Flooring Guide

Beautiful Flooring is a collection of flooring retailers across the UK, combining to give you a huge selection of carpet and rugs from local retailers across the country. Find your perfect floor, and buy online or visit us in-store.

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The Benefits Of A Laminate Floor

Do you currently have carpets, but constantly struggle to keep them clean? It can be a never ending job, particularly if you have pets and children in a high traffic area. Indeed that nice cream carpet that looked lovely and clean before you had children may now be looking more than a little worn out!

Well, have you considered laminate flooring?

Unlike a carpet you can easily install it yourself, as if you cut a board to the wrong length then you can simply use another one, but if you install carpet yourself and cut it too short then you have a big problem as you will end up writing the whole carpet off.

Laminate flooring is great for very many reasons. Firstly it does not mark or stain as easily as carpet does. Secondly it is very hard wearing and scratch resistant. Also being made of wood it is a great insulator and always feels warm on your feet even on a cold morning.

It is also now available in a wide range of styles, with not just wooden strip block effects being available but it is also now available in the style of tiled floors.

Installing it is very easy with the majority of the flooring now simply clicking together rather than the older style laminate flooring which had to be put down by using a hammer to tap the boards together and every joint being glued up.

Whilst this seemed fine to many DIY people it did mean that if just one board was damaged it meant replacing the whole floor. Which for an average room cost around £300.

The simple click lock systems that are now used mean that you can replace a damaged wooden board, sure you may have to take up a lot of the floor to replace it, but now with click lock flooring then you can do this rather than writing the whole floor off just due to damage to one board.

It is also very easy to maintain, just hoover the dust off of it and then wipe it over with a mop. Even the most stubborn of stains will come off with a simple scrub.

To lay down a wooden floor you only need a few basic tools such as a jigsaw, tape measure, a set square and some spacing blocks.

So if you have not considered laminate flooring before then why not have another look at it today?

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Alternatives To Carpet

When it comes to thinking about changing the flooring in your lounge have you considered the alternatives to carpet? Maybe you are fed up with the carpet getting marks on it due to it being in a high traffic area? This may not have been an issue initially but now maybe you have had kids or bought a dog or cat, or even all three.

Well there are only a few obvious alternatives to carpet, one is to put a tiled floor down, which should be very hard wearing and not scratch or mark easily, and if a tile does get damaged they are very easy and cheap to replace. Installing a tiled floor can also be done easily by anyone with basic DIY skills. Or it will not cost a lot to get them installed by a professional.

However tiled floors will feel cold on your feet in the mornings and can seem a bit clinical, also if you have children then you need to remember that tiles have no “Give” in them if children fall over on them, and they will fall over more on tiles as they are naturally more slippy, even more so when wet.

They are however very easy to keep clean with a simple mop over being required each week. Also they cannot be stained by the odd glass of red wine being dropped on them.

So if a tiled floor does not sound ideal then why not consider a laminate floor?

They are very cheap to buy these days and can be easily installed over the course of a weekend. Again you only need basic DIY skills to install them.

Unlike tiles they feel warm under foot, as wood is an insulator, indeed the majority of laminate floors are laid down on insulating boards anyway, which helps retain more heat in the room.

They are very easy to clean with just a mop or a Hoover, and they are pretty much stain resistant to anything other then a dye being spilt on them.

Or you could opt for a laminate with a rug over the top of it. This approach gives the best of both Worlds with the rug giving the comfort of a carpet yet you can easily get it dry cleaned if you spill anything on it. Most dry cleaners will be able to get red wine out of a rug. The same cannot be said for a carpet cleaner.

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Wool or Nylon Carpet?

Another part of the lengthy process of choosing which carpet to buy, is deciding on which fibre you want to have in your carpet. Most often found is wool, but a high percentage of nylon can be found more regularly in cheaper carpets. However just because one is found in less expensive carpets, doesn't mean to say it doesn't have its benefits.

