The carpet does not have to match the hardwood.

Also the American Cherry hardwood will oxidize and darken over time and what started out as a "match" could end up looking like a strange "miss" over time. I would recommend getting a carpet that looks good with the upholstery and other furniture in the room.

I've never heard of matching carpet to hardwood...interesting.

I agree with Lindac that I would put hardwood everywhere and just add an area rug in those rooms where you want a softer surface. It's easy to change area rugs, but a real pain to add hardwood at a later date.

Excellent advice to put wood flooring down now since it is a new build. Use a large thick area rug for softness for the toddler.

I made the mistake of not doing hardwood in our family room years ago when all the rest of the house was hardwood. It was a pain when I took the carpet up and installed wood - but we did a nice job of "weaving" the new floor into the existing wood areas.

I wouldn't worry about matching carpet at all. I don't think anyone does that. We are trying to decide between more hardwood and a gray-beige or mushroom colored carpet in our guest bedrooms that currently have stained cream carpet. Rest of house is medium-dark hardwood, with tile in kitchen and laundry.

I have a thick and beautiful patterned area rug in my living room on the hardwood. I also have a toddler who comes over frequently and was learning to walk on my hardwood floor. I like the ideas above of keeping the continuity of the hardwood, but buying a nice thick large area rug for playtime. I got mine at HomeGoods for about $500 and I love it.

Red

I agree, I think you will regret not putting hardwoods in the family room in a few years. To me hardwoods are so much easier to clean and take care of with kids. Much cheaper to replace an inexpensive area rug. I never had a problem with hardwoods and my toddlers.

I have lived in two homes with hardwood floors and had the same issue - wanting carpet in some rooms. We had carpet cut and bound about 12" smaller all around the room. So, basically, you have a 12" border of hardwood around the room.
It works for us.

I never regretted having area rugs over hardwood floors, specially when one of the kids threw up all over the rug or the dog pooped on the rug. It is great to be able to clean both sides of the rug and then prop a box under the dirty/washed section so that you know it dries out completely. This is our third house with hardwood everywhere (except baths) and I would not have it any other way.

Yes..hardwoods are much easier to keep clean. They dont hold any dirt or whatever else can get into carpet fibers that vacuums simply wont pull out. Then cover with cozy rugs. :-)

You have gotten excellent advice. As an interior designer, I always recommend hardwood and covering the playroom with a large rug. However, if you are worried about transitions from room to room and a young child tripping, another alternative is putting in the hardwood floors and using flor carpet tiles over them. www.flor.com
This is a great product - if one gets dirty - you can pull it up and wash it. They come in different colors, textures etc. You can mix and match patterns - design your own layout on line. If you get tired of the look - you can rearrange the tiles. When your children are older - pull up the tiles easily - and voila - your beautiful wood floor.
In answer to your original question - don't try to match the wood floor - it will never look right. If you go for the carpet and no hard wood and money is not an object - I suggest a patterned wool carpet. Better for allergies and clean up. The type of padding you choose will make it softer or harder. If that is not in your budget, look at blues with the hardwood floor for contrast. For transition between rooms paint/wallpaper is also important. Co-ordinate your floor with your wall. Consider gray as well for the carpet. Because your large furniture piece is gray, I recommend co-ordinating with that. Do you have decorative objects on your ottoman/coffee table? If so, the brown will be minimized. To me, you need some color - everything is neutral. I would not recommend taupe.

Thanks everyone!

I'm glad to know I don't need cherry carpeting.

I wanted hardwood in the family room too, but my DH, builder and real estate agent were all against it. And of course budget is a consideration too.

avidchef - thanks for your input. wish I had the mind of an interior designer! Our current carpet in our rental is kind of a multicolored greige with a blue undertone and I like the way it looks with the couch and furniture. We have some blue pillows and throws to give some color. The decorative objects on our coffee table are brightly colored toys right now :) Maybe in a few years.

