Carpet for family room
How to Choose the Best Carpet for a Living Room
By
Cheryl Simmons
Cheryl Simmons
Cheryl Simmons is a flooring expert who grew up in the flooring industry, working in her family's retail store since her youth. She has written nearly 100 articles for The Spruce, mainly covering everything having to do with carpeting from colors and filaments to runners to area rugs.
Learn more about The Spruce's Editorial Process
Updated on 03/23/21
The Spruce
A living room often serves as the social hub of a home, bringing family members together to talk, play, or relax. However, because of all that playing and relaxing, the flooring choice might be more important than in, say, the kitchen—after all, babies aren't often scooting across the kitchen floor or taking falls when learning to walk nor are teens sprawling across the dining room floor while watching a movie.
Therefore, it can be quite important that living room floor is soft, comfortable, and cozy. Beyond that, though, durability, ease of cleaning, construction, and even color can make a big impact on choosing the besting carpeting for the living room.
Here are six factors to consider when choosing a carpet for your living room.
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01 of 06
Durability
Because of the high-traffic nature of the family room, the carpet should be durable. Aside from stairs and hallways, family room floors typically receive the hardest use of any floor in the home. To ensure that your carpet will stand up to the wear and tear of everyday family life, look for a high-quality carpet that features a good wear warranty.
When shopping for the best carpet for the living room, quick test the quality of the product by bending the sample backward.
If the backing easily shows, the low-density carpet is of lower quality and will crush faster. A carpet's durability is measured in face weight, tuft twist, and density rating. Look for a 34- to 40-ounce face weight, a tuft twist of 5 or more, and a density rating of 2,000 or higher. Additionally, note the difference between Bulked Continuous Filament (BCF) or staple fibers. The latter sheds more easily, which requires more vacuuming.
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02 of 06
Fiber Options
The carpet fiber that you choose for the living room floor affects both the look and the durability of the carpet. Options include:
- Nylon: The most resilient carpet fiber, but it must be treated with a stain protector occasionally. The softest and strongest type is 6.6 nylon.
- Triextra: A fairly new type of fiber that's partially derived from corn sugar. It has superior anti-stain properties and is also resilient. However, because it hasn't been around as long as nylon, there isn't yet a basis for comparison.
- Polyester: Also known as PET, this fiber is stain-resistant and cushy under the feet. However, it's also hard to clean, sheds, and doesn't last as long as other options. It will feel good on your feet, but it's not ideal for high-traffic areas.
- Olefin: Inexpensive and resists fading, staining, and mildew. It's not as durable or long-lasting as nylon, but it's a good option for high-traffic areas.
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03 of 06
Ease of Cleaning
Because the family room is one of the most-used rooms in the home, spills tend to happen with greater frequency here than in most other rooms except the kitchen. Having flooring that is easy to clean will make life in your family room much less anxious.
Consider a living room carpet that features a lifetime stain warranty. For best possible peace of mind, look for a carpet that has a “no exclusion” policy—meaning that substances commonly excluded from most stain warranties (such as pet accidents or bleach) are fully covered.
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04 of 06
Carpet Construction
The construction of carpet can make a difference in the look of the living room. Construction factors include pile and style.
- Pile: Cut piles are also known as plush, while uncut piles are looped. Other options include a patterned loop, which has loops of multiple heights, and cut and loop, which creates a pattern.
- Style: Cut pile styles include smooth, texture, twist (also known as frieze), and shag. Smooth style looks the most formal, while twist and shag are the most casual. Loop pile styles include level loop, also known as berber—which is ideal for a high-traffic area because of its density—and patterned loop.
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05 of 06
Fiber Softness
If your family typically ends up spending a lot of time on the floor, whether for playing board games or having sleep-overs, the softness of the carpet may be an important consideration.
Most manufacturers today have a line of “soft” carpets, which feature much finer fibers than traditional carpet fibers. Softness can also be achieved with the carpet cushion placed beneath the carpet. Many believe that, in order to be durable, an underpad must be quite firm. This is not necessarily true; however, it is possible to achieve a balance between softness and durability. Modern "memory foam" carpet padding can offer the best of both worlds—great durability as well as softness.
