Interior Design Trends: Staying on Top of Carpets

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Addison Homes VP Michelle Usher talks interior design trends during the Tuftex National Designer Training Event with Christine Slaughter, West Coast Design Center Manager of Shaw Industries.

Interior design trends come and go, but one thing never changes: while styles may evolve, we always love soft flooring that’s fashioned to make a house a home.

To stay on top of the latest design trends in carpets, Addison VP Michelle Usher took a recent field trip to the Shaw Industries/Tuftex National Designer Training Event in Vail, Colorado. This multi-day seminar was all about selecting the exact look that’ll bring color, texture, warmth and fashion into each client’s life and home.

Especially popular for its inventive colors and designs, Tuftex is the premier residential carpet brand of Shaw Floors — this is some of the most fashionable flooring in the industry.  Tuftex is made in the USA, providing reliable quality, durability and value at a variety of price-points, from entry-level (with a high-end look) to higher-end.

What’s more, Tuftex is firmly committed to the preservation of the environment and natural resources. For seven consecutive years, the brand’s mill has sent zero waste to the landfill; it uses 80% reclaimed water in its dyeing operation. Indeed, Shaw Industries believes in providing eco-friendly options for environmentally-conscious consumers. Carpets made of Anso or EverTouch nylon can be recycled at Shaw’s Evergreen Nylon Recycling Facility, where they are broken down and remade into new carpet fiber. This process turns carpet into a renewable product; in fact, Shaw has collected 178 million pounds of post-consumer carpet since 2006.

Stylish, sophisticated carpet always tops the list of interior design trends. Here are a few reasons why:

Provides warmth and comfort — Carpet provides actual thermal resistance, or R-value.  In cooler seasons, it retains warm air longer, an energy conservation benefit.  Carpet also provides a comfortable place to sit, play or work and gives a room an overall warmer feeling.

Adds beauty and style — You can choose from many thousands of carpet styles and colors.  That means your ultimate choice will reflect how you want to personalize your living space.  Carpet can be a neutral foundation, or it can be a focal point with vibrant colors and stronger bolder patterns and textures.

Softens slips and falls — Carpet is ideal for cushioning our footsteps, reducing slips and falls and minimizing injuries when falls do occur. Carpet provides safety protection for the whole family, but especially for toddlers and older individuals.

Reduces noise — Big screen TVs, speaker phones, computers and modern sound systems make our homes noisy places. Carpet helps absorb these sounds. Adding a cushion pad beneath your carpet reduces noise even further.  Carpet also works as a sound barrier between floors by helping to block sound transmission to rooms below.  And carpet on stairs helps mask the sound of constant foot traffic.

Wears well — Carpet can preserve its beauty for many years when properly cleaned and maintained. Simple steps — like frequent vacuuming and annual deep cleans via hot water extraction — can extend the life of your carpet to keep it looking lovely and new for years to come.