If you’ve seen any of my Instagram stories as of late, you know that work just started on our upstairs renovation project. We’re changing up the bathroom layout to split up the boys and girls (looking ahead to teenage years!), creating a small laundry room (woohoo!) and ripping up every last piece of the 30-year-old carpeting (double woohoo!). My job for this week is to research and shop for carpeting for the kids’ rooms. We’re having hardwoods installed up the stairs and in the hallway but we’re keeping all of their bedrooms carpeted.
The carpet looks so much better in this picture than in real life. . .
Believe it or not, I have zero experience carpet shopping for our household. We’ve never replaced any (but we’ve sure ruined some), and I’m not sure which direction I want to go. My first thought was to go with something with a low pile and get completely away from the look of the carpeting we have now. But would I be sorry?! We’re oh-so-close to being out of the throwing-up-in-the-floor-in-the-middle-of-the-night phase. . .
I’m also thinking we don’t want to invest in the very best (aka “pricey)” carpeting just yet. The goal for whatever we install will be to get us to the college years—just in time for the grandkids to visit and do something gross on it! :)
Do you have carpeting in your home that you would or wouldn’t recommend? Would love to hear your thoughts.
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I love the look of Seagrass carpet, but my son says it is too scratchy. I just went with a light grey frieze carpet from the Home Decorator’s collection at Home Depot with a thick pad and it is so soft. I thought I would hate it, but it looks fresh.
Unfortunately soft carpet doesn’t have the resiliency over time not to crush down on traffic areas. It looks good for a couple of years then you notice it starts to show this.
Frieze is marketed for its durability. Its softness is a bonus.
I still have the same gross, old carpet in my kids rooms and it’s on our (never ending) project list.
You probably already know about this, but I love the look of the wall-to-wall seagrass carpeting that Lauren Leiss uses so often. I know it’s not terribly soft, but your kids are out of that crawling on the floor stage. Looks like maybe seagrass or jute (which of course would be softer) n the pics you posted. Then you could layer something on top. Sorry, I realize I’ve offered no actual experience or advice, lol, but Lauren has posted about seagrass on her blog.
How exciting! New carpet always makes a house feel brand new! I can’t wait to see. That bathroom is huge so I can’t wait to see how you space plan!
We have a diamond pattern that is low tight cut pile and the little diamond is a loop. It was pricey and my husband complained ALOT at the time. We have had it six years. I have 3 boys and we have blood on them at least once a week (usually due to a bloody nose but not always!). A little hot water and dish soap and it is gone. Carpet still looks brand new. I have them cleaned once or twice a year and my carpet cleaner always comments how much he loves this carpet and how well it cleans up. I picked a sisal ish color and have been very happy. I would be happy to hunt for details or send you pictures if you are interested.
I am an expert in this field. I raised my children and their various pets and nursed a sick husband through a long illness on many different bedroom carpets. Like you, the rest of the house is hardwood flooring. The most durable and easiest to clean was a sisal look alike. It was inexpensive and indestructible. It was flat enough to layer a hide or oriental on top. You could spill a coke and just blot it up with no stain whatsoever. When that carpet finally died from old age I replaced it with the very same thing!! It was so tightly woven not even my cat could pick it! The fiber was 100% xynon BCF Olefin by Millcraft.. It is very inexpensive and I was told by the salesman the best seller they carry. I want you to know I am not cheap. I bought this because of wear and the fact it was cheap was a bonus! Perfect for kid areas!!
I would love to know what carpet this is. We are thinking of replacing the master soon and kids rooms to follow and want something that’s super durable
i would love info on this also!! :) sounds exactly like what i am looking for!
We have the smart strand series by Mohawk in our upstairs. Ours is a low pile with a basket weave pattern on it. It was a compromise, I wanted a sisal my husband quickly said no way and he never typically never cares at all what I do but he’s like neither our son or I will ever be comfortable laying on it and I said no way to the standard plush looking carpet. Not only does our carpet look great it’s guaranteed not to stain. Good luck with the renovations!!!
Ours has a little bit of a fleck of different colors in it (all still neutral), so it’s great at hiding stains!
