Great Style at Your Feet With New Carpet Collections
(ARA) - Calm colors, more texture, and bold patterns are taking the floor in this year's carpet couture. Carpets are getting ever more stylish, taking cues from a variety of places, and with a soft feel aimed at providing tranquility to ease our stressful lives.
Sage green was the rave of the carpet color palette last year, but in 2001, spa green is emerging as a hottie. "It's a leading-edge color," says Pam O'Toole, fashion coordinator at Shaw Industries, the largest carpet manufacturer in the world. "It gives the feeling of calm, introspection and rejuvenation."
Kathy Young, product manager of Sutton, also sees the spa as a key influence in color this year. "Just take a look around at all the spa-influenced packaging," she says. Various trade publications are reporting spa colors from home textiles to dinnerware to small appliances. Overall, the look is cool and casual, with a California feel.
Beige continues as a popular perennial, but with a deeper, chameleon-like color, taking on hues that change with the light. Spicy browns, alive with red and orange Asian-inspired tones, are poised to hit the stores in late spring.
The pre-eminence of solid-only plush carpets is waning. Patterns, created with either color or texture, are fast becoming a new direction for the industry, says Kim Gavin, editor of Floor Covering Weekly, the trade newspaper of the carpet industry. As unveiled just a few weeks ago at Surfaces, the big floorcoverings trade show in Las Vegas, Nevada, carpets abound in a wide range of bold or sophisticated patterns. "You can put a lot more visual interest on your floor, than ever," says Gavin. You'll find florals, vines, diamonds, zen-like circles, and checkerboards. CustomWeave launched Inscriptions, which has a lot of drama derived from carving the carpet surface with patterns, even though it's only one color. It's a very high-end look, but at a more affordable price point -- another indication that carpet selection is getting more sophisticated. Inscriptions is available in 48 colors and a variety of designs, each one protected with Scotchgard protection. Inscriptions is a great choice for fashioning a rug from carpet.
Textures and patterns are elbowing out the smooth-surface carpet from its top niche because easy upkeep is a major factor in carpet choice these days. "People are getting tired of solids, and patterned carpets can hide a multitude of sins because dirt and stains are less visible," says Gavin.
A decidedly big twist in carpet is the barber pole yarn, spiraling a thin, contrasting yarn up another thick yarn. This technique, which adds dimension and a slight multicolor effect, is being used in everything from shags to berbers in a big way.
Contrast gets high marks in all sorts of designs. "It could be the contrast between a loop yarn and a cut yarn, or the use of two different colors," says O'Toole. "There is just a lot of variety now. The consumer today wants something unique."
The cable look -- think fisherman sweater -- is chic, and there are many new models featuring lots of flecking in cut-pile designs, as well as multilevel loops. Both styles offer a casual look.
While carpets are getting stylish, the yarns that make them so are also undergoing changes. The new soft fibers are getting rave reviews.
"For the female consumer, a carpet has to be both visually pleasing, and soft and luxurious," says O'Toole of Shaw. "You'll see much more of the soft nylons coming into the retail store." Despite a cottony feel, these hard-working fibers have plenty of durability, and that's what is making them a big hit with consumers. "This kind of carpet just makes you want to run your hands through it."
3M's new deep down Scotchgard protection for nylon carpet shields the fiber from top to bottom, al the way to the backing. The greater fiber coverage keeps dirt from working its way into the fiber, which will make vacuuming more effective and help a carpet look good longer. And, spills are as easy to clean up as ever. The new, deep-down Scotchgard protection is on many of the "Lee's for Living" collection, already at Carpet One dealers and at Abbey stores on "The Best."
Easy care and casual are operative words today, in part because owners are coordinating carpets with other flooring, such as wood and tile, particularly in relaxed open floor plans. "The consumer's interest in unifying the dcor is really helping us determine our color palette," says LeAnn Baggetta, director of marketing services for Tuftex. "Color choices are broader and right in step with other home items."
Talk about casual. Shag carpets have made a comeback in recent years, particularly on the West Coast, but don't expect them to be the same as in the go-go days. The quality has improved with better yarns, the invention of carpet protection, and different construction, such as mixing thick and thin, as well as long and short yarns. Tuftex of California, which led the way with its dare-to-be-different long shags, unveils a new version called Shag-Ri-La, a shorter pile successor to its Shaggy Chic and Ultra Chic lines, which are still popular.
Do we still need to rake them?
"Shags are much better than years ago," responds Baggetta. "They don't flatten like they used to. When shag was first popular, Scotchgard protective treatment for carpet hadn't been invented yet," she adds. "Now, they stay cleaner, so the yarns don't mat down like before." Shag is another popular choice for turning wall-to-wall into an area rug. Another reason why a visit to the carpet store is full of great ideas.
Courtesy of ARA Content, www.aracontent.com, e-mail: info@aracontent.com
###
Image 1: Ahhhh, a spa. It can be right at your feet if you take a look at the new colors in your local carpet store. Retailers are stocking up on the new spa colors, the watery blues and aqua greens that are showing up in packaging as well as home products from textiles to dinnerware. Carpets shown here are from the Lee's for Living Line, featuring Scotchguard protection, available at Carpet One stores.
|