Your real estate agent is against hardwood floors in your family room? I'd get a new agent if you ever decide to sell.

If budget is a consideration against installing hardwood now, how much is in the budget for changing out the carpet when, inevitably, it wears out? Or you get tired of the color? Or when you live with stains and then finally replace the carpet due to the aforementioned puking and pooping (and beverage stains, food stains, etc). It would make sense to look at the longer term, I think.

I think the idea of hardwoods and then using the carpet tiles is wonderful, especially for those with small kids.

If you do go with carpet, then maybe look into getting your own carpet steam cleaner. They are not that expensive and probably more economical long-term than having a company come out.

If you have or will have pets as well as kids, definitely buy a steam cleaner == probably $200-300 and well worth it.

As one who recently installed wood, I wanted to point out that your options for wood flooring will never be greater than they are in a new build. Now, you builder might want to limit what they do or charge you a lot more for upgrades, but at least in theory, you will never again have as many options for types of installation, price, etc. Later on, you are stuck with the foundation, transitions and other factors. I couldn't put down the kind of solid floor I would have loved -- I was limited to engineered floors. If your foundation is not the same under the carpet, you could have issues if you want to later put hardwood in your family room. My utility room and bathroom tile were set in place, so the flooring has to match or transition to them.

Rugs don't have to double your flooring cost -- we have bought 5 cine we put down the wood floors, ranging from $49 for a hall rug to $135 for a room sized wool rug on clearance at Marshall's and about $300 each for a couple of room sized rugs at Macy's. I know some folks use outdoor rugs inside, but they would not be soft for little ones sitting or playing on them. I have heard that some folks use polypropylene rugs and hose them down. I have a couple, they are very soft, but I have not cleaned them yet. The synthetic fibers should be easy to clean though -- and much easier than carpet fixed in place over a pad as pointed out.

Anyway, I wish we had installed the wood when we bought the house (some of the wood replaced tile that was not properly patched in our kitchen remodel and some replaced carpet we installed and didn't wear well). If I ever had the opportunity to install wood from the get go, no doubt I would. Keep in mind that your builder and real estate agent will not live there and will not have to deal with making changes later. The only negative that matters in my mind is your DH and I would look at that is something for the two of you to talk about. Listening to other people about what you want can be an expensive mistake. I am sensitive to that right now because I let DH talk me into trim paint I didn't want twice (pick your battles) and we are redoing it all now because of those. More time than money in this case, but still....

It's very easy to spend someone else's money :) But honestly it's not the extra $2k that hardwood would cost over carpet, plus whatever we'd spend on an area rug.

Honestly, I'm making about 99% of the decisions regarding the house...and DH is for the most part going along with it without argument for which I am really grateful. His one "thing" is carpet. He's choosing (and upgrading) the carpet and really wanted carpet in the family room. We've gone through the arguments above and he will not budge.

So carpet it is!

Cottonpenny - I did the same thing by installing hardwood throughout the the house and a carpet inlay in the living room. Yes - hardwood would have been more striking and easier to keep clean but DH was insistent that he wanted a comfortable padded carpet in this room. I have to agree function over form was a better choice for our family.

DH and DD are snuggled up in blankets and pillows on the carpet watching a movie right now and it's great for slumber parties! I use it for pre-workout stretching.

If a future buyer wants to install hardwood later it can be easily done. My sister just replaced her carpet inlay by using a darker stained wood in a diagonal pattern. Looks gorgeous!

I'm interested in your final color choice. We used tan and it is a bit boring with our neutral furniture and it's also hard to keep clean. Planning on replacing with a wool Berber like our last carpet. More expensive but definitely easier to clean. Now I'm wondering if a pale sage would look nice with the various shades of brown furniture and dark walnut floors.

I'm going to suggest that what the flooring store was trying to say about 'matching' was with regard to HEIGHT, not COLOR.

That said, I do agree with everyone else about the wood being so much nicer. And really, it's *not that hard* to fall on -- not like tile or concrete.