More often than not, seeing a carpet which is 100% wool or 100% nylon is unlikely. The majority of carpets are a mixture of the two. For a quality carpet, the recommendation is to have at least 50% wool, or more if you can afford it.

So what are the advantages of the two?

Wool carpets are extremely resilient, naturally being very tough. One of their main selling points is the fact that they are flame retardant, making the carpet a lot safer than the other two choices. With the natural resilience comes a better length of life too, with the carpet looking better for longer. Wool is also notoriously easy to clean and keep looking great. Buying a wool carpet is good for the environment too, being a sustainable material and of course being environmentally friendly.

On the other hand, Nylon carpets have their own benefits too. Typically cheaper, nylon is the hardest wearing of the lot, being the most resilient of the three. While nylon carpets will generally feel harder than wool, it's simply down to being a tougher material, allowing for better stain resistance, and better wear in general. A nylon carpet can last longer than wool, but is generally found in a carpet blended of wool and nylon in order to take the benefits of both; the high resistance of nylon, but also the comfort of wool.

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The Advantages Of A Polypropylene Carpet

  Along with the two most popular fibres used in carpet, wool and nylon, is polypropylene. While less common that wool or nylon, it has its own distinct advantages which are slowly but surely seeing the material make a more regular appearance with flooring retailers. While wool or nylon might be the only offering of carpet retailers at the moment, you can expect to see polypropylene to feature in carpet stores very soon too.

Polypropylene is a popular flooring choice in America, growing steadily into Europe. So why is it coming into popularity?

One of its biggest selling points, is how stainproof the fibre can be. In comparison to wool and nylon, polypropylene fibre carpets are extremely stain resistant, making it ideal for families with young children, where spillages and accidents are likely to happen more often than not.

Rather than polypropylene on its own, the fibre is usually found in a blend of wool, similar to the way nylon is blended with wool. While a carpet with a mixture of nylon and wool has the tough characteristics of nylon and the comfort of wool, a wool-polypropylene carpet has characteristics which comprise of stain resistance and comfort - making it an ideal choice for areas of the home which are prone to staining; while a nylon-wool carpet would be more ideal to a heavily used area, perhaps in the workplace.

It's not just the stainproof qualities which sees polypropylene coming into popularity, though. With the material being naturally high wearing, it can last on the floor for years to come - though not quite as resilient as nylon, it does the job. The carpet also shows great ability to hold colour for a much longer period of time than wool or nylon.

Therefore for homes, especially with young children or areas which are likely to come into contact with stains, a mixture of polypropylene and wool in a carpet can be absolutely perfect. While in Europe you might find it difficult to buy a carpet other than a mixture of nylon and wool, it might be worth looking around for a retailer who can stock a polypropylene carpet, if only for the stain resistance properties being more beneficial than the resistant but hard nylon fibre.

While nylon is great in the workplace, being durable and tough, a soft comfortable floor is more ideal for the home, and with young ones about, it can be perfect.

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Why Underlay Is Vital For A New Carpet

With any new carpet, comes the recommendation to install underlay underneath the carpet at the same time. As an extra expenditure on what is an already expensive product, it can be very tempting to simply ignore the advice and go without. However advice from virtually all carpet retailers and even the office of fair trading is not something to ignore, so why should go for underlay, and what purpose does it serve?

Simply put, buying a carpet without underlay is like buying bricks without mortar. The reason being that a carpet without underlay will not be flat and even on the floor; it simply won't sit correctly. With parts of the carpet being uneven and lower than others, wear on the carpet will also be uneven, and cost you more in the long run as it wears out faster.

As well as ensuring the carpet wears correctly, evenly over the carpet rather than all in one area, underlay helps a carpet to keep a high level of appearance for longer too. As well as lasting longer, your carpet will look better for longer too.

With the wear on the carpet being much less, an underlay can see the life of a carpet be increased by up to 40%.

Secondly, underlay improves the feel of carpet under your foot by an untold amount. Suddenly your carpet will go from a very solid and uncomfortable feel, to something luxurious and ultra comfortable.