To be honest with you, I don’t think I would ever go back to carpet. I do like the seagrass look. We inherited a house last year that we are renting. All the upstairs had wood floors COVERED with carpet. Even the BATHROOMS and KITCHEN had (patterned) carpet. LOL We put new floors in the kitchen and baths (they had lino under the carpet), and the wood floors were all in good shape. There is a den in the center of the upstairs, well, it was the only room that didn’t have wood floors. Knowing we were going to rent the house and that we would never match the original wood floors (house is about 45 years old), we had low pile, textured carpet put in that room. It’s kind of light, neutral and has some “flecks” in it along with the textured pattern cut into it. Hoping it wears well – especially since we plan to rent the house a few years before eventually selling it. Taking up carpet and seeing what lies beneath (even when a house has been kept clean) really gets to me. It’s the dust that settles into the carpet backing that I won’t forget seeing! Especially if one has allergies . . .
we just got home depot’s petproof carpeting which protects against moisture locking in and stains etc, so it could maybe be called kid-proof, too! it’s SO soft and we love it so far. and actually last night i didn’t realize i had chicken poop on my boots when i walked into my bedroom… so i put it to the test and it passed!
this is it if you want to check it out:
http://www.cassiebustamante.com/2017/04/petproof-bedroom-carpeting.html
Please post an update on whatever you pick. We are moving soon, and I am having the same issue! I’m leaning toward a neutral pattern in a lower pile as well.
Hi Emily! Such a hard decision…carpet can get so gross!! It sounds like you’ve already nixed this idea, but if its still on the table, I’d really recommend getting the wood throughout, and really big but inexpensive rugs for the kids rooms. No matter what you do, the carpet will be gross in 5 years. This way, you can just replace the simple big rug (like a bound carpet remnant) and you’re good to go, and you’ll never have to replace the carpet again. All it takes is one nasty art spill or as in our case, one naughty cat, to ruin carpet and make you want to rip it out immediately!
I have replaced all the previous wall to wall with carpet tiles. I love them!! Easy to switch out. Fraction of price bc u can install them easily. Lots of design options!
Don’t go with Berber! It’s not soft and very hard to keep clean!
I have Berber and love it! Make sure you upgrade your rug pad and don’t use the cheap, standard stuff.
I have put carpet in various homes over the years and have learned what is best for me. I like carpet that doesn’t crush or mat after five years, doesn’t stain as we have 2 kids and 2 dogs who don’t ever grow out of vomiting in the middle of the night and doesn’t show every bit if fluff or crumbs and finally doesn’t show footprints. So I love a nylon, all loop, not too light or dark carpet, with flecks if you don’t like to vacuum too often! We have hardwood everywhere except the kids rooms and our bonus room and it’s 10 years old and looks brand new. Don’t fall for the salesmans line that soft carpets are so durable now a days, they aren’t. Look for a tight weave on a loop sample and bend it, you shouldn’t see the backing. Often the most durable aren’t the pricey ones. Run a mile from plush.
I just recently read on both The Lilypad Cottage and Making Home Base blogs about a pet and kid friendly carpeting that I believe was from Home Depot. You could check out their reviews!
I replaced a frieze with a plush, low pile carpet and sadly, it was a mistake. It is SO cozy underfoot but it’s very hard to hide the seams, hard to clean, and you can see all the vacuum marks. I wouldn’t do it again. And it was a huge investment. Womp womp. I wish I had gone with either a very low pile (not so plush) or something with a pattern. Probably the latter. HTH!
We have Berber carpet in our bedrooms and our main living room. We LOVE it – it’s soft under feet and on the kiddos when they play on the floor. Because of the tight weave it has a more modern look and hides wear marks. It has endured stomach viruses and baby spit up and still looks great. I do use a Bissel Little Green on human and liquid soils. We will use it again we have loved it so much.
I would stick with whatever is easily cleanable. Despite the fact that teenage years are not too far away from you, even teenagers can make a mess of carpeting. I haven’t had good success with natural fiber rugs and stains. I have had great success with a stain resistant, driftwood colored carpet. It is easy to clean and feels great on your feet.
oh please, please, please go on and extend your wood into the bedrooms….I get it, I have children too- and I made the mistake of carpet in the bedrooms, only to go back at a later point and replace it with wood. Here is the problem, if you are going with an engineered wood, if you ever DO decide to put it in at a later date, your selection in the hallway may no longer be available. (happened to me) Solid flooring is SO much cleaner, especially with children, and better for allergies. And if you are doing a sand & finish and decide to install in the bedrooms later, you will still have to resand the existing wood to match, because the color will have faded with age. I know you are a designer, as am I….a mother, as am I (of twins also and an extra), and I totally understand budget as well. That’s why I went with carpet the first time too. But I’m also a general contractor as well….and if you knew just how many projects I’ve had where I deal with this situation and replacing flooring for clients, you would think long and hard about carpet. Just trying to pass along a little of my expensive lesson :) I should have taken my own advice as well in the beginning ;) Good luck with your remodel- I love your designs!
Go with a multi-tone neutral and invest in a solid underlay pad. The pad underneath provides so much of the cushion which is really important in rooms where ppl sit on floors-aka bedrooms;) I love the look of seagrass but wouldn’t want to live with it-and I wonder how hard it is to keep clean?
We purchased berber carpet in our last two homes to “mirror” sisal. The berber has been very durable. Home Depot to the rescue!
