the argument for carpet

There is nothing like binge watching HGTV for a few hours to make you realize you completely and utterly hate carpet, am I right? I mean you loathe the thought of any and all carpet so much that you know you must rip it all up, right away, and install hardwood. Before something crazy happens…like you start to enjoy it…gasp!

We’ve heard it so much from design standards of the last decade or so that I started trying to come up with a good reason for hating carpet so much. And I have to tell you…I’m for it. In some spaces.

When we first moved into our home about 2 years ago it had wall to wall carpet in 4 bedrooms, a massive hallway and the family room. (Spoiler alert, it still does!) And even though we had very little room in the budget for fun stuff (hello new roof), we talked for weeks about how we would take out the carpet in the hallway, the master bedroom, and maybe more places right away and put down tile.

But here we are two years later and the only time we’ve  had any carpet ripped up was last week just hours before the brand new stuff was installed!

I was really inspired by the texture of fancy sisal carpet but I knew I wanted it to be soft. Plus the natural coloring may have blended right in with our walls. We landed on gray with a little texture and I am so happy with it!

Here is our new carpet in a room I should have picked up and with Boo the photo bomber:

Now, here is my argument for carpet:

1. The comfy factor. We have little kids who are always at ground level. Not only are they on the floor to lay down and watch a movie or on their knees pushing a truck across the floor, but we are also often sitting down playing with them, allowing them to ride on us like horses and whatnot. We honestly just get down on the floor and play with them so much more than when our living areas were all wood. See proof below:                                                 
              
2. The quiet factor. Houses with all hard floor surfaces are LOUD. They echo and click and clack. I could RUN with my dog up and down the hallway where the boys’ bedrooms are right off of and they would not hear a peep. The padding is super thick and it’s the best noise reducer. If you think I haven’t run laps in my own house to try to hit all my Apple Watch rings you are mistaken. There isn’t any photographic evidence of this one–thankfully.

3. The homey factor. I think our new living room is so homey and lacks the somewhat sterile look that cold flooring can give. And don’t get me wrong, I LOVE tile, wood, stamped concrete, etc. so I don’t always think it looks sterile. I just think there is something to be said for the texture and warmth wall to wall carpet can bring to certain rooms. And the idea that there is enough room for everyone to pile in for movie night because the whole room is so homey you can just sprawl right out on the floor, and not just to the edge of an area rug. Carpet seems to say: plop down, it’s homey here!

4.  The safety factor. If you haven’t watched kids learning to sit or walk this may sound trivial. But the cushion of wall to wall carpet brings so much peace of mind during the young years. When our youngest finally mustered up the desire to walk around we stuck to half of the home that was carpeted and let him have at it! In our old house I was more likely to take the new walker outside on the grass than the porcelain or hardwood inside. Thinking beyond that early walking stage there are still falls, wrestling matches and pillow fights we are sure to endure. I’m glad to have the added cushion!

5. The affordability factor. I was surprised what we got for the cost. Removal of old carpet, a new pad, new carpet and installation was really about the cost of a few 9×12 rugs you’d buy over the years to go over hard flooring. I didn’t price specific hardwood or tile because I knew we wanted carpet, but from what I’ve read, hardwood would be over 2 times the cost!

To address the point that hard floors are easier to clean: this may be true but I will say carpet cleaning is amazing and they can put down a stain protector when they do clean it. We did it ourselves when we first moved in but used professionals about a year later and that’s probably something we’ll do each year. It’s like getting brand new flooring!

If you’re on the fence, carpet in the right rooms can be great. I can’t wait for the day we get brand new carpet for the other carpet areas of our house, and I never thought I’d say that.