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06 of 06
Color Selection
Selecting a color is a subjective decision. The carpet color you choose depends not only on your personal taste and décor style, but also on considerations such as the intended use of the room, the natural light exposure in the room, and possibly even the color of your pets (a carpet with a color that doesn't show pet hair can be a real advantage).
Bold color choices can be fun but often become outdated. Neutral-colored carpets, including beige and gray, don't go out of style.
Warm colors, such as beige or red, create a cozy ambiance and hide stains.
Shop Smart
When shopping for carpet, get at least three estimates to ensure that you're getting the best deal. Verify the quality of installation, as poor seaming, bad stretching, and a too-thin pad will ruin the look of new carpet.
Choosing the perfect carpet for your living room
In this guide, we cover:
- Carpets vs vinyl, laminate and hardwood for the living room
- Best carpet for high traffic areas
- Best carpet for pets
- Best carpet to hide stains and spills
- Berber carpets
- Average costs
- Colour options and ideas
- Best carpets for the living room
Carpets vs vinyl, laminate or hardwood for the living room
When choosing a carpet for the living room the first thing you need to ask yourself is whether a carpet is the right choice for you!
You need to consider:
- Your lifestyle and how you normally use your living room.
- What factors are ultimately the most important to you, whether it be aesthetics, ease of cleaning, price, how long the carpet will last and so on.
Families with young children sometimes prefer carpet in the living room because it’s safer than a hard floor and is better at hiding dirt and stains. If the living room is where your family spend a lot of the day, a carpet will keep the room warmer and give you more comfort than the alternatives.
In households where a harder floor isn’t so much of a concern, vinyl or hardwood is often chosen for its aesthetic benefits.
For a detailed comparison of different flooring options visit our flooring comparison page.
Carpet for high-traffic living rooms
When it comes to carpeting for high-traffic living rooms, the main aspect you want to be looking for is durability. Durability comes from the thickness of a carpet’s pile, the way the fabric fibres have been cut and the material the carpet is made out of.
Durability is incredibly important for carpets in high-traffic areas because a low-durability carpet could quickly become damaged and need replacing.
All household carpets in the UK are graded according to durability. If your sroom is high-traffic you want to be looking for heavy domestic or extra-heavy domestic.
| Best carpet for high-traffic living rooms | ||
|---|---|---|
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Gala Berber Loop |
£12.55 m2 |
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Rustic Wool Berber Loop |
£14.99m2 |
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Temple Tones |
£12.99m2 |
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| Best carpet for high-traffic living rooms |
|---|
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Gala Berber Loop |
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Rustic Wool Berber Loop |
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Temple Tones |
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Living room carpet for pets
As adorable as pets are, they can wreak havoc on your carpet! Sometimes a sticky claw or an “accident” stain can leave a carpet in a pretty bad state. Here’s a couple of quick tips when choosing a carpet when you’ve got a pet.
- Dark colours – perfect for concealing pet hair and dirt! Plus it makes large rooms feel much cosier.
- Nylon – provides an incredible amount of durability; perfect for your active pets.
- Polyester – very stain-resistant; great if you’ve got a puppy or kitten who hasn’t been fully toilet trained yet.
- Frieze cut pile – contains short, durable fibres that hide a lot of dirt and hair.
Find out more about choosing the right carpet for your pet by visiting our guide: pet-proofing your carpet
| Best living room carpet for pets | ||
|---|---|---|
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Volante Deep Pile Saxony |
£8.96 m2 |
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Imagination Deep Pile Saxony |
£23.99m2 |
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Soft Romance Deep Pile Saxony |
£15.00m2 |
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| Best living room carpet for pets |
|---|
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Volante Deep Pile Saxony |
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Imagination Deep Pile Saxony |
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Soft Romance Deep Pile Saxony |
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Carpet that hides stains and spills
If you have young children, practicality might be your main consideration when buying a carpet. You should look for darker colours to hide any spillages or stains. There are several styles of carpets which are incredibly stain-resistant, while still keeping a luxurious look and feel.
