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 too 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.

This post was first published Jan. 12, 2008

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