Select carpet based on:

Colour

There are two ways to look at colour, carpets and decoration:

• The 'feature' approach – incorporating carpet colour as a major decoration feature; or,
• The 'background' approach – choosing a carpet colour that will blend with or complement your other décor choices

While there is no set formula for choosing a colour, in general, rich colours warm up and close in a room, while cool, crisp colours give a feeling of freshness and space. More subdued colours or earth tones will add a quiet mood to an over-bright room.

Remember, it is important to look at large carpet samples in your home, both in daylight and in the evening. As with paints and other furnishings, carpet colours can look quite different under changed lighting conditions.

Texture

When you begin to explore the world of colour, you will soon be drawn to the variety of textures available in today's carpets.

In carpets, 'texture' refers to the visual and tactile finish and can be achieved by a number of means. For example, the use of a thick, heavy carpet yarn in natural tones is used to produce Berber style loop pile carpets. Or, cut pile carpets can be made to present a very even and highly finished surface (like velvet) by dense tufting and then carefully cropping and shearing the fibre tips. Velour, plush and saxony are some of the names given to this style of carpet and special yarns and finishing processes are used to achieve the result.

Pattern

When it comes to choosing a pattern take your cues from other elements in the room. Elegant patterns complement dark, polished wood furniture, while vivid colours and geometric patterns make an ideal companion to contemporary furnishings. Large areas of pattern can close in a room, while a solid-colour plush-pile carpet will stretch the dimensions of the room, particularly if it complements the wall colours.

Carpet Surface Texture Styles
There are three basic types of carpet surface textures - cut pile styles, loop pile styles and styles made up of combinations of cut and loop tufts. Below are some of the more popular styles on the market today:

• Frieze/Hard Twist - a cut pile style with a 'textured' finish made up of highly twisted tufts that curl slightly at the pile surface. The yarn is tightly twisted then heat set to give textured look to the pile surface.
  
• Saxony - another popoular cut-pile sytle, a saxony has a relatively high pile and the end of the tuft flairs slightly to produce a luxurious smooth surface. 'Plush' or 'velvet' cut pile constructions are similar to the saxony but have a lower pile height and tighter tuft definition (little to no 'tip flair').
  
• Cut and Loop - here, yarns are tufted into bunches of higher cut tufts and lower loop tufts to form a texture pattern. Cut and Loops can come in many shapes, combinations and forms and can be random or regular in surface form.
  
• Berber Loop - is normally made of thicker yarns tufted into chunky loop tufts and usually of earth tones with a flecked or mottled appearance. Berbers can also be produced in a cut pile construction.
  
• Sisal/Cord - these names are used inter-changeably but they generally refer to a textured loop pile carpet. The loop lines can be either uniform in height or a sequence of alternating low and high loop rows. A sisal/cord carpet has a similar look to the traditional mat floor coverings made from plant fibres, but in carpet, it is a much more stylish and comfortable alternative.
  
• Loop - a simple loop-pile with tufts of equal height normally in a 'tight' construction using a fairly fine yarn.