Underlay reduces costs further, as well as ensuring the wear on the carpet is even, by being a great insulator. Underlay helps keep heat and sound within the room, therefore reducing your bills now and in the long run.

Due to the noise insulation properties of underlay, acoustics of the room will be significantly improved too; echo is reduced and quality of sound in the room, with correct sound insulation, will sound superb.

Ultimately and perhaps most importantly, if you buy a new carpet without underlay, you're putting yourself into a safe position. Nowadays if you buy a carpet without the underlay, therefore increasing the wear of the carpet in certain areas, you virtually tear up the warranty on your carpet right there on the spot. Most carpet manufacturers won't accept responsibility for excessive wear or damage to a carpet if there has been old underlay used, or worse yet, none at all.

So don't ignore the extra expenditure. Invest in underlay with your new carpet and you can be seeing the benefits for many years to come.

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Choosing A Carpet Depending On The Room

Some areas of the home need more attention to the flooring than others. With certain rooms being used more often than others, it goes without saying that a harder wearing carpet or flooring will be required in the busier areas of a home. In comparison, another less used room in the home could benefit from an expensive good looking carpet, if you know it will be enjoyed more rarely and will therefore last longer. But what's the most suitable flooring depending on the room?

We're looking exclusively at carpet, and we'll start at the most traditionally anti-carpet room in the house; the bathroom.

Here it's frequently assumed that carpet isn't suitable for the bathroom, with the risk of water ever threatening. The only time you'd ever want to avoid using carpet in a bathroom is if it's likely to be continually drenched, perhaps where you might have young children and the risk is that little bit higher. However, a synthetic carpet is completely ideal for the bathroom, being hard wearing and durable, able to be resistant for those times that it will inevitable come into contact with water.

Onto the busier areas of the house, where carpet is a much more frequent sight; from the living room, the hallways, the stairs and the landing, hard wearing carpet is a must in all of these places. A carpet with 80% wool content or more is ideal, and look for a carpet which has a Quality Mark in the Heavy or Extra Heavy Domestic area. This way you'll have a carpet in the busiest areas of the home which is up to the task when it comes to being used regularly day in, day out.

However, take a look at a room which is used much less regularly, somewhere where perhaps a lot of pride is taken into ensuring it's always well kept. A dining room is a perfect example, where it's perhaps used only once or twice a day at most, where a carpet can be as unique as you like. Here you can be safe in the knowledge that a carpet used only once or twice a day will last for a significantly longer time than a carpet placed in the hallway, so be indulgent and splash out. Take a carpet with a unique design and make the room look great. While a patterned or silky carpet might be less durable, with the room being used much less often, it's worth the investment.

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Plain Carpet Versus Patterned Carpet

With buying a carpet, you've got a lot to think about. Whether it's the huge range of price, the quality of carpet to choose, or whether it comes down to picking a carpet brand or carpet style. However additionally, you've also got the important decision to make of how the carpet will physically look. Plain carpets are a common sight throughout a home, but a patterned carpet makes an appearance just as often, in fact perhaps more often than you might expect. Next time you're round the home of a friend or family, take a look at the carpet they use; it's likely that a few of their carpets will be patterned as opposed to plain.

But why choose one or the other?

Plain carpet is the traditional and safe option. The colour can be easily chosen to match the room, and a plain carpet is timeless; it won't ever go out of style, while a patterned carpet might. The fact that the design is completely plain makes it a popular choice in the majority of homes, meaning that wallpaper and furniture is easy to match to the colour. What's more, a plain carpet can make the room look larger, expanding the depth of the room, which with an expensive looking carpet can really make the room stand out.

