You either love the idea of carpet on your floor or hate it. Carpeting is pretty much cut and dry like that for most people. But the history of carpeting has a story that few really know or rarely think about. The age-long history of carpets – a textile floor covering were first created out of necessity to keep warmth and add a barrier from the cold coming up from beneath people’s feet. Carpet quickly heightened its status to more of a royalty based luxury where the complex weave of luxurious materials were fabricated into a walk-able masterpiece of art.
So, how did carpet go from masterpiece to a convenient, mass-produced flooring material?
The History Of Carpet
It all started with the development of fitted carpeting within the entire space of a room’s floor plan. The idea of wall-to-wall carpet is relatively still a new concept in flooring considering the scope of carpet over the centuries. Starting around the mid 1940’s carpeting started to become popular by using it to stretch the entire breadth of room rather than a smaller parcel of the floor. By the early 1950’s carpet became so popular that it took on a status symbol for a home to be adorned with this soft flooring, something akin to owning an electric range. The more affordable and convenient it became, the more the masses wanted to get on-board and have carpet installed in their home.
The “fitted” or wall-to-wall carpeted flooring was born. The use of fitted carpet started with long stair runner strips, fastened with nails to the base stair steps. It then migrated to the adding of a tack strip that made the attachment of the edges clean and fastened with a more seamless finish. The more homeowners that installed carpeting in their homes, the more manufactures were focused on developing new features, textures, patterns and colors within their carpeting lines.
The New Carpet Features Of Today
The evolution of carpeting has really changed the home design landscape for homeowners, providing endless colors and styles, as well as environmental choices. The manufacturing materials that are now used to make carpet are far superior to its former days. The new carpet of today is being made with sustainable, recycled materials and is being crafted with scientifically proven stain resistant fibers and highly sophisticated color palettes with intricate pattern designs.
Today’s carpeting has left the perception of what it once was; limited colors and patterns, fewer pile and texture choices and no stain or dirt resilience. In fact the false perception goes – if you are choosing carpet, you better make sure you have low traffic, no moisture and a petless household, otherwise you are signing yourself up to some major upkeep and cleaning regiments.
Carpeting has climbed to a whole new level in flooring for both homes and commercial applications. Today’s carpet options offer the best of both worlds in flooring – luxurious design options (color, pattern, and texture) with superior durability, sustainable “green” materials and complete waterproof and stain resistant characteristics!
Here are some key features that carpeting has advanced to:
Sustainable Carpet –
The Portland area consumer that we often work with is highly educated on the benefits of recycled products and the direct effect it has on protecting our natural resources. So, it makes perfect sense that any homeowner in the PDX area might seek out their choices for sustainable “green” carpeting alternatives.
In a report from 2014, it estimated then that eco-conscious residents in the Portland area were around 62.7% and that number seems to be increasing every year. This makes Portland residents a perfect fit for the development of carpeting which uses recycled materials. Carpet manufacturers have developed a process to utilize plastic beverage bottles into finely crafted carpet fibers that are woven into an eco-friendly carpeting line that serves every need of today’s eco-friendly homeowner.
Waterproof and Petproof Carpet –
The idea that if you have pets in your home you should not choose carpet as your flooring is just no longer true. The types of products available now that are highly stain, dirt and spill resistant completely changes that thought all together. The science behind these products starts with the specialized fibers used in the manufacturing process and ends with the formulated backing that literally wicks away any moisture from entering through the backing and soaking into your sub-flooring, making some carpet products waterproof. Which as a pet owner you understand that can be the headache to any carpeted room. The look of your carpeting won’t be marred by unsightly stains and smudges but even better your carpeting material will stay clean. Cleaner flooring makes it better for the family and a healthier way of living.
Designer Patterns and Colors in Carpet – What’s NEW
Current carpet trends reflect the vast selections of textures that while comfortable to walk on also provides some unique style options and adds those designer touches that many people gravitate to. The complex patterns and subtle hues in colors make the design choices far more exciting as well.
The days of wall to wall solid beige and standard low plush carpeting are no longer your sole choices but the carpeting manufacturers have fashioned a more visually beautiful and highly desirable look for your floor covering. The styles range from burly berbers with deep rich contrasting fiber colors to highly refined soft pile carpeting with delicate blind patterns woven in it all in an array of colors that have never been this many choices. The possibility of layering your home with different effects from luxury carpeting transitioning to warm, rich hardwood flooring and back to textured sustainable carpeting is all at your disposal. Let’s face it, if you can dream it you can create it and still enjoy it many years later since it’s extremely durable as well.
Most homeowners think of carpeting as a soft experience underfoot in most cases but they may also feel that many rooms in their home might not be the best fit for this type of flooring surface. The possibility of trapping stains and dirt, high spill and moisture zones, non-sustainable materials and unhealthy breathing conditions that come along with its soft fibers might make most people shy away from carpet all together. But as we shared above, that is less the case any longer. Carpeting has really advanced in significant ways that mow allow carpet for high traffic areas, spill and moisture magnet zones or even a well-used family room. Carpet can be a really practical choice for any Portland homeowner.
