How to choose the right carpet for your home

You know you want that soft cosiness underfoot, but walking into a carpet showroom filled with thousands of options is an overwhelming thought to even comprehend. Sound familiar?

Truth bomb: choosing a carpet is hard. But nothing is ever as overwhelming as you think when you break it down into simple steps. We tap into the expertise of our favourite interior stylist and darling of renovation, Catherine Heraghty, to help.

“The first thing you need to decide when you go into a showroom is which way you’re going to go – SDN or 100% wool,” she says. “Then you can straight away eliminate half the showroom.”

If you aren’t familiar with the term SDN, it's solution-dyed nylon, a synthetic, man-made fibre that’s hard-wearing. Wool, on the other hand, is a natural fibre that allows for many different textures.

So, how do you go about determining which carpet type is right for you? Here, Catherine shares the factors you'll need to consider.

Catherine is our go-to expert when it comes to choosing the right carpet.

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Practicality

First up are the practical considerations. “You need to decide where the carpet is going,” she says.

“If it’s in a lounge room and you’ve got kids playing in there all the time, that’s a high traffic area and it’s going to cause a lot of wear and tear. You’ll need to choose a carpet that’s more durable.” In that situation, SDN could be the way forward.

If you’re looking for a luxe carpet for a master bedroom, however, an area reserved typically for just the parents, 100% wool might be the answer.

Such was the case for Byron Bay-based couple Katie and Mark. Catherine was tasked with transforming their home into a Hamptons-style retreat – downstairs would be rented out on Airbnb, and upstairs, the owners' retreat. For Katie and Mark's domain, she chose a luxurious wool option from Carpet Court.

Aesthetics

Next are the aesthetic considerations you’ll need to take into account. “Think about what kind of concept you’re trying to achieve,” says Catherine. “If you’re wanting to go for a coastal look or a Hamptons look then I would be going for a 100% wool because you get that beautiful, natural, warm texture.”

Catherine chose a 100% wool carpet for Katie and Mark's bedroom.

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Also important to consider from the aesthetic point of view is how the carpet looks alongside the other flooring that it meets, says Catherine.

So, for example, in a master bedroom, the carpet is always going to marry up against the floor tiles in the en-suite. Or carpet can often meet up timber flooring in a hallway, for example. Do the two flooring types flow onto one another? Or do the patterns clash? These are thoughts to take with you into the carpet showroom.

“I would always suggest getting the carpet that you’re looking at and putting it up against the other samples [of your other flooring choices] to make sure the colours sit comfortably alongside each other, and also that the textures don’t clash with the colours or patterns in tiles,” she says.

Emotion

And finally, the emotion considerations – thinking about how you want your space to feel. If you're wanting it to be a really cosy, inviting space, 100% wool would be your best bet.

“You can get all these really beautiful textures, which make a house feel really cosy and warm and make a feature of the floor,” says Catherine. “I personally try and use 100% wool where I can because I’m really big on injecting textures into my spaces.” Carpet Court’s Defined Charm is a chunky loop pile style carpet that not only looks super sleek but also feels great underfoot – this was the option Catherine chose for Katie and Mark's bedroom, in the colourway 'Valley Mist'.

But if you’re after a house with a clean, modern, minimalistic feel – or are designing for a high traffic space like a holiday rental, or an investment property you won't be living in – then the emotional decisions aren't such a major factor, and an SDN variety might be a smarter investment.