The most practical choices are:
- Polypropylene – quickly becoming the most popular material for home carpets. It’s stain-resistant, resists fading and is very affordable!
- Wool – extremely soft and rich in appearance and is a natural way to hide stains. Considered top-of-the-line, it’s the perfect combination of luxury and practicality.
- Looped – a low profile and higher density construction than most, making this a great all-round performer.
| Best living room carpets that hide stains | ||
|---|---|---|
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Glamour Flash Deep Pile Saxony Carpet |
£9.99m2 |
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Noble Deep Pile Saxony Carpet |
£10.99m2 |
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Splendour Twist Pile |
£21. |
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99m2| Best living room carpets that hide stains |
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Glamour Flash Deep Pile Saxony Carpet |
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Noble Deep Pile Saxony Carpet |
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Splendour Twist Pile |
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Berber carpets are often a great choice for the living room
Berber is known to be a very versatile and affordable way to carpet your living room. It comes in a variety of quality and can complement many types of décor.
Berber is a looped style of carpet. Originally available solely in light colours, you can now find Berber carpet in darker shades too. It is extremely durable and due to the looped nature of the fibre, it doesn’t lose its shape when walked on. Plus it’s great at repelling stains.
Basically, if you’re looking for a top all-round choice for your living room, Berber is the option for you. For more information, see our guide to Berber carpets.
| Best Berber carpets | ||
|---|---|---|
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Dapple Berber Loop |
£6.99 m2 |
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Bastille Berber Loop |
£7.16m2 |
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Orient Berber Loop |
£19.99m2 |
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| Best Berber carpets |
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Dapple Berber Loop |
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Bastille Berber Loop |
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Orient Berber Loop |
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Average costs
The average cost of a living room carpet for a medium sized home is around £260.
However, you can carpet a medium-sized living room for as little as £50 if you choose one from the lower end of the range.
For a detailed breakdown of costs per size of room visit our carpet costs page.
Colour options and ideas
Colour can often be one of the hardest decisions to make. A colour change in a room can have a dramatic effect, good or bad. It’s often hard to imagine a colour over a wide space when looking at a small piece of fabric.
Lighter colours are a respectable choice when choosing carpets and can add some dramatic class to your living room. However, you will need to assess your lifestyle before purchasing. Are you prone to spills or stains? Do you have kids or pets? If the answer is yes, light carpets may not be for you. Whilst looking luxurious, they don’t offer the same stain protection or hide the dirt nearly as well as neutral or darker colours. Maybe wait until the kids have moved out!
Dark colours can give a stylish, elegant look to your living room.
Combined with the right colour furniture and walls, a dark carpet can bring about a dramatic look. The main benefit of dark carpets is that they hide dirt much better than lighter colours.
Neutral colours are the biggest sellers in carpeting. This is because bright colours can overpower when spread out across vast spaces. Different bright colours can also come in and out of fashion in a matter of months and you don’t want to be stuck with a bright orange floor when we’ve all moved onto green! Neutral also means
For more colour tips and tricks visit our carpet colour guide
| Best carpets for the living room | ||
|---|---|---|
|
Opulance Twist Pile |
£12.99 m2 |
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Sandstorm Deep Pile Saxony |
£14.49m2 |
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Lambro Deep Pile Saxony |
£21.99 m2 |
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| Our favourite carpets for the living room |
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Opulance Twist Pile |
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Sandstorm Deep Pile Saxony |
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Lambro Deep Pile Saxony |
|
extra pillows, rug, dishes and more
From Masterweb
12.08.2019 01:42
Summer is coming to an inexorable end. The last summer month has already come into its own, which means that the new school year is just around the corner. Soon, newly minted students will go towards new knowledge. And, of course, they will have to live in a hostel for the first time. What do you need to take with you to a student hostel to make life as comfortable as possible?
Carpet
It may seem that a carpet in a student dormitory is an excess, but, in fact, it is not. It is very unpleasant to step on a cold floor barefoot. And the carpet will add warmth and comfort. It also absorbs sounds, which is very important in hostels, where sound insulation is usually lame.
