Carpet in Living Room and Other Rooms with Photos

No matter what fashion trends emerge, the return to decorating rooms with beautiful carpets, especially in the living room, will inevitably come back. The multi-century history of design confirms this truth.

How to Choose a Carpet for the Living Room

Almost any style in interior design is not opposed to decorating with carpets and carpeting. They help zone the space and logically unite interior elements. The main rule is to align with the overall style: from color choice to size and geometric outline.

Carpets in modern living room interiors can be floor or wall-mounted. They differ in texture and material depending on the chosen room design. The most expensive are silk carpets. They are light and require high craftsmanship. Wool carpets are traditionally laid on the floor. Cotton and viscose carpets are practical, offering many artistic and color variations in patterns. They are widely used in country style, cottage, Provence, and oriental styles.

Leather carpets and sheep's wool have also entered the trend. They can be made from natural materials. For followers of green movements, there are many options made from substitutes: high-quality eco leather and faux leather, artificial fur of various animals.

Design: Svetlana Yurkova

Artificial materials are also used for making carpets: nylon variations are affordable and practical; polyester carpets are not expensive either, offering a rich color palette and mimicking natural texture; polypropylene carpets are durable and accurately reproduce natural wool in finishing, making the original not price-competitive.

When aiming to use carpets in living room interiors, it's worth considering the requirements of the space regarding their characteristics:

• Easy and effective cleaning from possible contamination is essential: the living room is a place for hosting guests with all kinds of unexpected incidents like spills or dirt on the carpet surface;

• High pile (over 15 mm) is less desirable near dining zones, where crumbs can harbor bacteria not always friendly to people;

• Wear resistance is an important factor in choosing a carpet: the living room is a highly used zone for large families and guests;

• The design of the carpet should not stand out from the overall room decoration, being an unexpected decor object for the property owner's surroundings;

• The durability and wear resistance of carpets depend on the material used: silk carpets are more decorative than practical compared to synthetic fibers or threads and perfectly suit wall decoration;

• Artificial materials are sometimes allergenic and not always suitable for children who love playing on soft floor surfaces;

• "Calm" carpet colors are determined by the abundance of bright colors in living room decoration.

Photo: Unpretentious carpet in a modest living room

Design: Maria Makhmudova

Photo: Fur-style carpet with long pile

Photo: Woven carpet under a coffee table

Photo: Carpet in a studio living room

Photo: Palas in an urban apartment

Design: Anna and Daniil Shepanovich

Price-to-Performance Ratio

 Artificial carpets, in addition to their low price, also come with increased static electricity (the generation of static electricity) and allergenicity (tendency to cause allergic reactions in the body). Popular today are polypropylene floor coverings. However, they fear moisture and direct natural sunlight, absorb dust well, and are picky about cleaning with low-power vacuum cleaners. They function effectively for no more than 5 years. Persian natural carpets, for example, are used for centuries, passing from generation to generation as heritage. The price is incomparable, but the quality is worth it!

Cotton in carpet finishing is elastic and durable: pile in synthetic fibers is attached with latex. However, such a variant is somewhat more expensive than polypropylene base and will give additional life to the item with gentle use up to 5 years.

Viscose and artificial silk are wear-resistant but not well-suited for thermal and sound insulation.

Carpets on knitted base last about 10 years. In price, they stand before woolen items. A prestigious look is achieved by weaving the base and pile simultaneously. The result is strong and gutta-percha-like.

Wool carpets in living rooms are expensive but highly eco-friendly. They last long (at least 50 years), have fire-resistant properties, and high artistic value in hand-crafted execution. The drawbacks are their ability to collect dust, attract moths and mold with improper care. Wear resistance and ease of cleaning are provided by synthetics. The optimal ratio is 80 to 20 in favor of natural threads.

Visual Perception Possibilities

 A carpet in the living room requires designer planning with a set element: the room for hosting guests "resists" carpet paths, "steering away" from overall style in color and form.

The living room is predisposed to beautiful and refined items with a relief or smooth base. Natural materials in execution can carry beauty and healing effects.

A large living room is receptive to several carpets covering each chosen design zone in a unified stylistic solution. Baroque implies floral patterns, high-tech - abstraction.

If you want to cover the entire living room, consider a practical rule: the uncovered space from the wall should be around 50 cm. This will not visually reduce the overall space.

Design: Arthur Minakov and Julia Fedotova

Carpet Coverage Size

 The desire to fully cover the space with a carpet - carpet. But it's more compatible with children's rooms or study. The size of the carpet is determined by the design, desire to zone the space, capabilities (including existing) to make a beautiful floor covering that provides a decorative effect for the living room.