Patterned carpet on the other hand has its own benefits too. A patterned carpet doesn't have to mean out-of-fashion 60s or 70s floral type patterning, in fact the majority of patterned carpets are quite the opposite. With modern designs, whether it be simple stripes or a colourful design meant to stand out from the background, most designs these days are quite fashionable and desirable. Stripes and swirls will hold their own for years to come, whereas a more modern artsy design might not last so long; make sure when you're buying a new carpet to bear this in mind. While a patterned carpet might look great today, in ten years time it might feel dated and completely unwanted, warranting a very quick replacement.

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The Different Styles Of Carpet

When buying a carpet, one of the areas to look at is the style of carpet you're looking to buy. Along with colour, style is a hugely important area which needs great care and thought before making your final decision. Generally speaking, the more luxurious the style of carpet, the more attention the floor will need to keep it looking at its best. Therefore choosing the best style for the situation is of great importance. Short pile carpet will generally last longer than a longer pile carpet, but it can all rest on personal taste.

There's a large selection of carpet styles available, which all have a unique look and feel, and additionally have different lifespans depending on the quality and pile of carpet. The most commonly seen carpet styles are as follows:

Twist Pile A rugged and coarsely finished carpet, very durable but tough under foot.

Velvet Pile Similar to a suede material, a velvet pile has a silky luxurious look.

Loop Pile A loop pile carpet is an attempt to replicate the look and feel of a natural floor such as sisal. With the looped carpet, if you've got pets, this sort of carpet is not recommended due to the temptation of clawing.

Saxony A deep pile carpet which is extremely soft under the foot, and has great depth, making it ideal for a bedroom or lesser used area.

Patterned Similar to Velvet Pile carpet, a patterned carpet will be smooth and shiny, to allow for sharp detail.

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Why Wool Carpet Is Safer

The Benefits Of Wool Carpet

The more expensive flooring option, but a carpet with 80% or more wool, is the more intelligent option. From the immediately obvious improvement in terms of look and feel of the carpet, to saving you money in the long run with durability and resilience, a wool carpet is the preferred choice of professionals. In comparison to more synthetic carpets, there is simply no comparison.

But it doesn't stop at the look and feel of the carpet, or indeed at the long-term money saving, there's safety benefits too. Whether thinking about younger children, or the elderly - or generally looking at safety in the house on a day to day basis, you might not realise it, but a wool carpet has significant benefits when it comes to being safe around the home.

If you're interested in having wool carpet in your home, you need to look around to make sure the carpet you're getting is genuine wool, and that the percentage of wool is above 80% in the carpet to ensure a high quality. Cheaper retailers might only stock mostly synthetic carpet, where the wool percentage is very low, so perhaps visit an independent flooring retailer, or try to buy carpet online instead.

Fire Safety

Wool is naturally fire retardant.

Firstly, and definitely most importantly, comes the fact that wool carpet is naturally fire retardant. This means when coming to fitting to carpet in, for example, the living room, where perhaps you might have an open fire going on cold or wintry nights, it's perfectly safe. No worries for if a spark fires off into the room and lands on the carpet, your wool is safe. In comparison, a synthetic fire when met with a spark could easily be set alight, which if you're not properly prepared, could spell disaster.

Therefore you've no problem with other similar fire problems either - perhaps you've got no electricity for a while and you resort to candles for lighting. If one ends up falling onto the floor, again no problem, the wool won't catch light. Same with cigarettes, or anything which with a synthetic floor, would catch fire.

General Safety 

Soft and forgiving

With a more synthetic and artificial flooring surface, it's more prone to being slipped upon, which with young children is a likely happening, while with the elderly it can be quite dangerous. The material can tend to be a more shiny surface, and can generally be a lot more solid too. While wool is soft under the foot, synthetic carpet tends to be tough and hard.

What this all means then, is that wool is the obvious choice to make in almost any environment. When it comes to dropping something on the floor, a glass for example would normally smash on a harder more synthetic carpet, while if falling on wool, the result is quite different. Instead, wool is fluffy and soft, cushioning the fall. While the glass might still break, it's significantly more likely to remain unharmed.

