Yeah, I couldn’t believe it myself. For years, I went around hating installed carpet like it was some sort of bad motel/figurine-collecting granny vibe. I had wall-to-wall carpet and my cat liked to throw up on it. A lot. It felt unhygienic, dusty, and unnecessarily fussy. And I hate being fussy in my own home and trying to control others to be fussy. And yes, I still despise this kind of installed carpet (I’m learning to embrace my inner Susie Green from Curb Your Enthusiasm these days and express my hate and anger freely):

By the way, I also kind of love bad motel vibes. In my other next life, I want to own a retro motel in the desert or forest with wall-to-wall salmon, avocado or cobalt blue carpet, mustard yellow rotary phones, flowery wallpaper and wood paneling. Conversation pits, weathered leather lounge chairs, tweed sofas… Only the showers and bathroom would be updated enough to make guests feel comfortable but in the cool retro-modern style. Do you see it???

But there is a new trend out these days and I’m like, “Ok carpet. I’ll give you a shot.”

(Click on the photos for source)

Don’t they scream out “Kick off your shoes and stay awhile!”? I just want to squish the floors between my toes or read on my belly or roll around with my cat until my hair gets all static-y. I love the feeling when a house invites you to do something involuntary.

how to make it work

If you’ve read this far, congrats. You’re open-minded. Which is all I ask for anyone to appreciate what I do with my design and advice. There are always exceptions to the rule. If any of the above examples piqued your interest and want to dip your toe in the plush wool waters, I have some tips on how to make it work.

Go with a bold color

If you’re going to go for it, go for it. As per my intro, carpet is an extremely fussy permanent fixture in your home so go for a color or hue that will hide stains easily. And while you’re doing that, why not introduce something saturated and fun? Sure you might get tired of it, but there’s no guarantee you won’t get tired of anything else you might choose. People get tired of things. It’s inevitable.

Treat your floor like you would your walls. And then you can keep your walls white or another neutral color and then bring in a painting. For extra fun, add a painting that clashes with the floor color. For example, if you for the cobalt blue carpet, bring in an autumnal inspired landscape. The juxtaposition will be so cool and interesting and create a fun a pleasant tension to the visual. Or something like this:

go with a pattern

Part of the fun with this new carpet revolution is going with something new and unexpected. In comes pattern. I love the 2LG carpeted staircase simply for its bold and unapologetic use of a bright purple design.

But pattern does not necessarily mean busy. It could also mean a simple design, like the Vicki Simon cobalt blue circle carpet (y’all, I’m saying cobalt a lot).

where to buy

In my life, I have only installed wall-to-wall carpet twice, so I don’t have a TON of resources here. However, what I do got is the best.

luxury

My luxury choice is Stark Carpets. These guys are legit when it comes to the high end good stuff. Stark has collaborated with such design power houses as Missoni and Jeffrey Bilhuber, but they are definitely not stuffy. Of course, they have some more subdued patterns but here are a few of my less subtle picks:

Economic

Let’s say you just moved into a home and the floors are less-than-ideal, but you don’t have it in the budget to redo everything. What is a home owner/aspiring interior stylist to do?

Flor

I actually used Flor in my most recent in home interior design project: Colorful Garage Revamp

Here’s why I love Flor: there are endless possibilities because they use a tile system. That means if you get one tile dirty or need to move the rug to another room, you can take off the patented sticker holding them together and rearrange everything. That makes them useful AND also consequently, cheaper than buying a full rug or carpet for the room.

You have a couple of different options when it comes to Flor. You can get a patterned tile and keep it simple:

Or… you can create your own pattern!!!

would you try wall-to-wall carpet?

I really want to know! Let me know below!! Please????

Your friend in design,