apartment therapy changing the world, one room at a time

I love my giant round white flokati - but it goes out to be cleaned once a year...
...I'd have think hard before putting down any color wall-to-wall, much less white.

OMG, white carpet would just give me nightmares. I could not deal with that upkeep without going insane.

The only scenario in which a white rug should be used is if you are decorating for an impossibly tidy single person, or if you are using some sort of natural hide. I have a messy 90lb dog and a white patchwork cowhide rug with slight natural variations, and it seems to stay rather clean with regular maintenance. I have used on one occasion an expansive brilliant white 100% synthetic area carpet for a client, and it looked fantastic for about a year with regular spot cleaning, but it was understood that the carpet would have to be replaced once a year which being synthetic was not cost prohibitive.

Where is the "Yes, have it, won't have it again" choice?

Love the look and that picture really does make the room.

I have pulled up old carpeting before. I would never go for carpeting, much less WHITE carpet.

i live alone and out of habit i usually go barefoot in the house. i get surprised how dirty my icky tan carpet gets on the path from the front door to the bedroom where i take my shoes off when i get home. only if i had a household staff to keep it clean, no white carpet for me.

When I got my first place on my own, I got the the cream coloured wool berber carpet I had always imagined would look really smart in a city flat. And it made me insane for years after. It showed everything: single (human) hairs, dust, crumbs, lint, footprints. I became the sitcom cliché who never serves red wine and compells visitors to remove their shoes. I hoovered and spot cleaned and shampooed my fingers to the bone for that damned rug. Not only did it only look good when utterly spotless, it demanded that the entire apartment be spotless at all times lest some stray contaminant find its way to the pristine field. Finally, an unremovable Christmas tree water stain did it in and it was swiftly replaced with a black and brown pattern. So yes, I do love the look; but I will never ever do it again.

I like kids, dogs, yellow curry, and red wine too much to ever have white carpeting in my home. And I refuse to have any part of it "off limits" to people.

Not only that, I just don't like wall-to-wall carpeting under any circumstances. I never feel like it's clean--who knows what's hiding in all that pile?

I wouldn't do it. My kitchen has a white tile floor and I have to sweep it every day and wipe up the spots to keep it from looking perpetually dirty. I can't imagine cleaning carpet on a daily basis.

My Parents had white, not a total white but white non the less carpeting in 2 homes, one was my childhood home that even w/ a dog or 2 only (Dachshunds) and primarily me, it stayed reasonably clean and was still down when we moved 9 years later and still didn't look too bad and yes, it was cleaned I think yearly.

They put white carpeting down in their last house but had only been able to enjoy it for about 5 years before my Mom had to seel the house after becoming a widow, what they had there originally was 70's era gold carpet that was in the house when they bought it in the mid 80's.

Me? I'd go for a shag in a white as an accent/area rug only and would if I could go w/ hardwoods but alas, as a renter, have to endure crappy grey carpeting.

Oops, I mean sell the house.

We bought a house with wall-to-wall white carpet.

Oy vey. It's SO much responsibility. I basically ended up putting area rugs on all the main traffic areas, under the coffee table, and in the main area of my daughter's rooms. At some point we'll tear it up.

It's just not a realistic choice unless you're childless and never have people over.

Carpet is the biggest waste of time and such a nightmare. We just moved into a new home and pulled up the carpet, that looked okay, not too stained, still good pile etc.. You would not believe the layers of dirt, sand and filth underneath. Doesn't matter how clean you are, carpets hoard dirt and no vacuum can get rid of it all. They are filthy, germ harboring sponges of grime and nastiness - a white carpet - Uhh NO WAY!

Yes, as long as it's a flokati. Machine washable, natural fibre. What's not to love? http://stylenorth.ca/blog/2009/03/orange-crush-to-creamsicle/

Had it, wouldn't do it again. It looked lovely when installed but quickly turned dingy. When I moved, I was horrified at the traffic zone grubbiness, contrasting with the white rectangles where furniture used to be. It was absolutely disgusting, so much so that not only is white carpet off the list, I avoid all carpet at all. You wouldn't see the same wear patterns on brown carpet, but that doesn't mean it's not there.

Don't ever get wall-to-wall light-colored carpeting unless you want to be its slave forever.

