To be devastated with my new carpet

[Justalittlelemondrizzle]

Had a new carpet fitted on my landing and stairs today. It looked darker in the shop than it looks on my stairs. So it's a mid/light grey. But it looks blue. I hate it. I'm devastated. We can't afford to buy another carpet so I was wondering if there was anything we could do to tone down the blueness. We have off white walls throughout and light oak laminate in the hall. It looks fine upstairs but on the actual stairs it looks hideous. Any ideas?

We have the exact same carpet throughout our house - lounge, stairs and landing and both bedrooms and tbf it does look different colous in different lights but it's definitely grey!

Perhaps devasted may not be quite the right word, but I understand how the OP feels. It is a horrible feeling when you spend good money on something and it doesn't look as nice as you imagine. I don't really like my hall carpet but it has grown on me. Hopefully you will get used to it

Okay, it's possible that the wall colour might be affecting how it looks - so you could look into changing that, although you'd need an expert to advise what paint colour tones down blue (there will be one though!)

Alternatively, ask yourself (and answer honestly) is it conceivable that someone might come into your house and see that carpet and assume that you actually chose it that colour? If so, there's probably nothing wrong with the colour, just that it looks 'wrong' to you as it is not what you expected/wanted. Give it 2 weeks before doing anything, and chances are you will never notice it again. I've had to do this with loads of decorating/DIY decisions I've made including carpets, wall colour, position of new windows, kitchen unit colour etc etc.

Really. You are devastated over carpet?? It looks fine.

Looks dark grey to me too, you'll get used to it I'm sure.

Too late now but a tip for any future carpet purchases, when we ordered our carpet I asked the shop if I could borrow the carpet colour chart to select the right shade. I then tried different shades in different rooms, sounds very ott but we were having 3 bedrooms, hall and landing done £££. Love my carpet though and didnt care if the shop thought I was bonkers!

At least the carpet is on your stairs and not in your living room or your bedrooms.

I agree with pp that changing the paint on the walls will make the carpet on the stairs look a different shade. It is difficult to know what colour to suggest, but if you take home a load of colour charts and hold them against the carpet you will probably find the right colour. You'd need to work out whether the carpet colour is warm/cool/etc and then choose shades from that group. It may be that very light grey (from the right group) on the walls would make the carpet look more grey. Or maybe take the carpet off the stairs, and just have varnished wood stairs, although that might look odd with the wood downstairs.

Whatever bulb you have upstairs where it looks grey, buy the same for downstairs

Good carpet shops should let you take samples home - stared at ours the AGES in different lights/with different furniture & fabrics etc. Ended up choosing a completely different carpet than I’d imagined.

Looks browner upstairs and greyer/bluer downstairs. Figure out why - what is the lighting doing - and see if you can adjust. Both shades look totally fine, though.

It's grey.

🙈 Devastated?

Good grief.

🙈 Devastated?

Good grief

A new carpet is a BIG spend for some of us, so yes it's pretty devastating to get it wrong if you've waited years to afford it and it'll be years before you can afford to change it again

GreyPoncho: Whatever bulb you have upstairs where it looks grey, buy the same for downstairs.

This ^

You'll get used to it. I suppose it's quite different to what you had before? Give it a week or two and you won't notice. I've had similar decorating and flooring regrets too but the dislike/disappointment has always passed quickly.

Half the photos you see online of 'grey' are actually blue, green or purple... I don't get people calling things grey that aren't grey! Maybe because 'grey' is fashionable? Grey is a mixture of black and white, not other colours!

Your carpet looks fine to be but is obviously blue.

Yes i am devastated. We've waited a few years to get a new carpet. It is in the most prominent area of the house.

We have energy saving bulbs upstairs and down as far as I can see.

Given how expensive my carpet was, I understand "devastated" very well. Even though I love blue and can't understand folk who don't like blue. What is it about blue-haters. MIL loves brown & hates blue. I blanche at brown but love blue.

It looks medium grey to me or brown in every picture.

It is probably just the change, give it a few days to see if it grows on you.

I would be devastated if I did something really expensive like re carpet the house and then didn't like it!

It’s definitely grey upstairs. It’s a nice colour, you will get used to it.

Grey is weird like this. I used the same grey paint in my downstairs loo as my hall way and the loo looks a gorgeous pale shade of muddy grey, so I put it in hall and yup it looks heather coloured and very different.

i'd be gutted if i didnt like my carpet that i'd saved up for and waited years for too!

It looks blue on the stairs to me too, although grey upstairs. Might it look more grey if you paint the stairs wall a bit grey-ish off white maybe?

You will get used to it though, even if it does look blue.

Just walk up and down your stairs in your outdoor shoes for a month and it won't look remotely blue anymore. That's the joy of an area of carpet with heavy footfall - if you want a grey carpet, all's well and good in the long run.

I didn't realise until recently that some light bulbs are a cold white and others a warm white. I prefer the warm white ones as it changes the light in the room. Could you change the light bulbs perhaps to warm white and see if that makes a difference. Perhaps also a warmer paint colour in the hall. If you have a small decorating shop nearby see if you can get some advice. My local one is quite amenable to suggesting different paint colours and what goes with what.

I think in a few days you'll stop seeing it and won't notice it so much, but I understand. You looked forward to getting it and it hasn't turned out to how you want and it's feeling like stress and money now.

Any of these pages help:

www.houzz.com/discussions/4574853/new-grey-carpet-looks-blue

www.houzz.com/discussions/1177575/my-new-grey-carpet-reads-very-blue-need-some-advice

I few things I've read said to bring out the grey add more grey to the room, perhaps by painting grey, but it seems a common problem with grey in terms of carpet, paint, upholstery. I've often read grey and look like lilac under some lights. Depends also on which direction the room is facing.

Devastated!..how you would feel if something genuinely bad happened to you.

Did you get a sample to bring home before you purchased? If you buy without you run the risk of either not liking it, or it not matching your existing furniture.

Its also a good idea to keep a sample overnight as the change from day to night changes the shade and colour - what looks good at 2pm looks awful at 10pm.

That said, I think your carpet looks good,