Should I install carpet on hardwood floor?

[Anonymous]

OP here -- when I say it is "cold" I mean it is "cold" feeling b/c the floors are hard and the kids can't play/sit on the floor, it just doesn't seem as welcoming/casual compared to rooms with carpet. It's not actually "cold" temperature wise.

In regard to area rugs, I don't know where you find a 13 x 17 or 18 foot area rug? Seems like you have a lot of little pockets where the marble in front of the fireplace is one color and then you have pockets where you'd see the floor color and then the color of the rug. It doesn't seem very cohesive.

As I mentioned in my original post, I was considering having a large piece of carpet custom cut to the shape of the room (i.e. cut out for marble in front of fireplace and angled corner of room). My only concern with this is that one large side of the room (think like a rectangle) is open and that's where the heavy traffic is. I'm worried that a bound carpet might curl up or catch people's feet and be a tripping hazzard. I don't want to spend over $1000 (and preferably less).

But, it sounds like the concensus is to not put carpet attached to a hardwood floor EVEN in a room that is supposed to be cozy like a family room?

[Anonymous]

Depending on where you are located go someplace (Carpet Palace in Bethesda is my #1 go to place, Georgetown Carpet #2- NOT Home Depot) and have an area rug made out of nice carpet to your specific size specifications- they can even make a cut out for your fireplace if you want. These two places often have a lot of designer remnants that you can have cut into a rug for about the same price as you'd pay to install cheap carpet. Bound carpet (at least nice quality bound carpet) absolutely does not curl up or catch on people's feet.

[Anonymous]

For the size of rug you are talking about, I would go to Home Depot and get good quality broadloom or berber carpet (Martha Stewart has a great line there) and get it bound. It will still be several hundred to thousands of dollars, but cheaper and better than wall-to-wall.

Try overstock.com and homedecorators.com for good quality area rugs, I believe they have categories for 10 x 12 and larger area rugs.

The rug you need is HUGE. You really just need it to go under the feet of all the furniture in the seating arrangement, (are you sure it's that big?), not all the way to each side of the walls of the room.

Lastly, you might want to consider two smaller sized rugs and laying them next to eachother or binding them with carpet tape. Two 5 x 7 rugs together would make a 10 x 14 rug, and it would be much more affordable, especially if it is under carpet and held in place by furniture, etc.

Are you sure it isn't other things in the family room that make it cold? People tend to congregate in the kitchen I agree, but is the furniture comforable? Does the arrangement make it conducive for conversation? Are there places to put drinks? Just something to think about.

[Anonymous]

Do not do wall to wall. The previous owners in our house had done it, and the wood floors have horrible little tack holes everywhere that are never the same, even after they are filled.

It's very common (standard?) to use an area rug on a hardwood floor. Tripping shouldn't be a problem.

[Anonymous]

My child sits on our hardwood floors...I guess I agree that carpeting or a run would be more comfortable, but I never thought it was so uncomfortable that one wouldn't sit on the floor.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I'd never, ever put carpet over hardwoods. Carpet just looks cheap. I'd do an area rug instead.

Ditto.

[Anonymous]

Custom Carpet Shop in Rockville is great. They have remnants or you can choose which carpet you like and they will size it to the room and bind the edges for you. We are doing that in our family room. It's basically a huge area rug. They will come out and measure and size it for what you like without having to tack anything down.

[Anonymous]

We had a carpet remnant cut to fit our living room (we have some odd angles) and because it was a slightly shaggy carpet, we didn't need to have it bound--the edges don't show. We bought a carpet pad and cut it ourselves-- the kind that normally goes under installed carpet. It was inexpensive and we are very happy with it. It isn't wall to wall, there is about a foot of bare floor around the perimeter. Nobody has tripped on it, including our toddler and new walker.

[Anonymous]

I comb craigslist for old persian rugs all the time. A few months ago I got a 13x11 old one for (no, really), $100. Someone just wanted to clean out their basement. And the thing looks like character, thick and warm.

