apartment therapy changing the world, one room at a time

Whatever floats your boat man, looks better but I could imagine with a bit of time, the mildew and flatness that will become of that carpet

In England a lot of people have carpeted bathrooms. They're cozy.

I'd only worry about it if I had young boys or a man with bad aim in the house.

What a big no no. I moved into a place with carpet in the bathroom and I ripped it up and installed tiles myself. A bathroom that small, couldn't cost that much and commercial quality (Armstrong) flexible vinyl is so much better especially with these new designs. I used that brand and it came out beautifully. Paid a few bucks for it at the Habitat Store in Austin and so was able to cut around the fixtures and seal them.

well... i guess if that's your thing... personally, it grosses me out to see carpet in a bathroom.

i don't see it being that much of a savings either... there's tons of tile choices at only a couple dollars a sq. ft. (check clearance outlets) and you only have 35 sq.ft. - did you really save that much money?

Home Depot and Lowes often have linoleum remnants on super sale. You could pick up a piece and spend a weekend afternoon cutting carefully and . . . . the only problem I see is corners but for renting I think you could find something heavy and cute for each corner. A little shelf, a vase full of rocks, painted bricks, a garden gnome.

Clearly this is a super temporary fix but it would be way easier to clean than carpet.

~k

Floating vinyl planks that look like wood are another alternative. They are sold under the name Allure Trafficmaster at Home Depot. I used them to cover a room with old 50's style tiles, and it looks great. It's been reviewed elsewhere here. It took me 2 days on the weekend to do a 13'x16' bedroom. The only tool needed is a sharp utility knife.

I clean the bathroom in our house. There are only 2 of us. Me and my man. And to be completely honest, I can't believe how many drips are on the floor around the toilet. It's gross, but that's why I clean once a week!
I'd be weary of carpet in the bathroom, but I don't even like the little rugs in front of the tub.
I'm glad you're happy with your temporary solution.

Sorry, I think the original flooring looks better than this. A rug would have been better than bathroom carpet, which is just icky.

Can't say the carpet is an improvement. A rug would have been better--carpet in the bathroom is just icky.

I'm sorry but carpet in the bathroom is just disgusting.

sheet vinyl is super cheap and you can buy a remnant from home depot and cut it to fit in an afternoon. It's just so much more hygienic.

Honestly, even though you explained your reasoning thoroughly, it doesn't change the fact that this looks bad and possibly unsanitary. There have been some great quick fixes for bad tiles posted on AT before, including the peel 'n' stick tiles, the Trafficmaster, and the rubber flooring that one ATer put down. I'd reconsider this rug.

Cute stool, though!

I think I'd have stuck w/ one or two discretely placed large cotton looped bathmats that could be tossed into the washer every week or so...

My solution would be to cut plywood to fit then stain, varnish, and screw on top of the original flooring. But carpets give me the willies

I think that that the carpet looks great. When I lived at my old place, I had the same exact problem, and ended up going to Bed Bath and Beyond and picking up a latex backed rug that could be cut to the shape of the room. The best part was, when it got dirty, I could just pull it up and throw it in the wash.

You've got to do what works best for you, and what you like. As you said, if you've loose-laid the carpet, you can probably wash it. But hooboy--if you've got gents in the house, it will likely get pretty ripe around that toilet in a few weeks. You might want to invest in a plastic toilet mat of some kind to reduce "splashes". I'd also highly recommend some kind of a rubber or plastic backed rug/pad outside of the tub as it won't take many "wet foot trips" for mildew to take hold.

Seconding the Allure recommendation. Easy peesy and water tight. And cute, if you choose the right shade.

Yikes. I have a box of Armstrong flexible tile I would be glad to send you!

You could have painted the floor a glossy black to go with all the white. The carpet...not so crazy about it.

Kyle, the blogger here.

Oy vey - once again I've managed to create a predominantly icky visceral reaction among the AT readers ;-) .

I'd like to clarify a couple things:

1) I have a chemical sensitivity and many of the ideas that you all proposed would require things that have a much stronger odor than this carpet does. I might have to wait until I can be away for a couple weeks to do the permanent flooring solution.

2) I live solo so the only male I have to worry about is my pooch. And fortunately I trained him young to not pee on the bathroom carpet. Too bad you can't do that with other guys.

Anyway, thanks for your thoughts and ideas,
Kyle

My goodness, I'm new to this blog and love it - but wow, the amount of negative responses is a bit much. Come on people, seriously?

I think it looks GREAT. I haven't had carpet in a bathroom before, but it's a cool idea and clearly it's been done before with some amount of success. It's not like this is permanent, if it really does start to get gross you can just take it out - that's the whole point, it's temporary and cheap!

Also, didn't anyone read? This is vinyl bathroom carpet - it's not like they used the same stuff that's meant for your bedroom! I think it'll be just fine.

what is the cabinet under the sink? I've seen something like that in a few posts.

and I think the carpet looks great, it's a huge improvement over the tiles.

when i lived in england, we had carpet in our bathroom. it definitely wasn't plush at all and was more indoor/outdoor carpet; but in the cold winters, i really appreciated it!

Floating vinyl planks = my thoughts exactly. Carpet in the bathroom is gross. I like the original tile way better.

horrific!

