Yes, you can have wall-to-wall carpet in your retro home
Mid Mod Pam on Jan 12 2008 at 9:55 am | Filed under: attic & basement, bedroom, flooring, living room
With so much focus these days on hardwood, tile, cork and here, of course - VCT - flooring, it’s easy to forget that in postwar homes, carpet was very desirable.
In our 1951 colonial-ranch, the long step-down living room had (1975-era) carpet, with plywood underneath. Okay, we tore it out and replaced it with beautiful Berkshires oak. But honestly, my husband and daughter really wanted carpet. I was stymied by the fact that the room is more then 15′ wide and we would have seen a seam in a design like the one in the 1954 image above.
Note - we absolutely have carpet in the basement, where it is colder and we plop on the floor in front of the TV each and every day, thank you very much! It’s a medium-pile gold, as close to harvest gold as I could find. Someday I’ll try and get a good photo of my cherry paneled rumpus room, it is so cool!
Anyway….If you prefer to go with carpeting, I’ve seen a lot of current styles not to0 different to that above. UPDATE: Be sure to read Stephan’s comment about Stainmaster carpets as a great solution. You can take your Sherwin Williams Suburban Modern or Sears Harmony House color cards along to shop.
4 Responses to “Yes, you can have wall-to-wall carpet in your retro home”
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Stainmaster has begun reproducing these patterned carpets again … what used to be called “sculptured carpet” back in the day … at a very reasonable price. And because the pattern has a regular “repeat,” it can actually be laid seamlessly if the installer is skilled and careful. But if you want a really authentic 1950s look that is also versatile, go for a “carpet rug” over the hardwoods, about 2 feet smaller in each direction than the room itself, with a color-matching 1 inch cotton canvas twill edging all the way around. Lay it down in winter, roll it up in summer!
I like Stephan’s idea of carpet that can go down in winter, up in summer. I like the look of lighter window treatments and maybe no rugs in summer, then getting warmer and cozier for cold weather.
But what I want is not carpeting, but, braided rugs. They go with the more colonial look. I sat and played for hours on one as a child. But, it disappeared when my mom got — of course — harvest gold wall-to-wall carpeting. I have two small wool braided rugs, and a big one for the living room is on my wish list.
I completely agree, Judi, that braided rugs are another great option. Did you see the post on Capel Rugs? They are my favorite. I have two in my house. And - if I ever redo my attic, I want “braided wall to wall” carpeting - they can do this, too, although I fear it is ungodly expensive!
As a child growing up in the late 50s/early 60s, our house was decorated in early American with braided rugs. Now my mom’s pristine 1951 ranch (very little modernization was done except for the kitchen) still has the original scuptured wool carpeting, which looks exactly like the ad above. It was wall-to-wall in the living/dining room, but the bedrooms had the bound carpet rugs with the hardwood floors showing around the edges.