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How to Choose a Carpet Color for Your Home

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Choosing the right carpet can be one of the most important decorating decisions for your home, and it can also be one of the most difficult. There are many things to take into consideration; carpet style, pattern, fiber type, quality and color. Color is often the hardest decision for customers, since it can be tough to visualize the color and how it will look based on a tiny fabric swatch.

A change in color can make a dramatic difference in a home's interior, and it can be a bit scary to embark on such a big decision. You want to know what colors are trendy, but not be so cutting edge they'll be out of style in a few years. If choosing a carpet color is not as simple as you thought, here's a few things to consider before making a decision.

Lifestyle and Carpet Color

Before deciding on the color it's a good idea to decide what style, fiber type and quality is best suited to your needs. There's no point in buying a beautiful color if it's too delicate to handle pets or heavy duty foot traffic. A busy household with pets, kids and working parents doesn't usually lend itself well to light colored carpets, which can show soiling more easily than darker colors. Very light or dark colors show far more dirt and debris than mid-tones, while dark carpets will show lint and dust more than others. A medium colored carpet will best mask these issues. Once you've decided on the essentials you can then move on to choosing the right color.

Eliminate the Colors You Dislike

Everyone has favorite colors or color palettes. If you hate light blue, you may as well eliminate this color because you probably won't like it no matter what. All the colors you don't hate will be in the running for your carpet. Once you've decided on the colors you do want find these in a store and take home a sample. You won't know what the color will really look like until you've seen it in your home.

Will the Carpet Fit with Your Decor

What colors do you have in your existing decor? What color sofa or walls do you have? The biggest mistake is to buy a carpet color that will clash with your furniture. If you're just starting to decorate it's a good idea to decide on your sofa first. Unless you're going for custom furniture most sofas come in a limited palette of colors. If you don't have this sorted out first it can be difficult to find a sofa in the style you like that matches the carpet you've chosen. Once you've chosen the sofa and carpet you can choose the color of your walls. This is because paint comes in a virtually limitless color selection. Start with the element that has the most choice restrictions, and save the component with the biggest selection for last.

Neutral Carpet Colors

Neutral colors are consistently the biggest sellers in carpeting. Carpet makes a big impact on a room, and bright color in a large room can be overpowering. Another consideration is that replacing carpet is expensive, and unless you have the resources to change the carpet every few years to keep up with trends it's best to keep the floor color neutral. Use brighter or bolder colors in other design elements of the room; paint the walls, use colorful cushions, bedding, and smaller accent pieces such as art and lamps. You can also use colorful throw rugs on your floors.

Berber Flecks

Choosing a flecked color instead of a solid one is another way to incorporate personality into your carpet. Flecks of color in a carpet are known as Berber, and they often come in a looped style of carpeting. Generally, carpets with Berber flecks are found in neutral tones with darker colors used for the flecks. This carpeting is visually appealing, as well as being quite practical. It can hide bits of lint or dirt that can be found on carpets in between vacuuming. A Berber may be a good choice for you if you don't have time to constantly vacuum but don't like seeing pieces of fuzz on your carpet.