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Choosing the right carpet

Carpet can do much more than cover your floors. It can be the foundation of a decorating plan, inspiring other ideas. Or, it can be selected to complement existing walls and furnishings. Above all, the carpet you choose should reflect your personality and bring comfort to your home. When planning your “look”, it’s important to have a basic knowledge of how colour, texture, and pattern can work. Although there are no absolute “rules” that govern these considerations, Imperial can help narrow down your choices with practical design and decorating advice. If possible, choose your carpet before selecting your paint, wallpaper and furnishings. The colours in your carpet can inspire the rest of your colour scheme. In rooms with lots of pattern and texture, it’s best to choose a solid-colour carpet. That doesn’t mean your choice has to be neutral. Using an accent colour from a fabric or curtain is a great way to pull your look together.

Use paler tints to lighten up a dark room. These soft, cool colours also help make a small room seem spacious. Neutrals create an atmosphere of quiet warmth. Today’s neutrals are more than just beige. Look at taupe, gray, khaki, sage green, sandy yellow, and gray-blue as great neutral alternatives.

Mixing colours can provide a feeling of height. Use the darkest shade on the floor, the next shade on the walls, and the lightest shade on the ceiling. Be sure to colour test your carpet sample by daylight as well as by artificial light at night. Colour changes dramatically when flooded with sunlight or lit by lamps.

The Power Of Pattern

Like colour, pattern is a powerful decorating tool with boundless potential. It can be used to stretch the dimensions of a room, define areas within your home, or to reinforce a room’s character.

The best rule of thumb with pattern is to choose a theme and build your plan from there. Carpets in floral, stripe, and geometric patterns give a room instant personality that can spark a decorating approach. From there, you can choose furnishings and accessories that work in tandem with the shapes and colours featured in the carpet.

Mixing patterns can be tricky. Remember, if the patterns are related by form, colour or texture, the mix is more likely to succeed. To make sure you are comfortable with your pattern choice, bring some carpet samples home before you buy. The proportion of a pattern can look quite different in the context of your room.

Add Texture To Your Floor

Texture is all about how something feels when you touch it. Be it rough, soft, nubby, or smooth. In fact, everything in your home makes a textural contribution—including your carpet.

Carpets are offered in an extraordinary array of textures, making the floor an enticing living space. But, how is carpet texture created? Imperial doubles and triple-plies its yarns for textural effect and employs different levels of twist for variation. Then we loop and cut the yarns to create the final texture.

Material Choices

The type of fiber used in a carpet plays a key role in how it feels and how well it performs. There are many types of materials but they are 2 primary categories: natural and synthetic. The leading natural fiber is wool. Other natural choices are cotton, linen, and silk; they are often blended with wool but are seldom used alone. Synthetic fiber options include: fibers such as nylon, rayon, acrylic, polypropylene and polyester. Let’s take a closer look at each:

Wool: Wool is the most beautiful, luxurious, and durable of all the carpet fibers. It is a natural fiber that is highly regarded for its strength, durability, crush resistance, clean-ability, and comfort.

Polypropylene: polypropylene is a thermoplastic resin made from propylene gas. Carpets made from polypropylene have good abrasion resistance, have a higher melting point, at 3200 F (1600 C) and does not soak up water.

Nylon: Nylon is a thermoplastic resin made entirely from petroleum, water and air. Carpets made from nylon have good abrasion resistance.

Signs Of Quality

Trying to evaluate the huge amount of carpet types on the market can feel overwhelming. It is easy to be misled when comparing woven to tufted and cut-pile to loop. What you need to take into account when buying a quality carpet are the identifiable signs of quality:

Craftsmanship
Most carpets are either woven or tufted. Weaving is the superior method as it locks each yarn into the backing, creating a highly durable carpet. Tufting is the fastest and most economical method of manufacturing carpet. To make a tufted carpet, loops of yarn are inserted into a primary backing material. The carpet is dyed and a heavy layer of latex is applied to lock the loops in place. A secondary backing is bonded to the first for added strength and stability. Approximately 80% world carpet productions for residential and commercial use are tufted.
Pile Density:
Density refers to the amount of pile yarn used in the carpet and the closeness of the weave. In general, the denser the pile, the better the performance. Take the sample and bend the face-pile away from you.
Face Weight versus Total Weight:
Face weight is the amount of fiber used on the surface of the carpet expressed in ounces per square yard. This should not be confused with total weight, which is the face weight plus the weight of the backing. Do not buy a carpet because it has a high face weight. Other qualities, like density, fiber, and weave are more important. Keep in mind: a lighter weight woven carpet will outperform a higher weight tufted product.
Twist:
Carpet fibers are twisted together for harder wear and a defined look. The tighter the fiber twist, the longer the carpet will perform.
Backing:
While you are looking at the label, also examine the backing of the carpet. Make sure the backing has a tight weave. This ensures quality and wear.
Finishes:
Stain-resistant treatments, Scottguard and Stainmaster, are often applied to nylon carpets to make them easier to clean. Since wool is naturally soil resistant, it does not require further treatment.

Kids And Pets

Since pets, like children, are prone to accidents, you’ll want to make sure your carpet is easy to clean. At Imperial our nylons are protected with the best stain-resistant treatments in the industry, so you won’t have to worry as much about every day mishaps. If you rather go natural, wool is your best soil-resistant choice. Imperial wools are naturally superior because they have built-in stain resistant features. The scaly structure of the wool fibers hold dirt high on the pile, making vacuuming more efficient—and effective.

Although you can’t prevent dirt, you can select colours and patterns that are better at hiding life’s little mishaps. Multi-coloured patterns are an excellent choice if you have pets or small children because they mask spills as well as everyday wear and tear. If your looking for a solid carpet, remember that light colours show dirt the most, while dark colours show more lint, dust, and pet hair. If you have a shedding pet, you may want to match your pet’s hair to the carpet colour. Although it sounds ridiculous it can help make your home feel a little cleaner.

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All carpet and rug orders purchased through our secure online shopping system or toll-free telephone number will receive free shipping, a savings value of $150!

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