The same then goes for you and your family too. Rushing from one room to another might be a dangerous act with a mostly synthetic floor, while with a woolen carpet it's no problem at all. Wool has a high slip resistance, reducing the likelihood of slipping or dropping anything in the first place. Then what's more, because of the cushioning effect, injury is much less likely, as your fall becomes much softer.

For the elderly or in a house where children are about, wool carpet is the much better choice for safety then. Where items might be dropped, or where people might have a fall, the slip resistance and cushioning of wool is a great benefit.

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Why You Should Buy A Wool Rich Carpet

When buying a new carpet, you have the immediate choice of buying either a carpet with a high percentage of wool, or something more synthetic. There are advantages and disadvantages of both, but a carpet with at least 80% wool is the type of carpet preferred by those in the industry, for a number of very good reasons.

Firstly, in terms of being a long term investment, with a wool carpet having a much longer lifespan than synthetic carpet, it's the more sensible option to buy. Although it will cost a bit more initially, in the long run it's the more cost effective option. Therefore a wool carpet can be fitted to the busiest room of the house, and still remain in great condition for years to come. It looks better overall, feels great under your feet, and lasts longer - what's not to like?

Wool carpet is the more luxurious option too. When walking barefoot over a wool carpet, you immediately can tell it's wool, just by the feeling of quality under the foot. A synthetic carpet in comparison will feel as if it's made of wire and looks significantly less impressive. For a large room, you're better off buying wool, if only for the looks alone.

It's not only look and feel which makes wool the better option either. In terms of keeping the room warm, you can't get better than a wool carpet. Wool is a great insulator, allowing for loss of heat through the floor to be hugely minimised, and as a result, your room stays warm. In comparison, synthetic carpets are generally poor insulators, meaning not only do you miss out with the look and feel of a great carpet, but you lose the money saving advantage of decent insulation too.

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Avoid These Mistakes When Buying Carpet

When buying carpet, depending on the size of the room and the quality of carpet you're buying, there can often be a lot of money involved. Therefore you want things to go smoothly, and won't be able to afford having things go wrong, on any level. From start to finish, from ordering the carpet to having it fitted, there's a number of areas where buying a carpet can often go wrong. While most flooring retailers are perfectly fine, others can trip up and make mistakes more often than not - but there's a few simple ways in which to avoid these mistakes happening to you.

Too Good To Be True Prices A simple one, which applies to nearly everything you buy - if the price looks too good to be true, it probably is, even more so if you buy carpet online. Take a look at comparative prices for similar carpet from other retailers. Generally prices will be about the same from retailer to retailer for the carpet, so if something looks particularly cheap, there's a reason for it - don't go there.

Have a Quote in Writing Before ordering, make sure to get a written quote explaining the size of carpet to be ordered, and the work to be carried out. Make sure carpet fitting and delivery is included, before you end up with a nasty surprise. Do this especially before leaving a deposit.

Have a Protected Deposit Pay for your carpet, especially when it's a lot of money involved, by credit card if possible. This way if things fall through, you can claim the money back on their protection schemes. You can also try to use a retailer who has a deposit protection scheme. While things go right 99% of the time, you should make sure to be completely protected if you fall into the 1% of people who have a problem.

Hidden Charges Check and double check the quote you've been given. Make sure it includes everything - ask them! Make sure you're not only buying the carpet, but that delivery is paid for too, along with carpet fitting. Not only should it include fitting, but it should also provide moving of furniture and removal of old or existing carpet or flooring. You don't want to have a date booked for carpet fitting, only to find the company charges an extortionate amount to move a piece of furniture from the room.

Cancellation Charges Check about hefty charges for cancelling the order. If something goes wrong between the time you order the carpet and have the fitting booked, you want to be sure that you don't end up paying a huge amount to cancel your order.

What If Something Goes Wrong? Ensure the retailer will look after things on your behalf. Make sure the company has a procedure for dealing with complaints.

