How our Wall-to-Wall Carpet looks Over A Year Later.

We had our wall-to-wall carpet installed over a year ago, in March 2016, and since then, we've had a lot of readers (especially on the install initial post) anxious to hear how it's holding up these days. Lighter carpet was definitely a risk, but a risk we went into with our eyes wide open so we are happy to report, we're still loving it 15 months later.

As a refresher, we ordered Stainmaster's Medford line in the color Fizz. It's a relatively light oatmeal two-toned check carpet meant for "active families". What I didn't realize initially is that two-toned color has been a big factor in keeping this carpet look so new.

In our previous house, we chose a diamond patterned carpet (Martha Stewart's, Winterthur--see photo below) and pretty soon after install, the pattern started wearing in high traffic walk-ways. Because the raised pattern was the same color as the shorter, it all just blended together when it flattened.

The carpet in this house has a darker threads in the center of the checks with lighter on the outside, so no matter how many times we walk over an area--the checks remain! Of course this seems so obvious now, but truly something I've only pleasantly discovered over the course of this year while we played, ran, and walked all up and down it.

There are definitely things we do (and don't do) to keep it looking top-notch, and even a change we decided to make about 6 months in.

First, We get our carpets cleaned every 6 months, as recommended. I use a local carpet cleaning service (Heaven's Best, for you locals) and it's around $149 to get our entire downstairs cleaned, along with the stairs--not bad! I don't move any of the huge furniture, like the guest room bed or piano or our big sectional, but we do make sure all the small things are up off the floor (including the area rug in the playroom) and the curtains are tied up so it's a quick job for them. The first time was right after our Halloween party and we just barely got them cleaned for the second time since we recently wrapped the heavy demo for the girls' bathroom downstairs.

Which brings me to my second "do." When we started demoing the bathroom, we covered the carpet with clear, protective contract covering (similar to the "walkways" through a show house) all the way down the stairs and leading to the bathroom. If you know you're going to be making a mess, it's a good idea. Even still, the carpet took a heavy beating. Between us and the contractors we hired, working and hauling dirt and debris up and down, as well as, running into the utility room "real quick" (real quick still tracks dirt, btw) the carpet looked pretty dirty surrounding the plastic, especially right outside the utility room. I was relieved to see it look brand new after the cleaning last week.

Even still, there is, literally, only one spot that we've noticed where the carpet doesn't look good as new. Pictured in the photo above, there is a dark blue-ish-gray spot on the edge of a stair. A mystery spot that won't come up. The carpet cleaners tried it all, and luckily it's pretty small. I'm sure we're the only ones that will notice--but for purposes of full disclosure--it's there.

As for the change we made, in November, when we got a new stair railing, we made a last minute, but conscious, decision to rip up the carpet that was installed on the stair landing and replace it with the same faux wood tile we have on our main floor. Charly loves to sleep on the stair landing (but not in a bed because she gets too hot!) and after a few months, it started to look a little dingy there. We knew it would be better to have it be a surface that's a little easier to keep sanitized. She'll sleep on the hard floor, but a small rug in the space will add a little cushion for her. I'm currently on the hunt for a 2x7 vintage runner to lay in the landing that will disguise more dirt and can easily be cleaned. (The one there right now used to live in the hall bathroom and is unfortunately too short.)

Even if we could choose all over again, we would choose the exact same rug. This downstairs level represents half of our home and, as you can see, a large portion of living happens down here. We love the brightness the rug brings to the space, the texture of the checks and the softness underfoot, too. We do refrain from wearing shoes down here--but that's pretty true of our whole house. I hope this helps give you all a visual or peace of mind if you've been on the fence. Anyone else have wall-to-wall carpet they just love?!

Psst--Interested in where we got something in our home? You can shop our entire house right here.

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