Are carpets old fashioned/dated/naf?

[Kstar8]

We are going to lay laminate flooring throughout downstairs so it's easy to clean and looks smart. However, we like carpet upstairs for warmth underfoot and also for sound proofing as its annoying hearing people stomp around upstairs.

But is carpet naf now? We went around a couple of big chains and all of the poly carpets look shiny or bland. The 50% wool 50% poly looks better but we can't help wondering if we are renovating our house to then turn it back into an 80s style home by ruining it with carpet.

Are we behind the times? (We don't have net curtains so are fairly progressive )

[RatOnnaStick]

Whatever you put down is going to be there for some years so you might as well like it. Don't be swayed by what others have.

[RiverTam]

I wouldn't dream of having anything but carpet upstairs (though I wouldn't dream of having laminate flooring either!). You can certainly get decent quality carpets but they're not cheap.

[Kstar8]

Very true rat!
Rivertam We are looking at spending a decent amount on carpet but must have looked at over 150 samples today and still feel ambivalent about all of them! We don't want pure wool as they are a nightmare to clean.
I didn't think I liked laminate but we've found several that look like real wood and with children/spills/me knocking a drink over every month we want something that's easy to clean.

[tittysprinkles]

We've just gone for a Berber loop 50/50 in our upstairs. We had it in a previous rental flat and it withstood 7 years of footfall (3 of those with children) extremely well. Stains seemed to scrub out well too. Cormar make a variety of shades and styles.

John Lewis sell their carpets under the JL brand if you want to have a look at them in the flesh so to speak.

[tittysprinkles]

www.cormarcarpets.co.uk/product_livingnaturals/product_livingnaturals.php

[Kstar8]

Thanks so much tittysprinkles (what a name!). Those are exactly the kind we have been looking at but not those brands so we will go hunting tomorrow (JL and carpet right close by).
Glad to hear they weren't too hard to clean as well. I won't be allowed to carry a cup of tea upstairs otherwise! Thanks!

[ABetaDad1]

We have wooden floors throughout our house but stairs and landing and very top floor attic children's rooms we have a plain fawn carpet with underlay. It is there to stop noise and warm on their feet.

Wooden floors are very noisy if you have children although nice to look at.

[BackforGood]

I wouldn't dream of having anything other than carpet, except in bathroom and (possibly) kitchen.
If I were looking to buy a house, I'd factor in the cost (and hassle) of having to get it carpeted if it wasn't already, in any offer I made).
however, if you are decorating to live i it, then get whatever you like - it doesn't have to follow any 'fashion' or trend, it's all about what suits you best.

[tittysprinkles]

These are the cormar carpets that JL sell. I think they only sell the 100% wool ones but you can get an idea of the quality and colours.

Cormar's living naturals range is all 50/50 I think and you can order samples from their website. We've just gone for the palomino which is a lovely neutral colour. Currently enjoying the new carpet smell as it was only fitted 3 days ago!

[Kstar8]

Thanks for all your comments. Tittysprinkles you've given us exactly what we're looking for

[Orangeanddemons]

Why are 100% wool carpets a nightmare to clean? Ours aren't. Wool repels dirt.

[Kennington]

We just have wood everywhere with rugs
So much easier to clean
Carpets do start to smell and are really tough to clean
I think it is a British thing though to have wall to wall carpets as I don't know any other Europeans - thinking France greece Germany or scandi that have carpets - why not?

[GoldPlatedBacon]

I have laminate in every room in my rented flat. It's handy in tge respect that I have a crawling baby who is often sick so it's quick to wipe up her mess but I find it a pita as I need to hoover and mop every night (dust shows up and I have a crawling baby). I also find it hard to clean laminate without leaving water marks.

When I buy I'll have carpet upstairs but I'll probably keep downstairs as wood/tile or laminate.

[Orangeanddemons]

It's a British thing as its so cold here. I wouldn't want a carpet if I lived in Greece, but a carpet helps to insulate. I have wood downs stairs and carpets upstairs, but I find the wood rooms much colder than the carpeted ones.

