Carpets N More

Earlier, we took a look at two of Rita Wilson’s fashion tips, and how they connected to improving our homes. Let’s consider the next one.

Tip 3: “Your haircut and color tell people a lot about you.” This tip is about spending the extra money to get a good haircut and color. Let’s face it, no matter what you’re wearing; your hair is always visible on the top of your head. You may wear seven or more outfits in the course of the week, but always the same hairstyle. From a décor standpoint, when you’re deciding how to spend your money, the best places for splurging are the most permanent elements. These include flooring, cabinets and countertops. Everything else comes and goes over the life of your home. With a limited budget, spend on the permanent parts first, and upgrade furniture and accessories later.

Walk into some spaces and consider what you notice initially. Flooring, paint and architectural elements generally catch your eye. Make sure these are all at the level you want them to be in your home.

To see the other tips in this series, click here.

We have touted wool carpets as being among the most luxurious options you have for carpet in your home. When you’ve spent more money on wool, you want to maintain it correctly! The single most effective method of maintenance on wool carpet is regular vacuuming.

One of the most common issues with wool carpet is a red wine spill. Have you heard it said that if you want to treat a red wine spill on wool carpet, you pour some white wine on it? Don’t do it! Not only will it be a waste of some good white wine, it will simply spread your problem!

The best way to treat a wine spill (or any water-based staining agent) is to immediately soak up as much of the spill as possible with an absorbent cloth or paper. Start at the outer edges of the spill and work your way to the center, blotting rather than rubbing. This is important! Blot, don’t rub! If you can still see the spot after blotting, use a spot remover specifically designed for water-based stains on wool, like any spot removers that carry a WoolSafe® label. In particular, do not use regular detergents, as they will likely leave a residue that will cause soiling quickly at the spot of the stain.

For oily stains, don’t be afraid to use a dry cleaning solvent (again, best with a WoolSafe® label). Remember that most high-quality wool garments recommend dry cleaning! Just be sure that you use the solvent sparingly as it can damage the backing of your carpet.

In our last blog post, we took a look at the first wardrobe tip presented by Rita Wilson on a recent episode of Oprah. Well, there are seven more than can be directly applied to our homes.

Here’s number two:

“Trust your personal style.” Many people are tempted to simply adopt a style rather than really explore their own taste preferences. No one, no matter how talented, is more qualified to decorate your home than you are. First, sort through your style options. Look through various magazines and books. Window shop at flooring and furniture stores. Visit model homes; and really pay attention when you go to the homes of friends. Start taking notes, tearing out pages, and writing down information on your preferences. Take your time. After all, you will be living with your choices for quite a while. It’s OK to ask for advice. Your salespeople are generally knowledgeable and helpful, and want your home to turn out beautifully.

Your budget may require you to start small. Maybe you add just a piece of art or an accessory that catches your eye initially. But if you find yourself smiling whenever you pass that piece, you’ve discovered the real pleasure of making your home totally your own. To see more tips from this series, click here.

The correlation between wardrobe and décor often surprises people. If you think about it though, both reflect your personal taste and provide a public vision of you. On a recent episode of Oprah, Rita Wilson, an actor and producer, as well as a style columnist for Harper’s Bazaar magazine, provided 10 tips for looking fabulous at any age. Let’s take a look at how the first of these can be applied to our homes.

Tip 1:

If you haven’t worn something in a year, get rid of it. I have personally never been able to live with this idea in my closet, but I do try to apply it in my home. Do you have accessories, curtains, pillows or mementos that really are dated or inconsistent with your taste today? Has your home become a museum instead of a living changing space that reflects both your changing taste and lifestyle? Have those once-comfortable dining room chairs gotten flat because the foam is shot? Is your carpet tired and in a color you no longer care for? Whether you’re considering a major overhaul or just replacing several dated lamps, an update in your home can be as uplifting as a new pair of shoes…or two…or three.

Stay tuned for more tips!

We are so excited to share another kind note from someone we were able to help with their flooring! Please read below.

Steve,

I wanted to thank you so much for assisting us during these tough economic times.   My husband Bart told me all of your staff and installation employees were top notch and provided excellent customer service.   This is exactly why people are repeat customers.  I hope to recarpet my other bedrooms in the future, and know who to call.

Best personal regards.

Cyndee and Bart  J

Do you find it challenging to match colors and styles when shopping for your home? There’s a simple tool you can create to make this process so much easier. Set up a set of kits with samples of all of your flooring, countertops, paint and fabric – organized by room.

When you have new flooring installed, grab a small piece of carpeting, a tile fragment or a piece of wood or your sheet vinyl. That’s your start. Next, as you paint, cover a sturdy piece of paper with your paint. Don’t rely on paint chips for your color, because the actual paint color will always be different. If you started your painting with a poster-board sampler, just cut a corner of your selected sample to put into your book.

Having furniture recovered? Ask for the fabric scraps and add a piece to your collection. If you can’t get your fabric or for existing furniture, check the hem to see if you can clip a little bit to give you that color or pattern. Do the same for any curtains in the space. To do color matching for other key pieces of furniture or accessories, go to your home improvement store and grab some paint chips in the right color range, and take them home to find the best match.

Finally, take a couple of photos of the room. You can put everything in a sturdy notebook, or even put each room’s samples in separate large envelopes or photo boxes and label them. When you go shopping for additional pieces, or even replacements years from now, you will be ready with the samples you need to match colors and styles.

