Hall carpet – what will cope with four kids?

[KristinaM]

We are getting to replace our hall carpet on the house insurance after a burst pipe . Currently we have the patterned one (which I hate) left by the last owners and I never thought we would have the money to replace it. This one REALLY REALLY needs to last about 15 years.

So I need advice please on what kind of carpet will withstand a man, four children and their friends? When we moved in we sanded the floorboards downstairs and that has worked really well. Hall stairs are concrete though not wood so need a carpet. Upstairs I put plain carpets in the bedrooms and have been really disappointed in how grubby they got quite quickly, even though we wear slippers indoors.

So?.if I put a dark plain carpet on the hall it will show every piece of fluff and never look clean. If I put a light plain carpet it will get grubby quickly. But I?ve not seen a patterned carpet that I like ? they all seem a bit old fashioned IYKWIM. And I?m also worried that if I get a modern pattern ( if such a thing exists) that it will look really dated in five years. HELP!!!

Can you put seagrass matting on stairs? I'm not sure whether you can but I'd recommend it for 'high traffic' areas - we inherited some when we moved here and it looks brand new, yet the natural coloured carpet we put in 18 months ago looks terrible already.

My mother always swore by "something mud coloured" Our hall carpet when I was growing up was always some shade of pale milk chocolate and it seemed to withstand 3 children and a dog fairly well.

By contrast, the pristine beige carpet on our current landing and stairs is awful with just 2 small children. And it was pristine when we moved in despite the previous owners having 4 children! The downstairs is laminate.

Mud coloured sounds good, soupy!

Dark blue or dark green with a subdued pattern should hide the marks but not look fluffy. A friend who also has 4 children got a dark blue one with widely scattered dots (IYSWIM - in her living room she had the same carpet with little bunches of flowers scattered about and the hall one had the dots, or flecks or specks or whatever you want to call them, instead). That works very well.

Our stairs are carpeted and the hall was too, but the carpet was disgracefully dirty (nobody ever seems to wipe their feet) so we lifted it and put laminate down instead. You could do that!

Why don't you put wood in the hallway, then carpet the stairs? It could either be a cheaper wood laminate, or you could go for real wood or parque. Then by the time you get to the stairs shoes will be off and the colour won't be so difficult to choose. If you really want the warmth of a carpet in the hall, then you could put a rug down on the wood?

Personally I don't like patterned carpets, they make spaces looker smaller than they are, and just look too busy.

DON'T go for dark blue. It shows everything! You've no idea how much white dust/fluff is lying around! (but it does look good just after it's been hooevered! !)

We've had blue in both our last flat and our current house and it's a nightmare. We inherited them - and the plan is to change to something more pratical as soon as we have finished all the "building" work in the house. We've finaally (after 5 years) done the kitchen (involved putting in a window), but we still need to put a door in to the old kitchen and finish ripping out the old units and re-do the plaster work.

Lay Amtico or something like that - easy to clean and will last for ages!!

We have quite neutral carpet all through our house (except kitchen) and Ihate it - looks lovely but spend sooo much time on my knees trying to scrub marks out of it - having it professionally cleaned before DS arrives though just in time to cathc the hoards of visitors and baby sick!!

Wood / Laminate is very hard wearing - have it in our hall - would never have carpet again

Kristina - I too have 4 kids/husband/friends coming in and out all day. We have wood everywhere but carpet on the stairs. We laid it last year; it is striped, palish softish colours and looks quite contemporary, yet classic enough not to date too quickly. It is also very tough (like you I am not planning on changing it any time soon ). The manufacturer is called something like Louis de Portere, and various permutations of colourways are available. I find it copes brilliantly with mud (if people "forget" to take their shoes off), babysick/dribble, etc. I think the key is to find something you like with some element of colour variation; that's what hides stains the best.

You could try a loopy pile 2 colour thing like I have - it's called Tivoli Cocoa, is quite dark sort of brown and beigey combined and doesn't show the dirt at all tho I only have on stairs and bedrooms and landing. I got it from a company called Mr Carpet here if you called them they would snd you a sample I'm sure

I would agree with others - have wood or matting nearest to the front door even if you have to carpet the stairs. I have four kids and our carpet is disgusting, but only round the door and where I used to park the pram. The stairs, although close to the door, don't seem to get the dirt.

We've just replaces our hall carpet with wood effect lino and it's fab. People can't believe it's not wood. We are so pleased with it and it alot harder wearing than carpet. Going to get the stairs and landing carpeted but having the walls plastered 1st!!!!

Thank you for the suggestions. Sorry i wasnt very clear - we already have sanded floorboards in the hall between front door and stairs. i need something to go up stairs and on half and top landing, outside bedrooms. Stairs are concrete not wood so i cant have a runner.

Twinkie - thats just what i want to avoid - life is too short for scrubbing carpets!!!

Enid - How do you clean seagrass matting? Is it like a doormat? ( sorry if this is a stupid question!)

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Hi Kristina! Sorry, can't offer specific advice but am watching this thread with interest, as we have to replace a stairs and landing carpet sometime soon. I do agree with Prettybird, who said don't go for dark blue - that's what we inherited and it's awful for showing the dirt...

personally I wouldn't go for sea grass. True it is hardwearing and doesn't show the dirt but that doesn't mean it's not there. We had it (inherited) in our old flat and I hated the way that when you spilles something, cat was sick etc it just slipped irretrievably down into the grooves - really unhygienic.
If your staires are concrete it would be really easy to lay wood, laminate or tiles on top. Be a bit wary though - wooden stairs are slippery.