When we were teenagers, we would always meet at someone’s house or another to hang out and plan weekend adventures. We’d watch some TV and maybe order a pizza. At my house, the living room was where the TV was and we had a set of folding snack tables where everyone could sit on the couch or in a chair and have their snacks right in front of them.
Our living room had a dark avocado sculptured pile rug that no matter what was spilled on it, it wouldn’t show. It went well with my mother’s white and gold French provincial furniture and our lifestyle.
My only friend, who lived in a modern split-level building in the new development, was restricted to the small family room inside the rear sliding glass doors. Her living room, on the next level, was off-limits to anyone except the cleaning lady. It was like a future museum where the traditional furniture style of the 1960s would be preserved for the viewing pleasure of generations to come. Gold-upholstered furniture with fruitwood trim rested proudly on a thick plush off-white rug with a pile so deep it would reach my second knuckle if I were allowed to touch it. In fact, her mother had taught the cleaning lady to walk beside the vacuum cleaner, instead of behind it, so that she would run in her tracks and leave a perfect diagonal pattern in the pile that reminded me of a field of baseball before the game started. The purpose here, he was convinced, was to know if someone was walking on him. So of course right before we left and my friend wasn’t looking, one of us was running on and off the mat. He used to get very angry because his mother blamed him. Kids can be so mean.
My third friend lived in a garden apartment that his parents proudly decorated in that neo-Spanish style that was so popular at the time, for reasons I still don’t understand. They had a gold wool rug with a brown velvet sofa with twisted dark wood arms. There was a dark wood and wrought-iron coffee table and an amber globe fixture inside a black iron cage. The mat would capture anything that fell on it like a giant sea urchin. No matter how many times you sucked on it, the matter remained firmly held captive in its tentacles.
So here we have three lifestyle options when it comes to shopping for rugs. One of which, I’m proud to say, was the right choice my parents made. The second one wouldn’t have mattered because it was all for show and was never used. The third was a terrible choice as the family basically lived in one room for all activities and chose a high maintenance product that did not clean well. That was probably due to low cost per square foot and fashion.
Selecting the right rug is a very important decision as it is a long-term investment that will never bring a return other than its purpose. So when realizing this you should consider the following:
How long will it last? This depends on the quality of the product and its reputation for durability. Also how it is maintained. Hiring the best carpet professional for cleaning and protection is paramount.
Can I live with the color and style for a long time, even if I change the other decoration? I once bought a house with a red carpet. It collided with everything and had to be removed even though it was in perfect condition. If he had been neutral, he would have stayed.
Does the type and quality match the intended use of the room? A berber rug is a beautiful, hard-wearing rug with its shallow, twisted pile, suitable for high foot traffic, but not where pets might pull on the loops and cause damage. A teddy works well in seldom-used areas, as it shows footprints. There are also simple or pattern problems. Certain patterns hide spots very well as interlocking shades of coordinated hues.
Don’t make this decision alone.