Which type of carpet is right for your home?

Carpet is still one of the most popular flooring options and with good reason: it's easy to care for, versatile, easily replaced and durable. Today's carpets are available in a wide variety of styles and colors.

Woven Carpets
Hand woven carpets have been a highly developed art form for a thousand years. Today's woven carpets are produced on looms that have advanced considerably over centuries, but the basics have remained constant.

The art of weaving threads over one another creates a strong surface, treating them with chemicals makes them stain-resistant to spills, dirt and other common problems, and using different colored threads and weaving them into different patterns creates designs that can appeal to a wide variety of tastes.

Tufted Carpets
Tufted carpets are produced, as the name suggests, by a tufting machine. In this technique, a backing cloth provides a strong base into which yarn is stitched, then cut. The result is a 'tuft' of carpet, just as you might think of a tuft of hair sticking up.

Tufted carpet construction uses single-colored yarn, which is then dyed into colors and printed with patterns of varying types. The result can be a cut pile that is attractive and inexpensive, thanks to the efficient use of materials.

Flatweave
A flatweave carpet is created by alternating warp and weft threads. Weft are the threads running crosswise or horizontally, warp are those running lengthwise or vertically. The result is a very durable surface that can be highly distinctive.

Often used in oriental rug making, flatweaves offer beauty and long-life. Threads of varying color, thickness and material can be used in some advanced applications to produce colorful, individual designs.

Hooked Rugs
Not every rug or carpet design needs to be elaborate to be durable and beautiful. Hooked rug construction is a relatively simple technique similar to crocheting. Strips of material are pulled through a mesh backing and a pattern is achieved by using different colored yarn-dyed threads.

Given the variety of colors and designs possible in the basic strips, the resulting rug can be highly individual and attractive. Generally used for lower traffic areas, they are perfect for bathroom or offices

Pile
Pile rugs became very common in the 1970s and they continue to be popular today. Ultra-comfortable, Pile Carpets can last a very long time while being quite inexpensive. Usually of a uniform color, it's possible to produce a cut and loop or knotted pile with a very thick, rich surface.

One type of pile rug is called a Frieze which is suitable for high traffic areas. Constructed of short fibers of durable material tend to curl, making for a strong, crush-resistant surface. Another variety consists of fibers twisted together that are heat treated. The result is a very soft texture that stands up well.

When choosing a carpet for your home, whether for the living room or office or just to cover the entrance, look into several options. Some materials and designs work better in one application than another. Choose well and you'll have beautiful, long-lasting flooring and stay within your budget goals.