Whatever you do, get the most comfortable Temperpedic pad underneath. It will make is SO comfortable, and I’m almost certain it has a life-time warranty.
Didn’t you have a Stainmaster area rug in your last house? If that held up qell, it’s probably a good place to start. Also, in my experience, variegated color ways hide stains of all sorts much better than solids. Also, if you have pets who shed, keep their fur color in mind—light oets, light carpet; dark pets, dark carpet. Good luck!
The correct pad is so important as well as something really neutral with varying colors. The better pad, though not seen, will affect the carpet choice for years to come. You’ll choose well, whatever you end up with, I’m sure!
We have a loop carpet by Shaw in our basement rec room and it still looks amazing 7 years later. It cleans beautifully (professionally about every other year maybe less). I can’t say enough good things about it. I picked a taupe color that is really the color of most dirt so perhaps that helps!! It’s very soft and none of the loops have pulled out. Good luck!
melissa,
this is what we have too. love it.
We love, love, LOVE carpet squares from FLOR. This is the second house we’ve used them in. They’re durable, beautiful, and so easy to clean!
I recently recarpeted all the bedrooms in my house with a Karastan smart strand low pile carpet. It’s comfortable, looks great and has held up really well so far. It comes with a lifetime pet and stain warranty which was one of my main criteria. Got it done by Warners Carpets in Matthews. If you go, ask for Jamie – she was wonderful to work with and will even bring the samples to your house!
We also recently installed wood in our hall and a Sisal look carpet from Shaw with miles of stain warranties in the bedrooms. Love it! Empty nest, so can’t say what a family would do to it, but I love the look!
FLOR is a product I highly recommend. We replaced all the carpet in our house with FLOR, installed as wall to wall. FLOR has products that closely resemble seagrass, which is what we used throughout our 2nd story. Soft under foot but stands up to traffic. The squares are about 20″ and can be easily replaced or swapped around if damaged. I spilled a cola on one. Pulled it, rinsed it and after dry, put it back–good as new! Vacuuming is a snap since its low-pile. Contact a store and they’ll send you full size samples from their “library”. You can also order samples. We installed 4 x 8 luan (wood) sheets over our subfloor and laid FLOR over that. (Nail gun made fast work of laying luan.) In a downstairs bedroom, we used a bold design, which I love. We mixed designs in our master closet–the store helped us with lay-out and exactly what to order. Again, highly recommend–especially for families!
I sell carpet for a living and the most important thing is the fiber. This determines how well it will wear and clean up. The secondary consideration is the style. I recommend smartstrand fiber, and also nylon. The smart strand cleans easily, and is guaranteed not to stain because it has no open dye sites in the fiber. It also has a topical coating that keeps things from sticking so dirt and dog hair vacuum up easily because it just sits on top. Smartstrand comes in every style. A sisal look alike would be wonderful. You could get the look you want and the softness that the kids would love in their bedrooms as well as being extremely durable.. Hope this helps!
I have boys, now teenagers, with lots of friends, and we also have a dog. We put in a tight, low berber, that mimics sisal, in all our bedrooms. It’s a Stain Master and has held up beautifully. It is identical to what we had in our last house when the kids were really young, and we loved it enough to repeat it. We even had basement flooding and with professional cleaning it looks as good as new. My neighbor, who has six children, just replaced hers with exactly what we have because ours still looks so good. I especially like that it’s a more tailored, crisp look and I easily layer rugs over the top of mine in bedrooms.
Hi Erin, Do you know the brand and name/color? Thank you
Love the look of wall to wall sisal but not for a bedroom. I totally agree with those who said to put hardwood in the bedrooms – so much nicer in the long run! Do a sisal and wool blend area rug over the wood, have it cut to desired size and add a fun border. Such a custom rug is relatively inexpensive at designer cost and will be softer on the foot, easier to clean with the wool and a great look.
We did a loop nylon carpet in a diamond pattern from Shaw in our last house. It claimed to be waterproof and it was. My teenage son was having a birthday party in our game room and someone knocked over a 2 liter soda…wiped right up with a towel with absolutely no staining. It also didn’t crush so it still looked brand new when we moved after a couple of years-even with teenagers going in and out of that game room constantly.
In our current house we did a Mohawk looped wool carpet and it has held up really well so far. We are renovating and construction guys have been walking across it to our kids’bathrooms. Sometimes there is a little dried mud on it and it vacuums right off. It doesn’t seem to get into the actual carpet. These are my only two experiences with replacing carpet but, in all of my research, I found it pays off to pick a high quality (nylon or wool), non-crushable type of carpet if you plan to use it for the long haul.
Kids’ rooms need carpet to keep the noise down! But it’s so susceptible to staining. I suggest hardwood, and cover it with large economical area rugs made from sisal, jute, or seagrass. Some can be a little scratchy, but there are so natural rugs that are very soft. And the bonus is that they can be easily replaced or flipped over if they get horribly stained.
