Evan sent in a good question: I'm about to move into my own place here in the Midwest. It'll be my first very own apartment, so I've been getting pretty geared up to make it look nice. Recently I've been reading AT and I quite like what I see! Here's the trouble: every AT photo features a room with hardwood floors, and even though I've searched, it turns out you can't get those here...
Email questions and pics with QUESTIONS in subject line to:
chicago(at)apartmenttherapy(dot)com)
This is a town that knows little else but suburban sprawl, McMansions, and vast plots of identical beige houses - thus every rental available comes in that uninspiring gray/beige wall-to-wall carpet. Now while I see some pretty sweet arrangements on AT, I just imagine them sitting on some gray, fuzzy floor, and it sucks all the life right out of them. It's a lot harder to look good starting with this stuff!
So, what's a man to do with carpet? Any design patterns to make it look good, or any to avoid? Any prior art or success stories I can take a look at?
We love hardwood floors and we agree - they do seem to make it easier to achieve looks that are currently in vogue. BUT, we think wall to wall is starting to make a comeback as a design choice and have seen some examples that make the most of that beige wall to wall, like the one shown above the jump. It is from this Recipe for Style post, and we think it just wouldn't be as elegant or sophisticated WITHOUT the carpet.
Let's hear what the readers have to say - please chime in with suggestions, ideas and inspirations for Evan in the comments below...
Photo: Recipe for Style: Chic Living Room by James Rixner/House Beautiful
Jonya & Brad's Modern A–Frame 
Quick Cleaning Tip: Keep Baseboards Cleaner With Fabric Softner
Good Food to Share 
The Big Book of Small, Cool Spaces 
Apartment Therapy Presents 
The Eight-Step Home Cure 
Essence Wine Glasse...
Mac and Cheese: The Secret to Making It Rich and Creamy
Summer Recipe: No-Bake Strawberry Icebox Cake
Comments (13)
You don't happen to be in Tulsa, do you? I had the same problem when I moved out here, but there are places around. If it's applicable, I can suggest a few places I know for a fact offer hardwoods.
If grey/beige carpet is your only obstacle, you are a lucky dude.
Could be worse.
Just treat the carpet like a neutral (cuz it is, Blanche, it is!) and don't forget that wall-to-wall does not preclude area rugs, either.
In a rental, don't fight the givens... celebrate 'em. That may mean taking the beige and running with it. Lots of great looks are monochromatic.
Concentrate on furniture (and its placement) and buy the best you can afford, invest in good art and lighting, and very soon, that carpet that seems your broadloom albatross will be a total non-issue.
if the carpet is light, work with it and paint the walls a dark color.
carpet also makes me think about hotel rooms, which makes me think about sumptuous linens and curtains. go glamourous with it.
or if the carpet is fug, put a rug over it.
i'm dealing with this right now, and i know there has got to be a way to make it work!
that carpet is definitely NOT my 99cent per lateral foot tan carpet.. and that room would look gross with the carpet I'm talking about.
amuse - I'm in Tulsa, and nearly positive I looked at EVERY apartment complex around. Where are these hardwoods? Just in case we like it better when our lease is up!
Area rugs are your friends! Or just ignore it and work around it. That's what I did in every single apartment I've had prior to this one. It's hard to achieve a minimal look probably, but that's not my style so I'm not sure.
Large wool area rugs in deep/rich colors...
Tribune Lofts downtown has hardwoods and polished cement floors. Also, a lot of them have whole walls comprised of windows, which considering the view is a huge selling point.
Not sure whether you work downtown, but if you do, there's a complex I looked at in downtown Sand Springs called Crescent Lofts that are a little less expensive, feature ACTUAL hardwoods (not Pergo) and have stainless appliances and countertops.
If you've got a lot of cash to throw around and want to live somewhere REALLY posh, there's always the Philtower Lofts...
Totally ignore the carpet and decorate. It will disappear.
I agree with patrick and salley; don't fight the color of the carpet, choose a color palette that exploits it. A "blah" medium-light tone color can look rich and snappy against darker walls.
Beige is indeed a neutral, but also be aware that it has a subtle hue in it (it may be slightly pink or slightly yellow), that can fight or compliment other colors, depending on how carefully you pick your hues and saturations.
Yes. Ignore the carpet color. KIND of. But you really have to have SOME of the color of it in some kind of pattern that you're working with so that it harmonizes enough to actually seem to go away, because if you try to fight it, it will fight you back. Trust me. For instance, if it's a warmish beige, and you go with some relentlessly black-based grey everywhere and do NOT have some warmish beige in there somewhere, it will make an absolute nuisance of itself, sticking out like a sore thumb.
I agree with Curtis! Don't fight it, work with it. Doesn't mean you have to have a theme around the blah carpet but as Curtiz says, make sure to use a repeat of either a tone, color of pattern from the carpet into the other elements you will use.
That way it doesn't look like you tried to cover it up. Instead it will look like a happy "coincidence" ;)
Make sure to bring samples of whatever it is you will buy and compare with the rug and all the other furniture you already have before purchasing anything.
As a former Tulsan, I can definitely sympathize with the dearth of stylish rental options (but there are some out there if you know where to look or whom to ask). But yes, as mentioned above, try to focus on the art or furniture and the carpet can (almost) disappear. I also bought a big area rug.