Check Your Rights Check your rights with the flooring retailer to ensure you are able to ask for a product to be returned if, for example, your carpet is delivered with a defect. If colour is faded, inconsistent or simply wrong, you shouldn't have to keep it. The same applies if the floor is damaged, it should be able to be returned and replaced.

All in all, if you follow the above advice, you will be protected from almost any situation, whatever happens. Whether things fall through on your side, where perhaps a job falls through and you suddenly can't afford the payment - or whether the flooring retailer makes a mistake of their own, you can avoid tripping over on hidden charges, or payments that you shouldn't be making, by following the simple tips above.

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Ten Carpet Buying Tips

Buying a carpet is a big deal, and a big long term investment. With the amount of money involved, and the fact that once it's fitted, it's there for many years to come, it's vital that you get it right - and first time. It's not only the colour and design of the carpet you need to worry about; cost and especially quality play a part too. You can pay a huge amount for a carpet, especially if you buy carpet online - but if it only lasts a couple of years, it's a very poor investment. Therefore you need to strike a balance between the amount of money you pay in comparison to the quality of carpet. Keeping costs down while maintaining a decent quality of carpet is a difficult task.

Therefore here's a few tips to help you along the way; and make that task less difficult altogether.

Planning

1. Where is the carpet going? If the carpet is fitted in the hallway or the stairs for example, it will receive a lot more wear than if it's fitted in the bedroom or spare room.

2. What are the plans for the room? What are the future plans for decorating in the room? The last thing you want to do is have a carpet fitted, then decide to paint the walls and risk having paint over the floor - If redecorating, choose the carpet first and match the rest of the décor to the floor chosen - But, most importantly, make sure the carpet is the last thing to be installed to the room.

3. Plain, Patterned, Textured, Bordered? Decide between colour and design, you have a large range of choices to make here.

4. Long Term Purchase? How long do you want the carpet to last? If you don't plan on staying long, or intend on moving house, don't splash out on an expensive carpet; a cheap alternative will last you long enough. Alternatively, if you're intending to use the carpet day in day out for many years to come, invest in quality which will last.

5. What's the budget? Remember to include fitting and transport costs, along with underlay and gripper rod - sometimes these aren't included in the price mentioned.

Once you've decided on these first five issues, you're ready to have your carpet ordered, and move on with the process.

Buying

6. Have the room measured. Don't do this yourself. Have the room measured professionally instead. A carpet fitter will know how much space they can save by cutting off areas and ordering an optimal size of carpet. Not all rooms are square, but the roll of carpet has to be cut to fit.

7. Take a carpet sample. The vast majority of carpet retailers will let you take a carpet sample home, allowing you to test for yourself just what the carper might look like once it's on the floor. Don't just settle on the one colour or style either, try a few.

8. Buy New Underlay. The underside of the carpet is just as important as the top. Preserving the underneath of the carpet with brand new underlay will allow your carpet to survive longer. Sometimes a new underlay can provide an additional 40% life in a carpet, so don't ignore it.

9. Have a professional fit the carpet. Check their standards; most carpet retailers and carpet fitters have quality standards. Look for something like the Carpet Foundation logo, to ensure they are trusted, reputable and will do a good job. When the carpet is fitted, make sure to keep any cut off carpet from the job, as you never know when you might need it!

10. Buy the best you can afford. If you've got a budget of £5000, don't spend half of that - a more expensive carpet will have much more quality. With carpet you absolutely get what you pay for. Not only will it last you longer, saving you money in the long run, but you'll notice the difference under your foot too.

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Buy Carpet Online

Advice for buying a carpet online

Unlike most things, carpet is very different when buying online. It's not like a "normal" product, where you can simply add it to your basket, proceed through the checkout, and sit and wait for the delivery man.

Instead, you've got a sometimes painfully long process to decide on which carpet style, which carpet brand, and not to mention the colour. This lens aims to make the whole process a bit easier and less stressful by laying things out into a simple step by step guide.

So, while the idea to buy carpet online might appear an extremely daunting prospect right now, we'll aim to set things straight by the time we're done!