Agreed 100%! Hardwoods and inexpensive rugs! I use the Dash & Albert indoor/outdoor rugs (watch the sales, they have them and you can even find some on their outlet site) all over my house. Not scratchy yet I could take it outside and hose it off with soap and water when my potty training daughter decided peed all over it! Lifesaver. Good luck! :)
I say hardwood it all and pop in area rugs. Change out when necessary (vomit, stains, etc) or when you can (post college). Way easier to keep clean. One time flooring expense. But, you are the design guru. Not me. Looking forward to seeing your decision!
Our last house had the low pile seagrass look, but was extremely soft. We lived there 5 years, were the second owners, and when we moved, it still looked great. I would never have been brave enough to get a nontraditional carpet like that with small kids, but it was so resilient! Good luck with your search!
We installed a really neutral darker berber in our former home, and I miss it so much! I loved the simple, sleek look, and it never looked very messed up since it didn’t show vacuum lines very much anyway. I never had any trouble with it snagging or running either. Just so you know, it always looks lighter when you install. I thought we were going really dark from the sample, but it wasn’t that dark installed – just dark enough to hide the dirt!. I know that hardwood with rugs looks so pretty in bedrooms, but I just love soft carpet in ours.
While I prefer hardwoods for the look and ease of cleaning I did use commercial grade carpeting in the bedrooms of two of my houses when the kids were very young and it is a fantastic product. There is no pile to become crushed looking, wears extremely well- quite the workhorse. We also used it in a finished basement and it was also fantastic for that application.
Just do hardwoods, even the engineered wood ones. You won’t regret it. Best money I’ve ever spent. You can add rugs if sound is the concern.
For what it is worth, I have 27 inch wool Axminster in pale grey in my sitting room. It was installed over fifty years ago by my ma-in-law and it still looks fantastic, even after her four boys and my children as well. I was thinking of replacing it but was disuaded from doing so by my carpet man who said there was another twenty years in it. There are three types of pile, plush, twist and loop. The first two,though very soft, tend to flatten, whether wool or nylon. They also show tracking marks. This could be from the vacuum cleaner or from the oil that is released from feet after showering. This oil then attracts dust, hence the tracking marks. Loop pile lasts extremely well and retains its appearance. We put some in a rental property over twenty years ago and it looks great, even after many tenants. It is pale camel coloured with a cream fleck and quite stylish. The key is to use a good quality underlay. It makes all the difference to the “bounce”. 12mm is usual and 14 mm even better. Whatever you choose, I am sure that it will be lovely”
Lots and lots of comments here, so I am sorry if this is a repeat, but I suggest carpet tiles. They are easy to install, and if an area gets ruined, you can just replace it with a new carpet tile. That means you should order a few extra pieces. FLOR has some great options, but I know there are other brands. Even check out Amazon! Good luck!
You’re getting lots of conflicting opinions from your readers. Have fun making a decision!
My husband and I have raised six children in our home and we still have the original light-coloured carpet we had installed in our entire house (except for kitchen, lower level hallways, and bathrooms) when our house was built 22 years ago. Many people cannot believe this is the orignal carpet when they see it. It has held up so well for various reasons. 1. It is a very dense, cut-pile plush carpet with the proper underlay. 2. We have had no pets. 3. We had a “no food in the bedrooms” rule 4. Small children always ate their snacks at the island or dining table. 5. The carpets were vacuumed at a minimum weekly.
About 10 years ago we had the bonus room above our garage finished and installed a Berber loop carpet in it. I would NEVER use Berber or any other loop carpet again. The tiniest snag would get caught on the beater of the vacuum and could unravel a section of the carpet in a second.
Looks.like you got plenty of feedback. I didn’t read it all but having just purchased whole house carpet, I have some quick tips:
1. Don’t get memory foam padding. It has a memory and will eventually flatten out. Midgrade is fine.
2. Polyester is apparently best for stain resiliance.
3. You have to pay for the excess, so work that into your final cost/square foot. I had meticulously worked out our budget, square footage and price per square foot and was blindsided by having to pay extra. Having never bought carpet before, I just didn’t know. And I had asked TWO GUYS at TWO DIFFERENT STORES to please tell me everything important about carpet purchase and neither mentioned that.
4. Our small 2 x 2 square sample showed zero pattern. Once install happened, there is a small pattern in it, so definitely look at the largest sample possible! Thankfully, we don’t mind the pattern, but would not have selected it. (almost cried when it went in, but realized it was actually fine.)
What carpet did you end up choosing? Do you like it? I’m in the middle of this decision right now.
Here’s a link to the update: https://emilyaclark.com/2018/03/upstairs-update-ceiling-fans-kids-carpet.html