[Madbengalmum]

A good carpet shouldn't smell. It is very easy to look after and keep clean. I have Brintons pure wool axminster and it looks stunning. I wouldnt have it in hall,kitchen or bathrooms but for lounge and bedrooms it is superb and extremely hard wearing,yes expensive but it lasts forever and is bombproof.

[RiverTam]

Carpets don't smell! Personally I don't get the obsession with wooden floors, they are hard and cold underfoot and make rooms echoey and do nothing to absorb sound. Maybe continental houses and flats are better constructed.

[whattodoforthebest2]

Carpets are lovely, thick and warm underfoot, especially with good underlay. I've bought lots online from Burt's carpets (carpetremnantsonline.co.uk). They do huge remnants of Cormar and other top brands, much much cheaper than JL or Carpetright. Underlay and gripper-rods etc are cheapest on ebay, Carpetright underlay is awful and overpriced IMO. Cumulus underlay is great.

I have carpets on stairs and landings and in bedrooms, waxed floorboards in the living room and tiles in bathrooms and kitchen. Mind you, I'm in an old house with fireplaces and sash windows, so I need all the insulation I can get.

[Kstar8]

Interesting comments! Went to John Lewis today and saw one that we liked. It seems there is a lot of carpet that is made for different stores but it's all the same. We found the same type of carpet (exactly the same) in Carpet Right and Tapi Carpets being sold under the John Lewis own brand just as tittysprinkles said yesterday.
It was also at least £1 per sq m cheaper in JL who I would rather buy from anyway.

Still a maddening weekend getting in a state over whether the carpet compliments the paint we've chosen. We change our minds every ten minutes!

[LikeASoulWithoutAMind]

We've always had wool carpets and never found cleaning them a problem.

I much prefer carpet upstairs. Downstairs I like wood, although carpet can be nice in a living room, especially if you have very small kids and are hence sat on the floor a lot

[MackerelOfFact]

Carpets are coming back I think (although they never really went away). Laminate is quite a 90s/00s thing but I think people have realised that getting cold feet, walking on a crumb-crunchy floor with visible dust bunnies plus the noise and slipperiness of laminate/wood flooring isn't for everyone.

I have a mixture of wood, carpet and stone. Having lived in properties with 100% wood floors, I'm so glad to have a carpeted bedroom and hall!

[Kstar8]

The laminate we are going for looks like engineered wood, it really does. After reading many mumsnet threads on how engineered wood scratches and dents easily and real wood is a lot of effort (plus expense) we are happy to go for a handsome laminate! It will have a very good quality underlay underneath and we will have a large rug in the front room anyway.

I was wary of 100% wool carpets as my MIL has had it in too houses as spilt tea which stained and would not budge at all. I wondered if a wool poly mix would be better but I can see several people here have said they had no issue cleaning pure wool?

[Whathaveilost]

I had laminate flooring fir a while. Never ever again. Just awful. Noisy,cold and not that great to keep clean. It just seemed to attract dust.
I left it a reasonable period to try and justify the cost and replaced it with carpet.
I don't care if 'somebody ' thinks it's naff ( what the hell anyway? ) I'm more than pleased I have carpet down.

[Orangeanddemons]

Well, tea is acidic, so it may stain a natural fibre, as the fluid actually gets absorbed into the structure of the wool fibre. BUT, it will resist surface dirt and marks, but may struggle with liquid. Polyester isn't at all absorbent, so if it's a mix it may resist it a bit.

I second the thing about laminate being harder to keep clean. If we didn't Hoover it every other day, we'd get huge dust bunnies, that just kept growing in size

[GruffaloMoggy]

Ive got the Cormar 'sensation' carpet.
Its £24.99 per s.m, (though they rename it) in Carpetright.
I got it for £12.99 per s.m in my local carpet shop on an industrial.site.
Free delivery.

All my Cloud9 underlay was bought online & cost £2.49, per s.m, In carpetright its 8.99 per s.m!

[MarshaMallow84]

We have hard flooring downstairs. Tiny house, high footfall; children, dogs etc it's perfect because I can wipe clean and carry on. I do agree it does show the dust, dirt and dog hair worse than a carpet though. I sweep/Hoover at least three times a day. Upstairs we have carpet and I wouldn't have it any other way. Much cosier and the reduced footfall etc means it doesn't get as dirty.