First Things First 

The size of the room.

Probably the most important but often overlooked part of buying a carpet, is the most obvious one. Where is the carpet going?

How large the carpet needs to be will immediately tell you how much you have to spend. Carpet is priced depending on the area, and therefore amount of carpet used. So if you have a budget of £1000, that will get you a lot further for a small room than it will do for a larger room. Sounds obvious, but the amount of people who walk into a carpet shop, only to have no idea of their budget, significantly outweighs those who do.

You only need a rough idea; Most carpet retailers have their own fitters who will come and measure the room accurately for you - but a rough idea is better than nothing. If you can get a perfect measurement, then great.

The Carpet Itself 

Next comes the main event

Secondly is the choice of the actual carpet. With a huge range of carpet styles, brands and colours available, it's important to get this right, to ensure the carpet looks appropriate for the room it's intended.

Once you've got an idea of the carpet size required, you can choose any online carpet store, or walk into a carpet retailer, and determine which sort of carpet you're after. From there, don't be shy, ask for a carpet sample. With that, you can take a few colour and style choices back home, and compare with how you imagine it will look once on the floor.

For your carpet, quality is essential. Bear in mind that you'll be walking on this carpet for every day for however many years you plan on staying in your current home. Therefore if you buy an especially cheap carpet, expect it to wear out quickly and need to be replaced much more often than a more expensive carpet. So, if you can afford it, it will save you money in the long term to buy a better quality carpet which won't wear out, and it'll feel better under your feet!

Making your Order 

Whether Online or In-store, the process is the same.

Whether you use an online carpet store, or you visit a carpet retailer in person, the process of ordering your carpet remains the same.

You can either buy the carpet straight from the retailer, and then fit the carpet yourself or hire someone to do it for you; but most carpet retailers provide their own carpet fitters, sometimes as part of the price. It's a good idea to check if carpet fitting is included in the price when you first make the purchase.

Once that decision is sorted, simply set a date for carpet fitting, and away you go. It's also an idea to make sure you or someone else is available on the day of the carpet fitting, for any furniture or upholstery which might need to be lifted and moved in order for the fitting to take place.

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Buy Rugs Online

How to: Buying a Rug Online

Something like carpet or wood flooring to buy online is difficult, that's understandable - with the measuring of the room, how much carpet or wood being required differing from job to job, not to mention picking the perfect colour of carpet to match the room, along with arranging delivery, let alone having the carpet or wood actually fitted - probably all around your busy schedule - it's a difficult ask, especially if you're trying to do it all online.

Rugs however, are completely different. Small or large, rugs are still easily delivered by courier companies - and most rug companies already provide online services to buy rugs online without hassle. With a huge choice of rugs to match all sorts of room styles, you don't have to worry so much about the rug not fitting in with the room - and if it doesn't fit one room, it can always be moved to another, unlike the carpet or wood floor. So just how easy is it?

Take Your Pick 

A standard rug, or one of your own?

Buying a rug online is actually a simple task - as simple as buying a DVD or anything else online, you just find the one you want, click order, enter your delivery address, and await for it to arrive!

With most rug companies, they have a huge range of already designed rugs in an array of colours and styles for you to choose from. Likelihood is that you can find a perfect rug from this selection, something which will match your room perfectly and really tie the whole thing together.

Once you've found the style and colour of rug you want, simply specify how large or small you want the rug to be - measure the area of the room to make sure it will fit the space appropriately - and order it online. Just as buying anything else online, there's nothing more to it - just enter your payment and delivery details, and you're all done - it will be delivered to you from stock, just like anything else you order online. Easy!

Or Make Your Own! 

Fancy something more unique?

If you can't quite find the perfect rug for you, you can always go down the bespoke route - many rug companies also provide a custom made rug service, allowing you to specify the design entirely to your liking. Whether you use a completely new design, or one of the rug company's already made designs, it's up to you. From there, choose a variety of colours to suit the rug, and even choose the style of wool used on the rug - whether you want traditional loop pile rug, or a more silky shimmering style - everything is down to you.