Set of dishes
Even if you plan to eat at the university cafeteria or cafe, you should definitely take at least a minimum set of dishes (a cup and a couple of plates) with you.
Surely someday you will want to have a bite to eat in a room or in a shared kitchen with your friends. For dorms, choose unbreakable cookware that can be used in the microwave.
Cutlery
Be sure to bring at least a minimum set of cutlery with you. Most likely, they will not be in the kitchen in the hostel. And even if they are, you are unlikely to want to eat with a fork and spoon that no one knows how many people used.
Shower organizer
In student residences, showers are usually shared. That is, you will have nowhere to permanently place all your bath and cosmetic accessories. Therefore, you just need a convenient moisture-resistant organizer in which you will carry everything you need in the shower.
Multi Outlet
Do not rely on your dorm room to have enough outlets. Surely you and your neighbors will have to take turns in order to charge your smartphone. And you also need to connect a laptop, an electric kettle, a refrigerator, a table lamp and other appliances.
Thus, an extension cord for five or more outlets is simply a necessary purchase for those who plan to live in a student dormitory.
Mirror
Be sure to have a full-length mirror in your room so that you can keep your appearance neat. It is most convenient to place it on the door or on the closet.
"Storage bins"
In a small dorm room that you share with other students, you will certainly have problems with storage space for personal items. Take care of this and take the so-called "bunkers" with you. These are fabric-based folding boxes that do not take up much space, but are spacious.
Extra pillows
You will of course be provided with a pillow in the student residence. But don't expect it to be very comfortable. Most likely, it will be an old feather pillow, on which it is simply impossible to sleep. Thus, if you want to get enough sleep before lectures and don't want to suffer from neck pain, be sure to take additional orthopedic pillows that you are used to.
Noise Canceling Headphones
The hostel is quite noisy. Some neighbors listen to music, others watch a movie, talk loudly, and so on. If you want to immerse yourself in silence, it will not be easy. In this case, noise-canceling headphones will help you. If this is too expensive for you, then grab at least earplugs.
Table fan
It's almost 100% certain that your dorm room will not have air conditioning. Meanwhile, the room can get very stuffy. To keep the heat out of your workout, get a table fan. It is virtually silent, so it won't disturb your roommates. And you will feel a pleasant chill, which will help you to comprehend knowledge more easily.
How to make any interior luxurious: 12 tips from royal decorators
Tips Decor
Interior of a small living room in the Duke of Beaufort's Swangrove estate, Gloucestershire. Project by Robert Kyme.
- Photo
- Robert Kime
1.
The return of the carpet Prince Charles decorator Robert Kime believes that the carpet is the basis of any room: "I love buying them for the interior: they decorate the space." Carpets are laid on the floor not only one by one, but also on top of each other - this creates the effect of layering. They decorate the walls and use them as accents at the head of the bed or behind the sofa in the living room. You can look for vintage models or find a modern carpet with unusual knitting or with spectacular ornaments.
Project by designer Ulyana Boikova. On the wall is a Moooi carpet.
2. Art in the interior
The walls in the homes of British aristocrats are hung with paintings, old maps and vintage posters. Architect Ben Pentreath, who remodeled Kensington Palace for the Duchess of Cambridge, prefers to decorate rooms with woodcuts, photographs and paintings: "For me, real luxury is good art on the walls." Alas, this is not about family photos on the wall. If you do not have painting or graphics, take a closer look at young artists.
Walk through galleries, fairs and antique shops, find those works that affect your feelings and emotions. By the way, soon the Cosmoscow fair will be held in Moscow - do not be lazy and go personally, there are always a lot of new names there.
Apartment of collector Polina Askeri in Moscow. Project by Angelina Askeri. Living room. On the wall is a composition by Joe Young Kim, ceramics, Askeri Gallery.
- Photo
- SERGEY KRASYUK. Style: NATALYA ONUFREYCHUK
3. More textiles
Sofas with decorative pillows, tapestries on the walls, silk lampshades — the most luxurious homes are filled with fabrics. Resist the temptation to go for something too frilly or graphic, warns decorator Nicole Salvesen. Real luxury tends to be simple, not overly trendy in ornamentation (to be outdated by next season) and reasonably hardwearing.
