Thanks for all of your opinions. Can any of you advise a specific carpet manufacturer/style/color? I'd wide open and would like to consider all of the possibilities!

Well, I'm Canadian and I never make my guests take off their shoes. Although we don't wear shoes in the house ourselves and I wouldn't want someone to wear shoes on the bedroom floors, there are many women whose lovely shoes are part of their outfit and I feel like I'd be asking them to remove their jewelry or something when they came over. Just sayin'.

The Quebecer in me agress with maureen !

Ooh! Maybe that's because I am originally from Quebec! And the women dress way better there!

I never "make" anyone take their shoes off, it's just what is done. Parties... maybe a different story, but most women I know bring their 'party' shoes separate from their outdoor boots or shoes, especially if it's messy outside. Even then, I'm not sure I'd be wild about stilettos on my hardwood floors.

Anyhow, twelvegates, I hope you find your perfect carpet. I think with carpet, it's important to purchase the best you can afford, and always upgrade the underpad. Good luck!

I've had a cream color carpet in 2 homes for the past 7-8 years. While I can't speak for how the carpet would look after that point I have been pleasantly surprised with the carpets staying clean. We were mostly worried about dirt from our 2 dogs but besides weekly or biweekly vacuuming we usually just use our Bissell carpet cleaner about twice a year. Of course if I see a stain I immediately treat it, but they seem to come out very well. I do agree with one of the above comments though that it is best to go with a higher quality carpet grade and many of them offer stain resistance ( not foolproof but it does make a difference in my opinion).

We had those light coloured carpets in our first condo and then in this house. I hated them so much. So hard to keep clean . Quality wool rug would make your life much easier.And it looks way better then carpet.

Well I don't have the cash to put in hard wood floors, and there is only some type of builder's underlayment beneath the carpet, so I'm stuck with carpet for now.

I'm going to bury myself in the face weight/twist/density/PAR debate and drive myself crazy.

I wish it were easier to choose "quality" carpet, when "quality" means something different wherever I go.

I think I need to clarify, a previous comment I made. I DO NOT and have NEVER asked anyone to remove their shoes in my home! Maybe it was the way I stated the comment. sorry for the misinterpretation. I have neighbors that insist in removing their shoes because they are from a different culture. I always tell them, no that's okay, but they just remove them anyway.

If I had to do wall to wall I would do a subtle pattern in a light grey or other neutral. If you don't want to be a shoes off house, I would avoid the light solid colors. I have made design choices in my house based on the fact that we entertain and I am not ok with asking guests to remove shoes. So it's partially your lifestyle as well. Here's a pic I found in a quick search (fancy room but just for an idea of the carpet).
http://houzz.com/photos/1684547

I agree to get the best quality carpet you can afford and be sure to get a good pad underneath as well. We have cream color carpet and I regret it (after several years). We eventually bought a carpet shampooer to clean regularly! But, we have pets too.

I like sam's light gray/subtle pattern idea.

I agree with Sam. A pattern helps tons! You could do a lt taupey color in a pattern, perhaps. Something that mimics a natural fiber rug , like seagrass, always looks great to me.I've had cream with kids and dogs and don't recommend personally.

I like the something that looks like natural fiber idea as well. And that look is conducive to layering rugs - a look I am personally into.

http://houzz.com/ideabooks/287380

What do you think of the appearance of seams in patterned carpets (such as the one pictured in sam's post). I've had berber, and wasn't thrilled with the appearance of the seams.

LB, I believe I had given a thorough description of the pros and cons, light and dark. I feel it was wrong of you to come on immediately after and state only the down side of light carpet. I don't see that your comment went very far toward offering options. It came off more as a declaration that light carpet was wrong As for old money colors I stated the case for them. Once again offering an option to the reader. If you review my post you will notice that I said I suggest or encourage my clients as I understand is our job. As far as offering pros and cons I only observe a very strong con and suggestion in your comment.

Carpet, when it's used these days, tends to be in darker colors than we used to use, so I'd go for a mid to dark carpet color. Then I'd buy 5 lamps on my next trip to Ikea to lighten the room. That and recessed lighting or track lighting will brighten your days and nights.

But what gets me is that by the time you pay for the original carpet and then replace it once, you could have done hardwood flooring that would be with you for 20 or more years.
Carolyn Albert-Kincl, ASID
https://www.houzz.com/photos/450-architects-bolles-residence-contemporary-bedroom-san-francisco-phvw-vp~50720

Varigated color carpet

twelvegates: look at Mohawk or Karastan SmartStrand. It is made from corn…the sugar, I think. It has such an amazing claim, and a warranty to back up the claim. It comes in several different textures and patterns…Mohawk is a little less $ than Karastan.

'Gannts', Sorry, but I was only stating a fact about light color carpet and what one needs to think about as we do not know this family.

Thank you 'Carolyn' for your comment also.

Yes Carolyn! Thank you for weighing in. We're looking into replacing our carpet and I should have bought a darker color carpet of better quality, or more lamps or hardwood floors. You're right. Replace flooring once and you've doubled the original cost. Especially since we're staying here a long, long time. Twelvegates...if you're not staying long, maybe it doesn't matter. :)

How light is light? How dark is dark? We all will have a different vision of it's verbal description.

Ah, well, we also have to consider that people with hardwood floors usually end up with area rugs on top of them.

Ugggh -- I'm planning to leave this home, carried out "feet first", so to speak.

For the moment, I'm recarpeting the steps to the basement and the basement. There are a total of TWO window wells in the basement, and the basement is a poured concrete slab. No water issues there. Two dogs, no kids.

