Hey all,

Recently got my first house and have started decorating to make it look a little fresher. Have gone for the basic white ceilings and magnolia walls which I think is quite clean and fresh looking but what colour carpet for the living/dining room and the hall/stairs area?

I know it’s a silly question really but I have never done this before and I would like a bit of help from those more experienced!!!

Will

go for vinyl.

doesnt burn the same and has the added bonus that you can mop up spills easier!

We went for one of those carpets where the fibres are looped over as they are harder wearing and the pile doesnt alter where there is lots of people walking over it. Colourwise, its got about three shades of brown and cream in it, excellent at disguising marks from the bikes which is handy as the back door opens directly onto the carpet. Recently found it doesnt hide engine oil walked across it very well, but it all came out after 5 minutes with some spray on carpet cleaner 🙂

(we also have white ceiling/magnolia walls, goes well with the brown)

I think that you’ll find that cream shag-pile is very 2009, shame you’ve painted the walls as turning it up one wall is uber fashionable.

We have oak laminate downstairs and a beigy coloured carpet upstairs. If you are likely to do bike maintenance in the house, avoid carpet downstairs as it’s as not easy to get stains out!

I second laminate flooring, looks good and is much easier to keep clean especially with pets/kids/mtb’ers. Get a cheap rug from ikea to spice things up a bit.

Magnolia walls are quite dull though, try painting one wall a feature colour, you can use some quite bold colours as its only one area. Get some old picture frames and paint them the same colour to hang on the other walls to co-ordinate, then put your favourite mtb pics / topless models / ferrari photo in them.

Sorry but laminate flooring went out of fashion about 9 years ago, its cheap tat. In terms of carpet I would keep it lightish, something sandy or oatmeal coloured – don’t go too light though.

Agree with Gary about the laminate, clattery hell.

If you are a mucky sod like me, consider a slightly darker shade of whatever you see/like in the showroom, otherwise sandy/oatmeal coloured will go with your walls and ceilings.

Loop pile – my cats love pulling at them, cheap versions do flatten down with use though, worth considering though if you get a decent version, ours is nearly 15 years old and has been abused, but still looks and smells good 😉

Slate tile, qué carpet 😉

Slate tile, only if the op likes being very cold.

Cold… Did insulation not cross the channel;) ?
For the same temperature on the outside I was colder in my carpeted room in UK than I am in my tile room now.

Thanks for all the input folks.

40mpg-I have one piece of wall which juts out a bit and I was thinking of doing that a different colour as a sort of feature-hadnt thought of the frames idea though! Cheers!

sandy/oatmeal might be the way i go with the carpet. I would love wood or maybe even tiles but I think that will work out much more expensive!

Looks like a few more trips to teh floor stores are in order….

go to the showroom, and borrow some samples of what you are thinking about. They may look very different in your room due to different light, natural vs light bulbs etc

Another tip…
It’s much cheaper to find a carpet fitter, and arrange for him to do the fitting and supply the underlay grippers etc. Mine even picked the carpet up for me as he works one day a week for the carpet showroom.

Did insulation not cross the channel

How does insulation stop a stone floor being cold?

Orange sunflowers.
Nice big ones.
Make sure it’s 100% acrylic though. None of this natural muck.

Cheap(er) carpet, decent (relatively) underlay.

Neutral colours and rugs to brighten the room up.

Just don’t get a light single-colour one, unless you enjoy cleaning stains – 2nd house i’m in now with a pale green carpet in the hallway, gets trashed far too easily!