Choosing new carpet sounds simple enough, until you actually have to choose it. Wool or synthetic? Plush or loop? Something soft, something hard-wearing, something that won’t show every footprint?
So before you settle on a colour or pile, think about where the carpet is going. Foot traffic, kids, pets, spills and how much maintenance you’re willing to do will all help narrow down your options.
To help you narrow things down, here are our picks of the best carpet for every room in your home.
Best carpet for the living room
Good options:
- Wool
- Solution-dyed nylon
- Triexta
- Twist pile
- Loop pile
Living rooms get a lot of use, so you want something that feels good underfoot but can also handle everyday foot traffic.
Wool is a great option if you want something naturally soft and resilient. Solution-dyed nylon and Triexta are also worth considering, particularly in busy households where stain resistance and easy cleaning are high on the list.
For the pile, twist carpet is a good all-rounder. The twisted fibres help it stand up to regular use and can make footprints and marks less obvious. Loop pile is another durable option and gives the floor a more textured look.
Carpet colour is also an important consideration. If your living room gets plenty of use, a mid-tone or slightly textured colour will generally be more forgiving than something very pale and uniform.
Best carpet for bedrooms
Good options:
- Wool
- Plush pile
- Soft twist pile
- Chunky loop pile
You can afford to prioritise softness a little more in the bedroom. There’s usually less foot traffic, no shoes coming in from outside and a much lower chance of someone walking through with dinner in their hands.
Plush carpet works particularly well in bedrooms because of its soft, velvety finish. Twist pile can also give you that softer feel while offering a little more versatility if you want to use the same carpet across several rooms.
Wool is worth considering if you like a natural fibre, while there are plenty of soft synthetic options if you’re working with a different budget.
Best carpet for kids’ rooms and playrooms
Good options:
- DuraTuft SD P.E.T.
- Solution-dyed nylon
- Triexta
- Dense twist pile
For kids’ rooms, look for something soft enough to play on but practical enough to handle everyday mess, spills and plenty of foot traffic.
A carpet made from 100% DuraTuft SD P.E.T. is one option worth considering. The polyester fibre is soft underfoot while offering stain, fade and wear resistance, making it a practical choice for busy family spaces. Solution-dyed nylon and Triexta are also good options where durability and easy maintenance are priorities.
Best carpet for hallways
Good options:
- Textured loop pile
- Level loop pile
- Twist pile
- Wool or durable synthetic fibres
Hallways tend to wear differently from bedrooms and living rooms because everyone walks along the same path over and over again.
A dense, hardwearing carpet is the better choice here. Loop pile works particularly well in high-traffic areas because its construction helps it hold its shape, while twist pile is another versatile option that can help disguise tracking and footprints.
Think practically about colour too, especially if the hallway leads straight from your front or back door. A slightly darker or textured neutral will usually be easier to live with than a very light carpet.
Best carpet for a home office
Good options:
- Low, dense pile
- Loop pile
- Short twist pile
- Hard-wearing wool or synthetic carpet
If you work from home regularly, think about what will be sitting on the carpet as much as who will be walking across it.
A lower, denser pile makes it easier to move a wheeled desk chair and is less likely to show heavy compression around your desk. If you’ve fallen in love with something softer, using a chair mat can help protect the area that gets the most wear.
Carpet is also handy in an office because it softens some of the sound from footsteps, furniture and general movement, particularly if you’re working near bedrooms or shared living areas.
What about kitchens, bathrooms and laundries?
These are the rooms where hard flooring makes more sense. Kitchens need to handle food spills and regular cleaning, while bathrooms and laundries have much more exposure to water and moisture. Tiles, hybrid, vinyl and other suitable hard flooring options are generally easier to live with in these spaces.
If you have an open-plan home, you can use that change in flooring to your advantage. Hard flooring through the kitchen and dining area can transition into carpet in a lounge or adjoining living space, helping to give each area its own feel.
Should you use the same carpet throughout the house?
You certainly can, particularly across bedrooms, hallways and living spaces where you want a consistent look.
If you do, choose your carpet based on the busiest area rather than the quietest one. A carpet that can handle your hallway will generally be fine in a bedroom, whereas the soft carpet you chose specifically for the bedroom may not cope as well with a busy hallway.
You can also mix carpet styles while keeping the overall palette similar. For example, you might choose something softer for the bedrooms and a harder-wearing pile for the stairs and hallway, but stick to similar warm or cool undertones so everything still feels connected.
And if you have timber, hybrid or tile elsewhere in the house, take samples home and look at them together. Carpets can look quite different under showroom lights, so checking it alongside your existing flooring, cabinetry and paint colours in the actual room is always worth doing.
Where to buy carpet in Melbourne
If you’re looking for carpet in Melbourne, Fowles has a wide range of carpet across different fibres, pile styles, colours and price points. You can browse the range online or visit the Fowles showroom in Clayton to see and compare options in person before deciding what works best for your home.