[Anonymous]

OP again... besides making the room look and feel warmer/cozier, I also want to define the room to separate it from the kitchen eating area. As it is, the back of a loveseat/sofa backs directly to the kitchen table.... which I'm not a fan of, but there is no other place to put it. So, I also thought that by changing the flooring and having it extend as closely to the walls/edges of the room as possible, it would make that portion of this space look more defined and bigger. Right now, the furniture just kid of looks bare on the bare wood floors (I do have a 5x7 area rug but it seems to make the room smaller).

So, if I go with a non-installed bound carpet, should I run it all the way to the walls and cut out spots for the registers/vents? Or should I leave a 2-3 inch border of hardwood around the room (and still cut out spots for the vents).

My goal is to make the room seem as big as possible b/c it seems a little tight now. It is hard to arrange furniture b/c the only wall for the sofa is the short end of the rectangle. If I put the sofa on the long end of the rectangle, it is backing to the kitchen table and blocks the largest opening to the room. I don't really like seeing the back of the long sofa. I deal with it for the back fo the loveseat, but I don't like it with the sofa floating next to the kitchen table.

[Anonymous]

Leave a border instead of cut outs for the vents--it will look better and if your measurements end up being off a little, it's not a big deal.

[Anonymous]

I don't mind leaving a small border, but if I leave a foot around the outside to allow for the vents, then I think it just makes the room look smaller b/c it is "framed" by the hardwood (and vents) --- the carpet will not extend the eye all the way to the wall.

If I cut out for the vents, I just lift up the metal vent covers and drop them into the cutouts --- the same as it would be for wall to wall carpet that is attached to the floor. The edges of cut out would be covered by the metal vent.

[Anonymous]

So, if I go with a non-installed bound carpet, should I run it all the way to the walls and cut out spots for the registers/vents? Or should I leave a 2-3 inch border of hardwood around the room (and still cut out spots for the vents).

You should do neither of these, and get an area rug that fits JUST the seating arrangement, as long as all the rugs are under the front legs of each piece of furniture.

Better yet, you might be better off with an interior designer at an hourly rate to help with furniture arrangement. sounds like, even though you may have a huge room, you have a layout problem and maybe you need to get a shorter sofa and arrange it differently so the back is not to the kitchen (I agree, that doesn't sound ideal).

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

So, if I go with a non-installed bound carpet, should I run it all the way to the walls and cut out spots for the registers/vents? Or should I leave a 2-3 inch border of hardwood around the room (and still cut out spots for the vents).

You should do neither of these, and get an area rug that fits JUST the seating arrangement, as long as all the rugs are under the front legs of each piece of furniture.

Better yet, you might be better off with an interior designer at an hourly rate to help with furniture arrangement. sounds like, even though you may have a huge room, you have a layout problem and maybe you need to get a shorter sofa and arrange it differently so the back is not to the kitchen (I agree, that doesn't sound ideal).

Thank you helping. I do appreciate you taking the time to think about this.

The ONLY walls that I have are the two short ends of the rectangle. The one long side of the rectangle is directly next to the kitchen table (no hallway in between -- i.e. if you are sitting at the kitchen table, and reach out, you can touch what might be considered the open side of the family room where I have a love seat). This side is ENTIRELY open, no step up/down or other breaking point. The other long side of the room has a window next to a fireplace, next to french style patio doors. So, really, there is no way to put furniture directly in front of a fireplace or doors. I have only the short end of the rectangle to use for the sofa. An interor designor is not going to be able to do anything with that. My concern about using an area rug is that there will be "patches" of wood next to the a patch of marble (in front of fireplace) next to a patch of wood in front of patio doors. I just don't think patches of rug, wood, marble and wood are going to look cohesive. It's funny that you all think this is a "big" room b/c I have been moving the furniture around for over three years (sometimes on a weekly basis) and I still cannot find a decent, welcoming layout. This is probably b/c of all the open entryways and ... did I mention that the fireplace is not centered? And I have to leave space on the one long side to open the door to the deck. I fear that an area rug that is off center will look even dorkier (with more wood showing on one side of the room than the other).

Thanks for listening. This room has baffled me for the longest time! The one plus is that it is pretty easy to rearrange the furniture on the hardwood floors!

[Anonymous]

Too many HGTV-wannabe snobs here. If you want carpet, just get it.