Rich carpet colour is back

Press, 10 January 1986, Page 11

Rich carpet colour is back

January carpet sales are now underway. If you are considering this major purchase, here are some basic guidelines on choosing the right colours for your home.

Whether you are furnishing your home for the first time, or you’ve decided to redecorate, the carpet you buy will be a major part of the look and feel of your own personal environment. Woolmark carpets are the best looking in years says the Wool Board, and there’s never been a larger selection of colours, textures and patterns to choose from. But with all the colours available, how do you decide which one to have?

How to start The decision to buy a new carpet doesn’t necessarily mean you have to change everything. But before you purchase a new carpet, it’s important to think your over-all colour scheme through. Colour matters to the design of your home. Carpet has a powerful influence, since it usually takes up the largest expanse in the room. So decorating from the floor up makes good sense. More people are using colour to warm up their homes. The more definite colours are no harder to decorate around than the well-loved neutrals we’ve lived with so long. The new soft, subtle shades allow you to put a coloured carpet on the floor, and change other furnishings later on when you want to give the room a different look.

Make colour work for you The right choice of colour on the floor can work visual magic. It’s important to know how to make colour work for you. Carpet in a rich “sunny” colour can warm a room that lacks natural light; colours such as green, blue and lilac, the “cool”

colours, can help to tone down an overly bright room. All colours can be grouped into one of seven different colour “families” — blues, greens, reds, yellows, greys, beiges and browns. Each of these families has its own special personality, which plays a key role in creating the mood of your home.

The colours of other furnishings in the room, as well as the amount of natural light will affect the way your carpet will look. Only by studying a colour in your own home can you really be sure it’s right for you. Above all, suit yourself! There are no real rules in matters of taste. You already know what colours you like: you wear

them to work during the day, and you live with them around you. They make up your own personal style. Don’t be afraid to experiment in using colour on the floor. Practical tips Colour choices have never been easier. “Carpets: Colour goes wall to wall,” recently published by the New Zealand Wool Board and available at major retailers, can help you make the choice of colour in your carpet decorating scheme. It includes tips on how to make colours work for you, as well as full colour pictures of some of the best new Woolmark carpets available. The new booklet is the second in the Wool Board’s carpet series, following the popular “Choosing the Right Carpet.” The right choice of colour can work wonders, but there’s more to carpet than meets the eye. Wool’s natural resistance to soiling, and its durability, means it will stay beautiful through years of constant use. Carpet colour can set the mood and feel of a room, making it seem larger or smaller, warmer or cooler, dramatic or restful. All the beautiful colours, rich textures, and tailored patterns available in Woolmark carpets, should help your decorating from the floor up.