Prince Charles, for example, is a fan of Robert Kyme's Indian and Persian-inspired fabrics in rich colors, while Ben Petrit favors simple fabrics in muted tones.
Interior of a house in Pimlico, London. Project by Robert Kyme.
- Photo
- Robert Kyme
4. More books
It's a real luxury these days to keep books at home, not their electronic versions. Let them not only stand in cabinets and shelves, but settle in the house and follow you from room to room. Replace glossy magazines with books on a table in the living room or bedside table, and see how the interior will take on a completely different atmosphere. You may soon be looking for a rare edition of Dostoevsky or Dickens, but the main thing is to read, and not just stockpile books. “The worst thing is rows of freshly bought, never opened volumes,” designer Nicky Haslam grimaces.
Apartment in Paris. Designed by Jean Benoit Vetillard Architecture.
- Photo
- giaime.meloni
5. Embrace maximalism
According to designer Nicky Heslam, Marie Kondo's minimalism is the antithesis of luxury. “People don’t fill their rooms with enough furniture these days,” he laments. “Furniture should be close together, or at least evenly distributed throughout the room.” Do not emasculate the interior, let it feel the life that you want to spend with great comfort and pleasure.
Dining room in a New York home. Designed by architect John Saladino and artist Jean-Charles Dicciari.
6. More wallpaper
In large houses, you can often find bathrooms and bathrooms covered with wallpaper (ignore the decorators who say that they will peel off within a year). “The most luxurious choice is wallpaper on silk De Gournay .
Soft floral paper always looks stylish,” says Nicole Salvesen. Avoid the momentary fashion, advise British decorators, rely on timeless classics: wallpapers with tartan and stripes never get bored.
Bathroom in Hanna Cecil Gurne's house. Wallpaper Flamingos, covered with a moisture-resistant protective composition, de Gournay. Faucets, Catchpole & Rye. Tiles made to order, Mosaic del Sur.
- Photo
- DOUGLAS FRIEDMAN
7. Put a Pouffe in Your Living Room
Every truly luxurious living room has an ottoman—essentially an upholstered coffee table—or a large footstool. “They are very helpful. If the seat is firm enough, you can put a tray on it and use it instead of a banal coffee table, as Robert Kyme often does in his projects,” says Nicky Haslam.
Living room in a house in Edinburgh. Project by Robert Kyme.
- Photo
- Robert Keim
8.
More paneling, cornices and architraves “Panelling makes a living room or hall feel tangibly grander. This requires a good, rich color, and the room immediately becomes more decorated and cozy. A flat painted wall is very boring if there is no quality art in the interior,” says interior designer Lucinda Sanford. Cornices and platbands also add volume to the room if the designer respects the proportions.
Interior decorated in the style of the 16th century. The wall and plank layout, imitating panels, are painted with Prussian paint from Zoffany.
9. Down with spots
The lighting in palaces and mansions is very warm and traditional, with a minimum of spotlights. So think wall sconces, warm-colored light fixtures, and table lamps. “Spot overhead lighting is terrible. Create a play of light that adds drama to the room,” Nicky Haslam explains.
Living room in a London house. Designed by decorators Paolo Moschino and Philippe Vergilin.
- Photo
- Simon Upton
10.
Each room has an antique item It's great if the family has preserved memorabilia and relics. If not, you can go to an antique shop or a vintage fair to get them. “Antiques do not have to be old and dilapidated, objects can be updated and decorate the interior with them,” says Nicole Salvesen. By the way, antique furniture or lamps do not always cost a fortune. Often sellers in antique shops inflate the price, and you can find real rarities on Internet flea markets two or three times cheaper. Do not disdain sites that sell old furniture and online auctions.
House in the suburbs. Project of Akant bureau.
- Photos
- RICHARD POWERS
. And who wants to live, eat and work in the same room? “People want solitude, they don’t want to be seen all the time. You can remove the walls if they are in the wrong place and then rebuild them where needed, but you should never leave yourself with just one big room,” she says.
