Walking On Carpeting With Bare Feet

I prefer silk Persian carpets on wood floors.

Well, that's tasteful, if hideously expensive.

I'm v. fond of the oriental designs myself, but they're impossible to find in wall-to-wall, and they don't look right anyway. They need a border, I think.

I've seen some very nice carpet with oriental carpet designs and you can install them wall to wall with a border. There's just something very appealling about the busy design. I keep the rest of the furnishing in the room neutral to make room for the carpets and the art on the walls. It's the way I like it.

But, you know, I also love wall to wall carpet. And I walk on it with or without shoes. Don't want to be a slave to my carpet.

Really? That's good to know, I'll have to look harder. I think the busy design is appealing, too. I like to use solid blocks of color, not necessarily neutral, but definitely not printed. It does make the art look better.

Good carpet layers can seam in a complex border, or inserts, even shaving a profile in the surface. They also wear toolbelts when they work and add a gruff charm to any home.

I´ll still forego the gruff,charming carpet layers and stick with the bare floors.

I've seen (on Changing Rooms, sigh) where an edge of hard surface, either wood or tile or slate, contains a rectangle of carpeting. That's a nice look and you can add lots of padding underneath.

I think my favorite may be a Japanese-style house I was in, where there was a decking around the edges of the room and you stepped down a few stairs into a cozy, carpeted area.

I'm with you Piffka and Hebba, however it's done, I also prefer a combination of wood floors and carpet. Wall to wall carpet disappoints me.

Exactly. A disappointment. Especially in taupe.

I admit we had a taupe Berber for years, and while it was servicable and never showed the dirt, it was... boring. Now we have a dark red velvet-cut, surrounded by oak. It's a bear to keep clean, but that can also be a joy. You know it is clean (or not, which is not so joyful).

Hi Folks!
Lola, is this really true - that you walk on your silk carpet with shoes?

OK, when I was in Iran, I bought a small silk carpet for my eldest son. My feeling is that one should take one's shoes off, or maybe even hang the piece on the wall. A friend/colleague said the best way to do that is to sew a velcro strip to the back of it, and attach it to another velcro strip that has been glued onto a piece of wood. You then hang the piece of wood on the wall.

In Iran, I think whenever there is a carpet, people take their shoes off.

Piffka, your red carpet sounds wonderful - I'm surprised that it shows anything, though.

I ended up getting a great runner from eBay a couple of weeks... a carpet saleslady had come to my house and after looking around (and probably shaking her head sadly) said that in a hall where I thought I needed a round rug what I really needed was a 12 foot long runner. Hah, I thought I'll never find anything like that, then went on eBay and found three.

The one I won is not silk, of course, but a nice thick wool in golden brown with a bit of repeating pattern, Bokhara.

There was a gorgeous silk rug on eBay, too. It was described as a good for covering a table, so I think that the sellers thought it was a delicate piece, too.

My parents have a large silk Persian rug in their living room. My mother is always keeping a bit of an eye on my dad, as he slides his socks off and flexes his toes in the carpet. She'd rather he keep his socks on. I still like to lie down on it, the way i did in high school. It is soooooo easy to fall asleep on.

<throw me a pillow, someone>

I love my silk Persian rugs.....and I do take my shoes off usually, but not if I'm in a hurry........ My favorite is yellow with a cazillion other color designs, intricate.........14' X 24' It's in my bedroom with fireplace......very nice this time of year.

Lola! That's a huge carpet!

Huge, I love huge! It is a beautiful carpet and there's another in the dining room about the same size. But it's in pastel purple, greens and yellows and pink. These carpets are works of art.

<trying hard to push down unbelievable waves of covetousness and envy>

(sigh) I think I'll have to wait to get, even a teeny little silk rug until I no longer have shedding dogs and my ship has come in!

But I'd love to see (and feel) them. I'll bet they are gorgeous.

ON a practical note... there's no way you can lay them down yourself is there? I mean, someone has to come in, take them away for cleaning and then reset them? Even with teenaged-help I was barely able to lay down the long runner on its pad.

It's true, Persian rugs are heavy and it takes more than one to handle them. These were put down by about three big men. First the pad and then the rug. Once in place, they are beautiful. But I really can't help walking on them with shoes, I don't have time to take my shoes off everytime I walk across the room. And they don't seem to be any worse for wear. They have been cleaned once since I've owned them. The guys came in and took them, cleaned them and then returned them. But it took several men to do it.

Many manly men, no doubt!

Things are meant to be used... that's my opinion.