Small mats are placed near spots where feet most often find their natural refuge: bed, sofa, chairs, bookcase, entrance to the balcony…

By visual perception, one-level and multi-level carpets are distinguished. In the first case, uncut loops have equal height. In the second variant, different loop lengths create a volumetric effect of the pattern, which also visually increases the size of the item.

A large carpet with specific finishing features, as noted, requires harmony with the surrounding environment. Geometry should also organically blend into the living room interior.

A small carpet is considered to be 3 sq.m. It fits under a coffee table with chairs, next to a sleeping area. Medium-sized items count up to 6 sq.m. They are suitable for decorating the central zone of the room. Large carpets - from 6 square meters. They are organic, elegant, and pretentious for spacious living rooms.

Carpet Item Shapes

 Carpets in modern living room interiors, aligning with designer intentions, can have various configurations. From small round, oval, rectangular, square mats to fundamental floor coverings of such shapes.

The round shape of a carpet is considered a decorative element in the living room rather than practical in terms of insulation and soundproofing. It predictably zones space, artistically highlights the chosen segment of interior design, and psychologically acts on a person soothingly. A spacious living room allows covering the central area with a round carpet with a wide frame and large pattern in the center. This variant is accepted in classical Turkish carpet weaving.

Design: Marina Zhukova

A round carpet in the interior can be placed under furniture, stylishly combined with round clocks, mirrors, chandeliers, and lamps.

A square or rectangular carpet is considered a traditional item. It is laid in front of the sofa with a gap or under a coffee table with "acceptance" on the surface of all legs. It looks impressive on one wall free from decor and furniture. It is decorated with antique or stylized cold weapons mounted on special hangers, not damaging the carpet surface.

An oval shape ensures preservation of room sections and accents the layout. A semicircle suits a wall zone, highlighting the strict geometry of furniture.

A "broken" shape resembling animal skin will help accentuate the living room interior, not strictly bound to geometric line clarity.

A carpet in a living room with an L-shaped sofa is chosen in oval shape. It easily accommodates a coffee table, serving as an attribute of a cozy zone for quiet rest in a private setting.

Design: Hayme Aion

How to Choose a Color Palette

The harmony of the living room is in the combination of carpet and furniture colors. The more area covered, the less contrast the carpet surface should have. This design technique has a proportional character. The classical style leans toward saturated accents in carpet color: with elements of red, purple, orange, yellow in stripes or diagonal direction.

The modern and English styles choose carpets with expanded patterns, elegant designs in gray, green, olive, red execution.

Modern style leads to abstraction: on a monochromatic background, attractive are accent colors in the form of geometric figures of proper shape. Accent color can be repeated in decor and furniture color.

Design: Katya Chistova

Rural and eco-style, with country and Provence, lean towards pastel tones that visually send to the natural environment: light green, yellow, pink, beige, orange, blue. Flowers and greens in decoration and pattern are a distinctive feature of the stylistic approach to interior design.

High-tech does not like elaborate colors. Monochrome and visual "smooth" transition from glass with metalized surfaces to low pile carpet will give a full feeling of immersion in the chosen style.

What Pile Height is Suitable for the Living Room

The pile length is chosen based on criteria of active living room use in each specific case. The possibility of frequent cleaning and the desire to walk barefoot choose a more "fluffy," natural, and high-thread surface of carpeting. It is suitable for cozy rooms with a fireplace. Frequent gatherings and parties with guests draw attention to practical carpets with short pile or non-pile variants. For example, leather items. Imitation of grassy cover will bring natural freshness into the accent direction of rural style and all its surroundings.

Features of Choosing Carpets in Other Rooms

The bedroom leans toward long-pile carpets in a calm, sometimes monochromatic color palette. This will create additional comfort and warmth for the room for sleep. The children's room loves bright colors, cartoon motifs, and popular games. The hallway, being a place of high contamination, prefers easily cleaned synthetic materials in carpeting.

Recommendations from Emily Henderson

Carpet or Palas?

A carpet, unlike a palas, is an accent element of decor. It is variable in color solution, shape, structure, and finishing quality, creating additional comfort and warmth. Palas is more practical, suitable for a living room with high traffic: pile does not settle, it is easy to clean both the outer surface and the floor under it.

Carpeting can cover the entire floor surface, so it suits large halls when additional warmth and sound insulation are needed.

Choosing a carpet for the living room is a creative process, barely intimate. After all, comfort implies the possibility of being in the hall without shoes and slippers. And this is only possible for family members, closest relatives, and friends.

Design: Victoria Smirnova

Carpets in Living Room Interiors