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Since 1979, Sloane’s Carpet Secret has been sharing expert advice to help the people in and around the Denver area make the best selection for their space. If you’ve never purchased carpet or it’s been a while, use this Carpet Buyer’s Guide as a resource to get up to speed on the latest and greatest information on all things carpet including fiber options, styles, carpet padding, and installation.
Shopping for carpet isn’t easy. After all, it’s something you only do every 10-15 years, so we hardly expect you to be experts on the subject. But don’t worry — we are! We’ve been in the residential carpet business over 40 years, so we can find the perfect carpet for your home, your family, and your needs. Here are some things to consider.
If you have questions about how much carpet you need, learn how to measure your space so you can fill your room with beautiful carpet!
If you have children or pets, your carpets are probably more susceptible to spills, stains, and “accidents” than they would be otherwise. If that’s the case, you should look into a carpet with added stain resistance.
Some stain resistance treatments can be sprayed on after the fact or added to the water used to clean your carpet, but the most effective ones are applied in the factory.
Ask about stain treatments when you come in for your appointment!
We like to tell our customers that a carpet-buying decision is one part lifestyle, one part budget, and one part personal preference. Buying a carpet is a big choice, and one that you’ll have to live with for years, so we’re here to make sure you love your carpet from the day you buy it until the day you move out!
First, think about what areas of the house you’re looking to carpet. You may be just carpeting one room, in which case you can make a very focused decision about what you need for that particular room. If you’re carpeting the entire house, keep in mind that you don’t have to buy the same carpet for every room — though it might turn out to be cheaper that way.
For high-traffic areas, like hallways, staircases, and rooms that are adjacent to outside doors, we recommend a closed-loop carpet style like a Berber loop. Closed-loop carpets are more durable, since the ends of the yarn aren’t exposed to foot traffic and dirt.
Berber carpet is the most popular version of closed-loop carpet. The loops in Berber aren’t simply in rows, they’re crossed and overlapped with each other to eliminate gaps.
Carpeting a bedroom is a different story. You’re almost never going to wear shoes in the bedroom, and foot traffic is much lighter, so you can focus on comfort over durability. In that case, a plush pile or textured plush might be perfect.
Plush pile carpets are a type of cut-pile carpet, meaning the loops of yarn have been cut to show individual strands.
Carpets are available to fit any personal style or match any home’s decor — it’s just a matter of finding you the right one!
For a more modern, bold style, you might consider a textured pattern. These textures are made up of a mix of closed loops and cut piles, ranging from floral designs to geometric shapes.
If you prefer a more classic, elegant look, plush pile carpet is the way to go. The fibers in plush pile carpet are all cut to the same length, giving it a dense, velvety surface and a very soft, comfortable feel underfoot.
Shag Carpet Details
Plush pile carpet tends to show vacuum tracks and footprints to a greater degree than other styles, so we don’t usually recommend it for heavily trafficked areas like hallways and stairs, but for more comfort-focused areas like bedrooms, living rooms, and kids’ rooms, it’s an excellent solution that lends a bright, open look to any room.
Carpets come in pretty much any color you want these days, so really, your color choices are up to your personal preferences. Most people tend to carpet their homes in a neutral tone — shades of beige, taupe, or tan are popular, since they tend to go with almost any decor, bedding, furniture, or wall color that you might have or want.
In recent years, gray carpet is becoming a lot more popular as a neutral tone as well. Cool gray goes with blue and green decor, while warm grays go better with red, yellow, and brown.
You can also get a flecked carpet, which will hide dirt and debris between cleanings.
If you do have a specific color scheme in mind, your carpet is a good way to match that scheme. If you want your carpet to serve as a bold statement piece, pick a darker color — jewel tones like navy blue, maroon, and forest green are popular recently.
If you’d prefer the carpet to be a complement to the rest of your decor without overpowering it, pick a carpet that’s a lighter version of the main color in the room.
You can pick almost any carpet style in almost any material, but each material has its own ups and downs when it comes to cost, durability, stain resistance, and other features to consider. To help you weigh your options, we put together this handy chart.
We know all these carpet fibers can be hard to keep track of, but don’t worry! When you come in to the store, we’ll unroll the carpet you choose so you can see what the carpet feels like on your hands and feet. No matter what your preference, we’ll find the carpet that’s right for you.
The short answer is yes. Carpet padding makes your floors more comfortable, adds heat insulation and sound insulation, and even waterproofs your subfloor in the event that you spill a large amount of liquid onto your carpet. For more information about carpet padding, check out our guide!
But not all carpet padding is created equal. Some people are tempted to buy the softest carpet padding, thinking that it will make for a more comfortable flooring surface. In fact, softer pads are more likely to wear out quickly, especially in heavily-trafficked areas.
At Sloane’s, we work closely with an expansive network of professional carpet installers. In fact, we won’t give our carpet to anyone else! All of our installers have been installing high-quality residential carpet for at least ten years, so you know you’re getting the best quality work.
Inexperienced installers are less efficient, costing you square footage with unnecessary wastage of material. Poorly installed carpet can also have an uneven appearance or start to develop wrinkles, especially when furniture is moved around on it.
Professional installers know better how to measure irregular spaces like corners, closets, and stairs, making sure you don’t order more carpet than you need. They used specialized equipment like powerstretchers, which create tension in the carpet to ensure that it lies flat and smooth.
They will also take into consideration the grain of the carpet and the difference between solids and patterns in order to make sure that your carpet looks its best. Click here to learn about our installation guarantee!
So why buy from Sloane’s? We source carpet irregulars directly from the biggest brand-name carpet manufacturers, thanks to relationships we’ve spent decades cultivating. Since the manufacturers are unable to sell these irregulars at full retail price, they sell them to us at steep discounts, and we pass those savings on to you! That’s how we’re able to sell you name-brand carpets up to 70% off other carpet retailers’ prices.
These irregularities are subtle — sometimes the carpet isn’t exactly the specified color, or sometimes it’s 11 feet 11 inches wide instead of the standard 12 feet. Sometimes it’s simply a discontinued carpet. In most cases, the irregularities are too subtle to notice, but we’ll make sure to show them to you in the warehouse so you know exactly what you’re getting.
Schedule an appointment to come in and talk with us! Our carpet experts will talk through your exact needs and style preferences and find you the perfect carpet to install in your home.
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