by Wm. David Waterman

Created on: June 14, 2008   Last Updated: June 18, 2008

In spite of the growing array of flooring choices available today, you might want to consider carpet as your first choice in flooring. Some of the areas that are suited for carpet are bedrooms and family rooms as well as that room that is 'the family gets together and watch the game place.'

In spite of the fact that carpet cleaning and maintenance become part of your life, carpet has it's place for that warm to the feet and snuggle up to watch TV time in your day. Carpet also is an attractive alternative to tile or hardwood floors in lending a certain warmth to a room. And if you are sharing the house with children, it is a sound deadener like no other to muffle the pitter patter of little feet romping through the house in pursuit of fun and great adventures by the knee high crowd. In addition to muffling the noise caused by the livlier people in the house, carpet is also more forgiving when the spills, tumbles and falls occur. This makes carpet the ideal choice for the kids play areas or rooms.

It is possible to reduce carpet cleaning and maintenance needs by the type of carpet installation that you choose to do. Carpet installation can be broken down into three different methods and each is associated with different types of carpet. There are foam backed glue down carpets and carpet squares which are generally of a denser texture and can stand up to vigorous and often carpet cleaning. And carpet squares can be artistically arranged in patterns of your own choosing in which you can let your artistic juices to flow. In addition to the glue down carpet installations, there are the stretched carpets and the area rugs or room size carpet/rugs. Each can be the best choice for areas that you want to install flooring.

I like the way carpet can be combined with wood floors or tile to create special areas or create the impression of separate rooms in the same room. The type of carpet installation in such cases will depend on the use you intend for that special area. In a bathroom the type of carpet installation would be chosen in order to take advantage of styles and water proof and mold resistant carpets. And while carpet cleaning is more attractive than maintaining wood floors, often the combinations of flooring types gives you more flexibility in decorating and designing your home. For example, in planning your bathroom floor you can combine tile around the tub, shower, and commode areas with carpet in the dressing and closet areas. Tile is an excellent choice in entry and hall areas in order to help avoid constant carpet cleaning after every period of wet weather but the hall that leads to bedrooms is a good place for carpet installation.

Tile floors are excellent for the kitchen of your home, being resistant to moisture and able to withstand frequent mopping but carpet installations in the dining area or breakfast nook can often 'warm' that place in your home. Stretched carpets are often the choice in the family or living rooms of homes, but the carpet rugs or large room size rugs have there place too. A hardwood or tile floor with a large rug in the center of the room can create a cozy and close feeling especially if the rug is under the dinner table where faormal dining or entertainment takes place.

Dream a little and consider combinations in order to bring your personal touch into your home. Compare the pros and cons of maintaing wood floors versus carpet cleaning, and use tile as a area accent or to bring variety in the home. And choose your floor with the focus of the room or area in mind. Have fun carpet hunting.

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