I agree with those who refuse to pour a ton of extra money into carpeting. We did, 14 years ago, and while I did get a LOT of compliments on the Sculpted Berber that we chose, it's a $%&$@ to vacuum because all the dog hair, lint, crumbs, etc., wants to 'hide' in the sculpt and I've wished for the last 10 years now that the carpet would just evaporate right off the floor and be gone. Heck no, this stuff is going to outlive US, I swear, as 14 years later, it still looks almost brand new even though it's a very light 'stone' color. Luckily we're moving away from IT instead, building another home, and while I have nothing against Berber in general, we did opt for Frieze this time as a change of pace. Actually, we're doing a combination of Porcelain tile in the Foyer, Kitchen & Baths, Laminate in the Dining Room, Office and Workout Room, and then Frieze in the remaining Bedrooms, Family Room and Living Room. It's a heck of a lot softer than Berber, but I kinda/sorta agree with whoever it was that said that it reminded her hubby of the outdated Shag. I'm hoping that I'll like this!

Sashasmommy, I briefly googled Smart Strand and it seems like Dupont is pushing it as an environmentally "friendly"/"green" product. They do list stain resistance and softness as attributes. Does anyone else have anything to add on this newer product? valinsv, you have very good points about allergies. It does always creep me out to think about the dust and the nasty mites that are along the baseboards and other places the vacuum can't get to very easily. I don't know anything about engineered hardwood. Is it as durable/thick as the other kind (I don't even know what the old kind is called...serious knowledge gap here!) amyrsq, I have a really hard time with carpet colors. I would want something that remains neutral enough that I wouldn't be tied to a certain color scheme. I guess when I think about different carpets, I have memories of seeing homes where the carpets varied wildly from room to room (think primary & secondary colors). It was jarring, shocking and incredibly disturbing to the senses. Not to mention tacky. I don't know that I would have the decorating finesse to carry it off. So, that is why one color may be a safer bet for me.

We have a frieze as well. Love it. Has cream, caramel, brown and a touch of black in it. What I love about it most is the way it feels under foot. Warm, soft and cozy. I didn't think it was true when told this but it cleans super easy. We have a cat that got sick on it a couple of times and with a little detergent and water it came right up. As far as wear goes, there are different grades that can help with that, ours is middle of the road and has done well, but we don't have kids and the cats aren't allowed up there anymore. I haven't lost anything in it either, but again that could be an issue maybe depending on the grade or thread length chosen. We love ours, have had no regrets and now I'm planning on getting a large piece to use on the hardwood floors in the living room.

Lol...laughing as I think of my mom vacuuming in my childhood home... In the formal ( invisibly roped off:)) living room, she would vacuum away from her and lift the power nozzle coming back so it wouldn't touch the carpet. Place down and do same procedure for entire room. This didn't leave the tell- tale vacuum back & forth marks. We didn't really use this room on a regular basis --- carpet showed every footprint. I laugh thinking about the time my brothers friend walked throughout... on his hands. He was talented;). Completely threw my mom off when she walked by the next morning and noticed handprints everywhere ....no footprints. Priceless.