That carpet is beautiful! Your whole scheme is.

it sounds like the floor is not put down yet. What I'd do is put down plywood sub flooring in the exact dimension of the carpet, the put the rug pad down, then the carpet.

Then I'd put the pine down on just the perimeter so that it meets exactly at the level of the top of the carpet, and I'd leave about a foot of pine exposed around the perimeter.

I think that would look awesome! The floor flush with the carpet? That'd be pretty cool, and something you can fully take advantage of since you don't have the floor down yet!

Do the hardwood flooring with the carpeting bound as a rug.

Carpet can never be truly clean, but a bound rug can be sent out to be *washed*. (Especially wool!)

Our entire house is wood flooring with area rugs. Entry to our MBR is on the closets and bathroom side of the room. I've left that end bare floor and centered our bed and night tables on a rug -- with more bare floor beyond. Tons of wear and dirt have been kept off the rug thanks to this 'runway' of wood flooring.

Re: my "sinking" the carpet. It would look like this, only the center would be your gorgeous carpet.

I agree with Lazygardens.

Thanks all for your opinions!

Great idea tibbrix, but I think ultimately I'm probably going to have to go the safe route and have the carpet bound as an area rug. I agree w chisue about the ability to have it cleaned too. Plus I just think for resale we need to do wood.

I just didn't know if a really nice wall to wall would maybe be ok. I know it's prob not.

Also agree with lazygardens. Tibbrix, while your idea sounds visually great, my concern would be that you're setting up an extremely singular, non-standard floor that would be a royal PITA to amend later by you or (worse) someone who is buying the home.

It just sounds like one of those 'before' features on an HGTV show: "And look, the previous owner actually had plywood subfloor laid and then only put a border of hardwood, which of course we can't match anymore, what WERE they thinking/!"

I don't mean to sound snarky (you are so very gracious and congenial online!) but I really can't see that working out too well in real life.

Ann

If you have the budget, I would put down hardwood and use the broadloom as a bound carpet as others have suggested.

No, no, no, no, noâ¦I don't think I was very clear. It would be a free-floating bound rug only flush with the pine flooring.

If at a later time, someone wants to put all hardwood down,you just put it down.

I wouldn't buy a house with a 'sunken carpet area' in any room without negotiating a discount on the price. I'd have to rip out the (unmatchable) wood and the 'hole' and lay a new floor. This scheme is also a tripping hazard.

I removed all the carpet in my house and am sold on wood with low VOC finishes. If anything, I would use an area rug so you could change it at will, when someone develops allergies, sick of cleaning carpet with nasty chemicals, etc. Sorry :-) just my 2 cents!

One floor of my house had wall to wall carpeting on top of linoleum on top of painted douglas fir wood. I decided to restore the DF and am so happy I did that.

Anyone who trips on a level floor probably shouldn't be living on their own. A carpet sitting on a floor is more of a tripping hazard.

Sheesh.

Love your textiles.

For me, the answer will always be wood. I will never go back to carpet. But that's just me - what do you prefer? Of course if you do the bound rug, you have both.

tina

We have severe dust mite allergies (mine are long standing, but dh developed his as an adult) so I always vote for wood. After pulling up carpet in our first house, ugh, the dirt that was trapped under there, yuck.

That said, my dad hates hardwood in a bedroom because it is cold underfoot. So they have carpet in bedrooms only. It's not my preference, but it looks just fine.

i have always had carpeting in the master bedroom and really like nice carpet underfoot, esp in the winter, but i know hardwood everywhere is more popular than ever right now, so if you are thinking resale, i would choose that if cost is not an issue...
the house we will be moving to has all hardwood and it will be an adjustment for me...

i don't really understand the 'cleanliness' issue of carpet... if your regularly vacuuming and aren't eating and drinking/spilling in the room or have incontinence issues, i am not sure of what people are afraid of... we don't live in a sterile world, and probably shouldn't with all of the resistent bacterias that are developing... but, then again i have always loved walking barefoot- inside and outside- which used to horrify my mother, who i used to think was just old-fashioned! lol

What's typically done in your area? We were going to put hardwood in our bedrooms, to match the common areas, and we were told by our real estate agent that most buyers still like carpet in the bedrooms. More comfortable underfoot and definitely warmer. We went with a nice luxurious carpet and haven't had any issues. It looks nice and it was about 1/3 the cost of going with hardwood.

We are redoing our master bedroom and have been debating this same question. I think we are going to go with carpet.

My reasoning is that I really like the softness and quiet of a nice carpet with a good pad underneath. It just feels luxurious to me for the bedroom. In addition, we live in a cold weather climate, and I like the feel of a carpet under my feet in the bedroom.

The main living areas of our home have hardwood flooring, and I find that furniture creeps around on it. I am tired of nudging chairs and the sofa back where they belong. Even the large area rug in the LR moves around and straightening it out requires two people. With wall to wall carpet, everything stays put. I also find the vacuuming easier with the wall to wall, versus area rug then floor, back to area rug then floor, over and over.

We hope to live out our lives in this house, so aren't concerned with resale. Since area rugs are a major tripping hazard for the elderly, I think we might as well prepare for those days, sigh....

busybee3, it is not possible to remove dust mites via vacuuming and eliminating carpet where possible is standard medical advice for people who have dust mite allergies. This issue is not related to bacteria, food spills, etc. When I am exposed to too many of the things I am allergic to in too great of quantities, my immune system is overwhelmed and I am significantly more vulnerable to sinus infections, bronchitis, pneumonia, and so on. Minimizing my dust mite exposure does not stem from an irrational fear of germs, rather it is a sensible precaution per medical advice.

Here is a link that might be useful: Mayo clinic link on dust mites

crl, yes, i understand allergies. i was not referring to people who suffer from terrible indoor allergies... i understand that there are some who really need bare floors and windows, very frequently washed bedding, etc,etc,etc...
i was responding to the the above post about carpet not truly being able to be 'clean' ... i have heard and read generalized 'cleanliness' comments many times re: w-w carpeting and that was what i was commenting on... :)

"don't really understand the 'cleanliness' issue of carpet... if your regularly vacuuming and aren't eating and drinking/spilling in the room or have incontinence issues, i am not sure of what people are afraid of..."

What crl said. Also, dirt sifts down into the carpet padding, as does animal pee, wet soil, etc where it cannot be cleaned. Anyone who has ever removed wall to wall carpet and seen the grossness that lies beneath knows all too well what the cleanliness issue is with carpet.

Hardwood (or tile or stone or other hard surfaces), on the other hand, CAN be cleaned completely so that dirt is actually gone, totally, no horrors of 'what lies beneath'.

Ann