Judyg - thanks for the specifics on makers -- that gives me something tangible. And LB - thanks for the pictures.

Carolyn has a great point. I have been in my house for 10 years. Started with a light Berber in the great room, hard wood in the rest of the first floor. Berber always looked dirty, despite constant vacuuming and cleaning, traded up for a cream colored smart strand 4 years later, 6 years later I am doing hardwood. Hindsight...

Choose carpet that the dogs' toenails will not unravel the carpet. No loops.

Yes, 'Carolyn' you're right, many of us like to use area rugs on carpets also, in additon to wood floors to add dimension, style, color and interest.

With dogs, I would not select a loop carpet which the dogs can catch their nails on. Instead I would look at mixed tone, medium colored cut pile carpets. I suggest you tell your local carpet dealer about the location and the dogs and be guided by their experience.

And for the pad, the Mohawk Smart Cushion. It has some special coating on one side, it maybe some kind of polyester. When the pad goes down, it is recommended that the seams be sealed with a duct tape product. If someone spills something like red wine, this coating keeps the liquid from soaking into the pad. So when you blot it up it has not gone down into the pad,,,which is what makes cleaning stains so difficult.

I do not have wall to wall carpeting, but I have used SmartStrand in several homes and everyone is very pleased.

Great points, Carolyn. Thanks for chiming in on this.

We just has an area rug made that looks much like the first pic posted by LB. We absolutely love it, and the best part is the lifetime stain warranty!

if you ever plan to have dogs/pets or children in your house on a daily basis, then NO WAY!!!! The spots will drive you nuts!

Hi 12 gates, OK, I'll comply with your thread title and talk you down as you requested. :)
Before our remodel, my condo had carpet on the entire flooring, 100%, including all the bathrooms! What a terrible idea. Hated it. For the current remodel, I removed every single inch (or cm, if you're in the UK :) of carpet! I'm replacing it all with solid maple hardwood flooring in all the kitchen, continuous throughout all the dining and living room areas, and the staircase. Tiles for all the bathrooms. :) Good luck! :)

Would anyone put hardwood in a basement? The house has been there for 20+ years and no seepage or humidity issues are known.

I think solid hardwood isn't recommended over concrete in basements, but I could be wrong. Engineered hardwood, I think is okay in basements...

In the basement, I'd do large format cream tiles. Maybe limestone or travertine, or if budget is tiny, the 18" or 2' ceramic cream tiles. We have them in our basement. We have area rugs on top to add warmth, the dog can,t hurt it...it's perfect for a basement. It's our main living area, with fireplace, nice couches, so we wanted it to look nice, too..

In our dreary lower level in our previous house, we had dark wood panelling and small windows. I bought a cream=colored carpet remnant and had it bound to the size of the room minus 1 inch. I also used off-white slipcovers on the furniture, light printed pillows, and light mats on the photos on the walls. The room was cozy and still bright enough. We kept it clean with a "no food" rule--you should have seen my daughter's face when she came home from college and saw us eating hot-fudge sundaes in the space! I had a bissell carpet cleaner and did this every year or so. It was good quality carpet over a nice pad.

A carpet salesman told me a few years ago that wool doesn't hold up as well as some other types of carpet and that nylon keeps its pile better than polyester. Does anyone know if this is the case?

I had always heard that nylon was best. (Perhaps because wool wall-to-wall was never in my price range.)

Some of the nylons are super soft. Others are not. Some are treated to prevent staining. Others are not. It depends on the nylon, but usually nylon cleans more easily than wool, and yes, it also usually less expensive.

Nylon carpet holds up the best. Get a stain master fibre and water will take out red wine, blood, etc. Buy only great quality under pad.
Berber carpet seams only look bad if they are across the grain. If you only allow lengthwise seams you won't have a ravelling problem, but you may need more carpet and have more waste. (Think more money)
Wool is awesome but can cost two to three times as much as nylon.
Vacuum and clean the carpet according to the manufacturers recommendations and it should wear as long as it is supposed to.
Do not expect miracles!

Years back (in upstate New York) I made the major mistake of installing pale yellow wall to wall carpeting in the LR/DR. I had been inspired by a visit to an Ethan Allen showroom. What a disaster! I covered it with plastic runners as the entrance was right into the LR. Carpet was gone in 3 months, installed dark brown (was VERY happy with results) and my hubby never let me live it down. By the way, 30 years later, I now live in Florida and have just installed BLACK wall to wall in my living room. I may have to vacuum every day, but it is husband proof and I do not need to have Stanley Steemer in here except for once a year, (No offense to Stanley Steemer - they are GREAT!)

I can't walk barefoot, and I have a houseful of boys from 17-23 (5 of them, not all mine!) and there's no way a carpet could withstand the traffic.

Have you seen the Curb Your Enthusiasm episode when Larry is asked to take off his shoes? Mature language.

Scotchguard is toxic. Just wanted to put that out there.

We have white carpet everywhere in our house. Including the steps. Our original carpet when we built our house was also white and it lasted about 20 years. We replaced it with white again. It's very high quality plush carpet that my husband hopes will last til we are dead. And we're only 54 (only haha). We have never worn shoes inside and all the kids in the neighborhood took theirs off. We had quite the pile of shoes most days at the front door. We don't ask guests to take theirs off tho.
Just vacuum as soon as they all leave ! Just take care of it!

Old post from 2013.

Hardwood, beautiful as it is, is very hard on middle aged and seniors' backs and feet.