in terms of durability and keep that luxurious look for much longer than standard fibres.
Carpets that are to be situated in areas of the home where a spill is likely to occur or where there is a high amount of foot traffic can show wear very quickly.
High performance yarns stand up well in terms of durability and keep that luxurious look for much longer than standard fibres.
Berber carpets are often a great choice for the living room
Berber is known to be a very versatile and affordable way to carpet your living room. It comes in a variety of quality and can complement many types of décor.
Berber is a looped style of carpet. Originally available solely in light colours, you can now find Berber carpet in darker shades too. It is extremely durable and due to the looped nature of the fibre, it doesn’t lose its shape when walked on. Plus it’s great at repelling stains.
Basically, if you’re looking for a top all-round choice for your living room, Berber is the option for you. For more information, see our guide to Berber carpets.
Natural resilience to heavy foot traffic due the natural springiness of the woolen fibre.
Deep wool loop pile ensures both the plush appearance and comfortable feel of the carpet.
Average costs
The average cost of a living room carpet for a medium sized home is around £260. However, you can carpet a medium-sized living room for as little as £50 if you choose one from the lower end of the range.
Colour can often be one of the hardest decisions to make. A colour change in a room can have a dramatic effect, good or bad. It’s often hard to imagine a colour over a wide space when looking at a small piece of fabric.
Lighter colours are a respectable choice when choosing carpets and can add some dramatic class to your living room. However, you will need to assess your lifestyle before purchasing. Are you prone to spills or stains? Do you have kids or pets? If the answer is yes, light carpets may not be for you. Whilst looking luxurious, they don’t offer the same stain protection or hide the dirt nearly as well as neutral or darker colours. Maybe wait until the kids have moved out!
Dark colours can give a stylish, elegant look to your living room. Combined with the right colour furniture and walls, a dark carpet can bring about a dramatic look. The main benefit of dark carpets is that they hide dirt much better than lighter colours.
Neutral colours are the biggest sellers in carpeting. This is because bright colours can overpower when spread out across vast spaces. Different bright colours can also come in and out of fashion in a matter of months and you don’t want to be stuck with a bright orange floor when we’ve all moved onto green! Neutral also means