If you want to keep it looking good, you cannot wear shoes indoors, have pets or small children (or clumsy adults prone to spills), or eat anywhere except the kitchen. You'll still probably have to replace it eventually due to normal wear-and-tear.

If you like light-colored floors, why not try a pale wood or paint the floor white?

Well after reading these comments I certainly would not. But I'm interested that no one has commented on the room in the photo. It really is a lovely room, though as pointed out by slowdown, white paint would work just as well. For that matter, the floor in the picture might *be* white paint....

I second pollymagoo, voting for "had it, hopefully never again". Too many apartments in Austin come standard with nearly white wall-to-wall. No matter how careful you are, it ALWAYS end up looking dirty, and is a horrible idea for rentals.

I grew up with wall to wall white carpeting (leaning towards a very light grey, which helped cover up any traffic paths our bare feet would wear) and only had one major mishap that Spot Shot couldn't fix (a giant rubber cement stain that now sports a rug). Have it in my apartment now and the only real trouble spot is right in front of the front door.

I really like carpet as far as comfort goes but honestly hate the look of it in any color BUT white. I'll take any frustrations that come with the upkeep over hating the look of my floor altogether.

Had beige carpeting in my old apartment.
I vacuumed mine fairly regularly, but it still needed to be cleaned before I moved.
My roommates bed-room though, DIS-GUST-TING. I don't know if I ever saw that girl pick up a vacuum (she was pretty clean other than that). We steam-washed it three times, and it still looked awful. I will avoid any wall-to-wall carpeting as much as possible in the future. Maybe some Flor-tiles, but wood, ceramic, even linoleum is so much better.

I have a small white flokati rug, but I ccannot deal with white wall-to-wall, mainly because I'm always spilling stuff and having pets don't help either.

"No matter how careful you are, it ALWAYS end up looking dirty, and is a horrible idea for rentals."

Pragmatist --

You bring up a good point: If light beige cut-pile carpets always show so much dirt and never wear well - Why do landlords nearly universally install them in their rentals?

Wouldn't a low-loop Brown or Charcoal grey wear better, show less dirt, be easier to keep clean, cost less - and perhaps even be better for us renters to live with?

Yes, I love the look, and have it! I have white nubby wool carpets on my dark walnut stained bamboo floors in my living room and dining room! White wine only in the living room please!

I have Pets and a Husband I do not think I need to say more.....

I'm not a fan of white wall to wall carpeting, A white stained wood, white cork or that such, heck yes. I do have a white shag rug...which a friend ended up spilling bright red stewed strawberries from a strawberry shortcake all over the corner of. A short mental breakdown later, I just bleached it out and ran it under cold water in the tub.

I did have an pale cream carpet once. I left the house while it was being fitted. When I got home the cat ran in front of me with muddy paws. You can guess the rest.

I had cream carpet in my house and it looked great for about 2 years (no kids). Then the traffic areas started showing, and there was nothing I could do to get them clean again. Now I have hardwood floors and I'm SO much happier. No dust mites living in the fibers underneath my feet.

I was once in the home of an interior designer that was all brilliant white, the carpet, furniture, the two small dogs. It was gorgeous and spotless. She had a live-in maid. How else could you maintain it?

You could make everyone take their shoes off like Joan "Wire Hangers-Cranberry-Mommie Dearest" Crawford did when she redid her penthouse in NYC. She ended up falling all the time from walking in her stockinged feet on the hardwood between the white carpet. But she too, had a live in German maid.

I am not a big fan of white anything, to be honest... I like color too much . I think I could live with white painted wooden floors, and maybe a piece of furniture, but generally I like color (or at least off-white, pale versions, grays).
But I guess I could have a nice white rug by the bed... it should be easy to keep clean.

I would love a white carpet more than anything. I just don't think it would pan out in the real world of kids, Doritos and beer.

Absolutely not. I'm not a fan of carpeting in the first place, but white carpeting would be an incredible pain to keep clean, especially since I have a black cat.

Ummm... most of Florida is covered in white wall to wall carpeting. I'm not quite sure how they pull it off.

Never.

"Love the look and that picture really does make the room"

I should learn to proofread my posts. Should have said: Love the look. That picture really does make the room.