The carpet looks good, cozy. I live with boys so it's not possible. I can totally understand the chemical sensitivity issue. It makes any improvements more challenging. It is nice to step onto a soft carpet when you get out of the shower.

I don't care for the idea of carpet in the bathroom, but since it sounds like it's a temporary thing until you can redo the whole room, and since you don't live with any kids or males with bad aim, and since the carpet is specifically designed for this purpose (I didn't even know they made special bathroom carpeting) then I don't see the problem. I can see one big advantage- no cold floors to stand on in the morning.

My parents' house was built in the 70s and when we first moved in back in '85, it still had carpeting in the front bathroom. The same ugly dark-brown shag carpeting the rest of the house had. THAT was gross.

You forgot to put the carpet on the toilet lid too.

Carpet does not go in the bathroom. Or in the kitchen. Ever.

A small mat that can be thrown in the washing machine? Go for it.

We just redid our bathroom floor for about $40 with "peel and stick" tiles. It might not last an eternity, but it doesn't look horrid either, and you can cut the tiles with a utility knife.

I'm so glad you're happy, but I hope no one else is inspired.
Just water from getting out of the bathtub, but around the toilet - urine mildew! Cozzzy.

You could have purchased a linoleum remnant for about the same price, maybe even less. Just saying.

"In England a lot of people have carpeted bathrooms. They're cozy."

some of those i saw were rather horrible, though. talk about matted and smelly (worst example was in a house of a person with a cat, and the cat's litterbox was in the bathroom. on the carpet. örgs.)

but as a for-the-time-being solution it is nice.

Ha. For me, "tacky" and "'70's" go hand in hand, which is why I retch at the growing vogue for "vintage" '70's design. Because dudes? Just because it's old doesn't make it cool.

As for carpeted bathrooms, I agree that the stray tinkle factor is a drawback. Otherwise, like the first poster said: Whatever floats your boat (as long as it's not floating on stray tinkle).

In the small backwoods Ohio town where I went to college, the slumlords would carpet bathrooms rather than repair the floors. Nasty. Just Nasty. Especially my boyfriend's 5 guys living together "House of Dudes". You can imagine how disgusting that pee stained carpet was.

However, sure, I could see some of the heavy duty FLOR tiles used for a year or so, since they are actually removable and washable. I'd just watch for mold.

Oh god, I think it's awful! So sorry :(
When I lived in London my only criteria for a flat was that it had heating, a working shower and no carpets in the bathroom. You'd be surprised at how difficult it was to find something affordable to a young professional!

I have to say, that looks really nasty. Yeah, sorry. Wouldn't it be possible to fill in the cracks and chips, sand it down and paint it?

Sorry, but it's not my cup o'Joe.

I think an indoor/outdoor bamboo "are rug" would've worked wonderfully.

You could've even cut an over-sized one to fit and then bound the edges yourself with binding "tape" and glue.

(We have a small one in our bathroom and we love it!)

don't let any males drink a little too much at your dinner parties...

i don't think it looks any worse than the linoleum but i have a gut reaction of eww because i don't think its particularly hygienic. i'm not a fan of carpet in general, living in a cream carpeted apartment (part of which is tiled with ourdoor tiles) i am craving floorboards. light coloured carpet attracts hair like nothing else, i couldn't imagine the constant vacuuming that would come of having it in the bathroom!

It would have been half the price if you'd tiled it with pennies!

The first time anyone drips anything liquid onto that carpet (toothpaste from a mouth, dirty bathwater, urine) it will start growing bacteria

There is no way i'd ever use carpet in either a kitchen or a bathroom - its just too unhygenic - gross!

Isn't this carpet synthetic and thus dries rather quickly as a deterrent to the "petri dish" effect? Do our clothes start growing bacteria when they are rained on? How long after transferring the water from our showered body on to a towel does the towel hanging in the bathroom turn into a health hazard?

Can't these type of carpets be taken up and machine washed?

I work in a hospital and to date have never seen a death by bathroom or kitchen carpet!

Kyle, I think you are safe!

the carpet grosses me out, sorry to say. why not a cotton throw rug? they come in all sorts of textures, colors, organic fibres. for a bathroom that small, natural bamboo or cork would even be financially feasible. there are low-voc paints that could be used..... anything else, really.

btw: plain jane, i just read your comment and burst out laughing!

i just threw up a little

not in your mouth, i hope, sunan?

btw me too, plain jane that was very good. Thanks formosagirl, you beat me to it.

have you thought about Flor carpet tiles? you can wash them, and they make a few styles that are better for bathrooms/kitchens. This fluffy rug is gross.

I rent and have a huge bathroom with old tiles that I can't remove so I got some really nice small wool oriental rugs. They do not reach the toilet, I clean them and wash the floors weekly, and they are great and soft on the feet. I would never do wall to wall anywhere, let alone in the bathroom.

I've lived in a place with carpet in the bathroom... an easy fix for a disgusting tile floor, but by the end of two years (the time that I moved in) that carpet was smelly, matted down, and just all around WAY grosser than replacing the floor might have been. There's enough humidity in New England in the summer to worsen the situation, too.

Emily

Like the original poster we also opted for a quick fix, bought the wall to wall bathroom carpet here for only $44.99 ,

http://bedbathwarehouse.com/products/Madison-Wall-To-Wall-Bathroom-Carpet-.html
went with the sand color.