The case for carpet

A couple of months ago, my husband and I swapped out the dated wall-to-wall greige carpet in our Colorado home for something more stylish, at least from a distance: luxury vinyl plank. And while I risk being shamed for saying it, I must admit that I miss the carpet.

I know, I know. Wall-to-wall carpet has long been derided as suburban and dated. Everyone wants the rich depth of hardwood, or at least the appearance of it (enter the less expensive and more durable luxury vinyl plank). To be clear, our new floors unquestionably are better looking. Our carpets were “shot,” as my dad might say: stained and worn. If you squint, the LVP gives the appearance of something you might find in a timeworn Swedish chalet. The new floors are also more sanitary. As a parent and a dog owner, I appreciate that I no longer have to spend time and energy attempting to steam clean the practically uncleanable.

Still, there are things about carpet that I didn’t realize were important to me — elements of livability that even the area rugs we purchased as a Band-Aid just aren’t making up for. I thought this opinion might get me exiled from the design world, but the professional designers I spoke with for this story felt otherwise.

“Wall-to-wall carpeting is coming back in a big way,” said Summer Thornton, a designer based in Chicago, in an email. Thornton particularly likes using it to give a space a vintage or nostalgic feel. “There is something about it that feels very contrary right now, almost naughty, because it was so taboo and out of fashion for so long,” she added. “That makes it very appealing to me.”

I’m glad I’m not alone on this one. Here’s why I think wall-to-wall carpet deserves a second chance.

I knew that things would be louder when we removed the carpet, but I didn’t realize we’d be living in a pinball machine. Now every sound bounces: the clang of a spoon in the sink, the dramatic flop of my husband on the sofa. Wall-to-wall carpet puts a muffler on all that. “People love to hate it,” says Tanya Lacourse, the Atlanta designer behind Violet Marsh Interiors, but carpet has “a lot of value if done well … it dead-ends any sound.” Tracy Morris, a designer in McLean, Virginia, agrees: “If you have a baby, if you have teenagers that are gaming all day, it will really cut the noise.”

Wall-to-wall carpet has a bad rap thanks to decades of builder-grade beige and stained carpet in sad rentals. But it deserves a rebrand. Done in quality materials, it’s more tactical than tragic. I loved the uninterrupted plane of one calming — or energizing — color underfoot. Thornton is working on a beach condo with a throwback modernist vibe, and while most of the flooring is terrazzo, her team used plush wall-to-wall carpets for the bedrooms in shades of periwinkle, lilac and mint. “It feels so fresh and lively, and best of all, it is super comfortable,” she said.

“I love how it’s always comfortable underfoot — who wants to step out of bed onto a cold, hard floor?” Nashville-based designer Lynde Easterlin said in an email. Morris, who loves using carpet in bedrooms and basements, agrees. “It’s genuinely cozy,” she says.

I also loved the uninterrupted span of plushness under my bare feet; the fuzzy socks I’ve purchased as a salve aren’t having the same effect. “For some of my clients, especially those with bedrooms that feel a bit too large, wall-to-wall carpet … really helps to envelop the space and make it feel cozier,” Easterlin says. And if done in bold geometric patterns, a la spaces created by British interior designer David Hicks, it can “ground a space and anchor the furniture,” she adds.

Our own wall-to-wall was as basic as it comes, but knowing what I know now, I could have splurged on the decidedly decadent carpets that designers swear by. Designer Sarah Bohleber of the firm Roberts Bohleber Interior Design in Knoxville, Tennessee, says that the options for wall-to-wall performance carpets have leveled up and now include bespoke choices with subtle patterns in up to a 24-foot width. (She often installs them in walk-in-closets as well as primary bedrooms.)

There has been a “really great rise of amazing carpets that not only have a great look but a great feel,” Bohleber says. Among them: silk, wool and Tencel mixes that are cleanable and offer a luminous aesthetic and dense plushness that would no doubt be delightful on my toes. Adds Morris, who often prefers wall-to-wall carpets in silky nylon: “It’s not your 1970s shag anymore.” So, while we’re not going back to a full carpet revival anytime soon, I think in our next home I’ll soften up and embrace the plush life — in the bedrooms, at least.