When you say, “polyester,” do you mean just plain polyester, PET polyester or PTT polyester? There is lots of confusion about what the terms really mean. Recently, most of the polyester fibers used for carpet construction have been of the PET variety. PET polyester is manufactured primarily from used plastic soda bottles. It is an improved fiber over the original polyester, but still retains some of the performance issues, about which you may have heard stories.

The high points of PET carpets are that they are inexpensive, and the fiber is highly colorfast and resistant to water-based stains (though susceptible to oil-based stains).  Additionally, there is a particularly soft and lush feel (carpet folks call it good “hand”) to new polyester carpet. The main complaints about carpets made from this fiber are that they crush and mat quickly, and that oil-based stains are difficult – if not impossible to remove.

PTT polyester is a late generation fiber refined and introduced by DuPont in 2000, under the trade name Sorona. It has some interesting characteristics, like 37% renewable resource content (corn-based) and reported extra stain and performance capabilities over earlier generations of polyester. Because of its unique performance characteristics in carpet construction, the FTC (in March, 2009) authorized the new generic fiber name and classification, Triexta. Mohawk’s Smartstrand carpets are manufactured from this fiber.

According to DuPont and Mohawk, carpets constructed from triexta fibers will perform every bit as well as nylon – and yet retain the soft feel (the hand) and stain-resistance of polyester.

Sorry guys, this one is for the ladies. (Although Adam Lambert from American Idol may have changed all of that!) Have you ever been in a hurry and dropped your mascara on your carpet? Don’t worry, we’ve got the solution. Take a look at these simple steps and you’ll be able to tackle that stain with no problem.

Here’s all you have to do! Follow these simple guidelines:

Solvent – A non-flammable spot removal solution, or dry cleaning type solvent, is preferred. Exercise caution when using a solvent. Never pour it directly onto the carpet or allow it to reach the backing, because it can damage the latex that holds the primary and secondary backings together. Acceptable solvents include Carbona®, Energine®, K2R®, Goof-Off®, etc.

Detergent Solution – Mix one fourth (1/4) teaspoon of a liquid dishwashing detergent per one (1) cup of lukewarm water. NEVER USE A STRONGER CONCENTRATION! Thorough rinsing is necessary to remove detergent residues that may cause rapid soiling. It may be necessary to rinse with warm water several times to completely remove residues. (See Residue Precautions.) Care should be used in selecting a detergent. Never use a laundry detergent of any type, because laundry detergents may contain optical brighteners (flourescent dyes) that dye the fiber. Do not select an automatic dishwashing detergent because many contain bleaching agents that destroy dyes and some fibers.

Warm Water – Lukewarm tap water should be used in most cases to rinse the cleaning solutions from the fiber. Failure to completely rinse the solutions from the fiber may cause accelerated soiling.

Call a Professional – Professional cleaners have the ability and the equipment to use more aggressive cleaning solutions to remove stubborn spills. Always consider consulting a professional cleaner regarding any spot removal question. The Carpet and Rug Institute is a great resource- 1-800-882-8846.

Wool, the original fiber used to make textiles of all types, including carpet, is an amazing fiber with incredible characteristics, with a documented history dating back to around 4,000BC. Alexander Smith & Sons, one of the largest carpet manufacturers in the world up to the end of WWII, was at one time the largest employer in Yonkers, New York – producing over 26,000 square yards of woven wool carpets per day. However, the introduction of nylon during the war had a dramatic impact on wool carpet production. As a result, wool carpets today account for only a fraction of the overall carpet production – but they are some of the most beautiful and sought-after carpets in the world!

There are a host of things you’ll love about wool carpets. They hide soil brilliantly, and even when soiled, release dirt easily with most standard commercial cleaning methods available today. Wool carpets, when constructed well and maintained reasonably, will never “ugly out.” Also, because of the fiber’s unique ability to accept dyes, you can find wool carpets in dramatically bright and compelling colors. Lastly, wool is a safe carpet, recognized as non-allergenic and will not burn (it is naturally self-extinguishing).

One of the down sides of wool carpets is that they are expensive.  Another difficulty with wool is its susceptibility to stain. Because wool accepts dyes so readily (giving the deep, rich colors), it will also “accept” stain agents like red wine or fruit drinks. If you have the budget and the discipline to protect against staining agents, you will absolutely love your wool carpet!

Ready to take a chance on color? Here are some tactics for increasing your likelihood of success.

Decided to add a color or colors to a room, but not sure where to start? Take a peek in your closet to get color ideas. The colors you pick to wear will generally translate into the colors you want to live with in your home. Take a general look and see if two or three colors are your favorites. Among those, choose pieces of clothing that have the colors you like best, and bring them out into the space you’re thinking of redecorating.

This may sound strange, but your next step is to lay out the clothes in various locations in your space. Does that corner need a burst of orange? Would the sofa look better with a red or green throw pillow? Move the fabrics around until you have a combination of colors that works for you.

The next step is using those clothes to create a color base for the room. Take the clothes to your closest paint store, and look for paint chips that come closest to matching the fabric colors. Tuck those chips in your purse or pocket – you now have color samples you can take with you to select fabrics, accessories, and other color elements in your room. And your clothes can now go back into your closet.

Using your paint chips as samples, start shopping. Do you need new draperies, accessories, rugs? Remember to balance colors across the room. They can create focal points or highlight a space, and color will always make a room more inviting and interesting.

Don’t be afraid to experiment and call us for help!