Choosing the right color for your carpet can feel like a lot of pressure. Replacing carpets is a major home project, so you want to make sure that you choose a color you'll enjoy in the long term and looks great with your decor style.
The right carpet choice pulls a room together and creates a cozy aesthetic for your home. But with so many color options, it can be challenging to narrow down your choices. Read on to learn a few tips and tricks for finding the right flooring colors that you'll love for years to come.
Why Does the Color of Carpet Matter?
Color can tie a room together and completely transform a space. For example, a light carpet can work well in a room with a lot of light, making the space appear more bright and airy than it actually is.
However, carpet color can also have the opposite effect on your space by making a room feel stuffy and small or not hiding stains well. It's important not to overlook your carpet color when designing the rooms of your home, as it can impact the appearance of your space.
Tips to Keep in Mind When Choosing Colors
Explore a few general tips for choosing the perfect carpet color below:
Coordinating with Paint Colors
If you are trying to coordinate with your wall colors, remember that it is much easier to change paint colors than it is to replace the carpet. There are also many paint colors to choose from, so it's often best to choose the carpet color first, then the paint.
Coordinating With Furniture and Decor
Since floors take up so much surface area in a room, anything you do to them will be instantly noticeable. Because of this, it's great to consider your decor before deciding which color carpet you should get — just as you would with your wall colors.
To make your room more cohesive, match your carpet color to your couches, tables and features like your book stand. If you have prominent art, sculptures or instruments, you could draw inspiration from these items for your carpet colors.
Cleaning and Maintenance
If you are browsing carpets for rooms with lots of foot traffic, the color will factor into how easily you can keep your carpets clean. Generally, darker-colored carpets will hide stains, dust and footprints better than light-colored carpets, making them better suited to hallways and living areas. For the same reason, darker-colored carpets tend to be easier to maintain.
Personal Style
You can instantly narrow your search for the right carpet based on your interior design taste! Eliminating the colors you aren't keen on will quickly help you land on specific hues.
Choosing the best color for your carpets also becomes easier when you consider your style. For example, if you enjoy a classically timeless look, neutral-colored carpets would match that aesthetic better than very dark colors.
High-Traffic Areas
Consider where your carpet is going. Will people be constantly walking over the same path multiple times a day? A hallway carpet is often a high-traffic area, so you'll want to consider a patterned carpet that can hide footprints easily. Or if it is an area that likely deals with spills and messes, then a dark-colored carpet will be the best option to hide stains.
Room Size
Small-sized rooms and rooms with low ceilings tend to benefit the most from carpets with neutral colors. Neutral colors help to make a room appear larger, while a bold color works best in large spaces and oddly shaped rooms.
The Best Carpet Colors for Around the Home
The wonderful thing about choosing your carpets is that they come in such an assortment of colors that you can match them to the various rooms around your house. There is no such thing as a carpet in the wrong color — only carpets in the best colors for your preferences.
Light-Colored Carpets
Light colors for your carpets can be an absolute winner if you want to brighten a space, make it appear more spacious and create a sleek, contemporary or minimalistic look. Light carpets work well in low-traffic areas like the main and guest bedrooms and the home office.
That should not stop you from having a light-colored carpet in the living or dining rooms, though. If you would like a like carpet in busy areas, you could try layering it with a darker colored rug strategically placed under the coffee table or close to the entrance. Lighter carpets are an excellent choice if you love simplicity and airiness.
Dark-Colored Carpets
Since dark hues hide stains better, they are well-suited for dining and living room carpet colors. However, they can also transform large bedrooms into a more cohesive space. Dark carpets are also perfect for creating a more inviting, intimate and warmer area.
You can also inspire a feeling of sophistication and elegance by choosing darker carpets that offer richness and texture to your room.
Neutral-Colored Carpets
Neutral colors are muted shades such as beige, cream, tan, brown, ivory, gray, black and white. Neutral colors come in two tones — warm and cool neutrals. Neutrals like beige, tan and brown have a warmer tone, while ivory and gray have cooler tones.
Since neutral tones are timeless and subtle, they are popular carpet colors well-suited to just about any room in your home. They are perfect for making a room feel warm, inviting, spacious and cohesive.
Bright-Colored Carpets
Create an eye-catching space with bright-colored carpets! Adding a vibrant pop of color to a room is bold and effective. Bright carpets work well in children's bedrooms, playrooms, entertainment areas or games rooms. They are also a go-to choice for small spaces that have a predominantly white or pastel palette.
If you would like the effect of vibrant flooring but aren't ready to commit to bright colors, you could try a brightly-colored rug instead.
The Best Carpet Colors for the Living Room and Dining Room
The living room and dining room are high-traffic areas, as they are typically rooms that the whole family gathers in to eat, drink, and relax. Because of the purpose of these rooms, they are often prone to spills and stains.
Depending on the shape and size of your living room, going with a dark neutral tone is often a good idea for your living room carpet color. Grays, blues, and earthy tones are all good choices to ensure that the living room carpet will match your furniture. As most living rooms are the largest areas of the house and sometimes feature high ceilings and big windows, a dark neutral color for your living room carpet can add coziness to this space.
Dining rooms may be smaller and have a less open layout than living rooms. Though they also deal with a lot of stains and foot traffic, dark neutral colors may not be the best choice for the dining room carpet because of their size. If you have a smaller enclosed dining room, it might be best to stick with earthy neutrals like beige or sand. If you decide to go with light colors, then stain-resistant materials for your dining room carpet will be necessary.
The Best Carpet Colors for the Bedroom
Many people seek to create a peaceful and calm retreat when decorating their bedrooms. If you are looking for a bedroom carpet color that will feel comfortable and relaxing, then you may want to consider going with white or light neutral-colored carpeting. A soft white carpet will go with a lot of different styles and match virtually any furniture. As a bedroom is typically not the biggest room in the house, a light-colored bedroom carpet will make the room seem more spacious.
The Best Carpet Colors for the Kitchen and Bathroom
These rooms are almost guaranteed to deal with water or spills, making choices like vinyl or hardwood more popular than carpet in kitchens and bathrooms. If you want to use carpet, the type of material, style and color of the carpet will play a role in the overall appearance of the flooring over time.
For the kitchen carpet, you'll want to think about what style you want the carpet to bring into the room. Often people want the kitchen to be a warm and inviting space, so warm colors might work well for a kitchen carpet.
If you are looking for colors for your bathroom carpet, most colors besides white will work well. Some people prefer to take a bold, funky approach to their bathroom space and others prefer a spa-like tranquility in their bathrooms. Whatever your preferences are, a bathroom carpet will benefit from a bit of color to hide stains or discoloration.
Shop Carpet Colors for Your Home From Carpet & Tile Mart
Any color carpet can work well when you consider your needs and preferences. Whether you are looking for living room or bedroom carpet colors, Carpet & Tile Mart has the flooring solution to suit you! Our floor supercenters prioritize convenience, value and customer service by making it easy to find the best color carpets at competitive prices.
Browse our range of carpets, rugs, tiles and hardwood floors or contact us online with any questions!
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