Need help choosing carpet

[flutterbye88]

Hello!
I need to choose a carpet for my new family home ASAP
Would love any recommendations. (I've never bought a carpet before)

The decor of the house will be boho chic
.. so probs a creamy coloured carpet (we'll add rugs)

I have a toddler so something durable/easy to clean

something that feels nice to walk on.

Something around £12 pm2

A friend recommended Corsa Berber 100% Wool Carpet, she loves it.
Another friend just got the same carpet and dislikes it because of the texture.

I'm confused!!

All recommendations would be very very welcomed!
Thanks :) x

This is the berber carpet my friends mentioned. I do love the look of it. Oatmeal with flecks.

Go to somewhere like carpetsonline and have some samples sent over. Free and so you can see what you're getting. Underlay is arguably a more important choice, get something half decent.

We've have a great underlay recommendation :)

We no longer have time for samples! We're in the middle of renovation madness with a very tight deadline. We need to move out of rental and into new house in 10 days. We have a fitter booked in 9 days! I wish we had a lot longer so I could chose and see things at my leisure. But I don't so shouting out for help from the lovely mamas of mumsnet :) xx

if you have a cat (or are thinking of having one) they can claw up berber carpet loops, get their claws stuck, make a horrid mess.... Also vomit gets stuck in the loops. I would never have a berber carpet again!

I got a good quality non-wool carpet when i had little dc's and a hairy dog. It was scrubbable, bleachable and red wine proof.

Berber is very hard underfoot, not what you want.

I'd look for a heather (this just means it's flecked with different tones of the colour you choose, which helps to hide any bits between vacuuming) in the Saxony style, which has a shortish pile, but will feel nice underfoot. For ease of cleaning, look for polypropylene, most can be bleach cleaned!

Sorry, I should have said Twist style, the Saxony has a longer pile, which is lovely for bedrooms!

I agree re the looped style - the cats are making a mess of my lovely stair carpet sadly....

We've got Cormar which feels lovely but run a mile as it shrinks!!!!!

i wouldnt go for cream with a baby we moved into a new build house with cream carpets and dont have any small children and i spent most of my tme on my hands and knees trying to keep the dammed thing clean we have saxony in our bedroom and its lovely underfoot

Go for a nice thick soft pile. Don't get the berber one, you will regret it, it's not nice to walk on. Saxony carpets are nice feel. Look at carpet right, there's a lot of reviews on their website

Mine is more expensive than the £12 you quoted but not by much, I have 100% polyprop which is incredibly soft underfoot and unlike polyprop carpets used to be. It is bleach cleanable which is perfect when you have children/pets/clumsy adults ie me and Dh

Mine is Associated Weavers Invictus range, I believe I have Orion in the bedrooms/stairs/landing and Sirius in the lounge. The lounge one is thicker and leaves footprints and hoover lines but I love it. It has been down 3 years and still looks great.

This is the most rubbish official website for it but here it is invictus.co.uk/carpet/the-collection/orion

OP I just had loads of samples arrive today and am so overwhelmed and also need to choose quickly!

My colour scheme is grey (shoot me MN) so my samples are probably of no use to you or I’d post some pics.

It’s so hard. Would love to hear your underlay recommendation?

80/20 mix twist pile with flecks in would be my suggestion

Thanks so much for all your replies. I've defo decided against the Berber then! I'm cutting it fine but I've ordered a load of Saxony and Associated Weavers upon your advice :)

I'm now doubting my underlay choice as it comes from the same friend that recommended Berber. Has anyone got a great tip? Thanks again xx

@allOnTheBenchOfDoom Thanks for your tips. I looked on the Invictus webby - so funny!! The carpets look lush though. Can't wait to receive the Orion sample. I think it could be 'the one'. Which underlay did you use? x

@Sonofapizzaman It's so hard to chose isn't it! I realise now my friend was sending me the most natural products, so the underlay was lovely and natural but probs not the most plush underfoot. So I still need to find a good underlay. Have you found anything yet? x X

We’re just going to go for the thickest underlay available which looks to be 12mm. We’re going for a low/middle of the range carpet which isn’t as thick as I’d like so hopefully this will make all the difference.

Unfortunately I think we’ll need to have our new doors removed to plane some off the bottom for the new thicker carpet/underlay combo.

No advice re carpet as we have Berber (confirm the cat does pull it up!) currently.

But underlay wise Cloud 9 and Tredaire come very highly recommended on most forums (I have Cloud 9!).

I've just chosen a berber in a heather (so a mix of neutral colours, quite similar to your photo) for all the bedrooms. I disagree that it isn't nice to walk on, I think it is really nice and gives texture without looking dated. We don't have cats though, and were are (hopefully!) past the poo and vomit stage with DC (though DS1 is approaching the teenage years and I know that I took a while to learn what my booze limit was).

Some carpets can be cleaned with bleach, which would make them very practical for you. A friend has that in her playroom.

A good underlay makes all the difference! Could you go in to carpet right? Or any other carpet store of course. They could advise a lot better in person and you could have a feel of the underlay. The thicker underlay the better! No point having expensive decent carpet, if the under lay is cheap. Don't get anything under 8mm. Depending on your house, doors, 12mm could be too thick, which is why it's best to go in and speak to someone, you may even be able to get advise over the phone