A lot of rug manufacturers provide the ability to create your own rug online too - play around with online software to design a rug from your home computer - some software will even allow you to display the rug in a 'lifestyle' situation, allowing you to completely visualise how the rug will look when placed in the room. Then, once you're happy, simply print the design off and bring it into most flooring retailers, who will be happy to convert the design into a full size rug for you!

Just like buying a standard rug online, creating a bespoke rug is just as simple and easy!

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Create Your Own Rug

Create Your Own Rug

Let a bespoke rug be the talking point of the room and show off your own unique style and individuality.

It often feels like almost everyone is into interior design these days; keeping your home up to date, fresh and modern, is a tedious but often necessary task.

Something which is often forgotten about, however, is the flooring. We're always happy to splash out on colourful walls and expensive furniture, but the floor is often left as an afterthought. While wood floor might make the room feel homely, or a comfortable carpet might add some warmth to the room, it still lacks some character, that finishing touch, something to tie the room together.

And this is where a bespoke rug can really come into a league of it's own; create your own rug and it really allows you to add something unique to the room. Whether it be the bedroom or the living room, a rug can always manage to tie the room together, and make it feel complete.

Make it Unique 

Don't stop at any old rug, why not go bespoke?

Plenty of places sell rugs if you spend the time to look around; but finding the perfect rug for the room is often a hugely difficult task. You might find the right colour of rug, or a rug which uses the right textures and wool, but maybe not the right pattern or combination of colours.

Admittedly, you might stumble across a pre-designed rug which is suitable for the room, but a custom made rug will ensure everything is absolutely perfect first time.

Choices, Choices 

A bespoke rug: Your design. Your colours. Your style.

With over two hundred shades of colours to choose from, you can make sure for definite that your rug has the colour which matches the room to perfection. The design is entirely up to you, too - so go wild, or stay subtle, it's up to you.

What's more, you can even go to the extreme detail of choosing the specific yarn texture for the rug - whether you like a normal 'cut pile' rug, or 'loop pile' - or if you prefer a 'faux silk' yarn, which adds sparkle and style to your design. It doesn't end there, though - choose a yarn type for specific areas of your design and really bring your rug to life.

A border for the rug? Maybe no border? And what size? Small or large? It's up to you - but the key to tying your room together and finding that 'finishing touch' is often only a rug away.

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Design A Rug Online

The internet is full of weird and wonderful websites, software and creations. One which you perhaps haven't stumbled across yet, is an online rug designer.

Creativity is something most people find enthralling and can spend hours enjoying. Whether you've got the money to spend on buying a rug for your home or not, it's still an enjoyable experience to see all the sorts of designs you can come up with, the variations in colours and marvel and what could be reality one day.

Just the same as spending hour upon hour creating the perfect coloured template for a blog, a dream home in a game, or creating your fantasy football team; creating a rug of your own is no different. From the size of the rug, whether you want some minuscule or gigantic, it's up to you.

From the very basics, with the likes of the physical design being able to be completely hand drawn, all the way to the materials used on the rug itself, the entire look and feel of the rug is down to you, literally. While you might think that wool is wool, there's subtle differences there too. The direction of the wool can have a unique visual effect, or you can fit sections of the rug with 'silk' looking wool to create a shine and attraction in a certain area.

While you can spend hour upon hour making your own creations and dreaming about what could one day be a reality, there's also the fact that you can order your own rug online straight away. For those with the budget available, you can create your rug's design online, and either print out your creation to bring the design into a flooring retailer to be ordered for you - or, save the design and buy rugs online with minimal hassle. Most sites then assign a local retailer to you, who can order and create the rug for you, to be delivered within a matter of weeks.

What's more, the software is easy to use and completely free. The software comes from a group of retailers across the UK too, so you know it's safe. Once you're done creating your perfect rug, a great feature of the program is the ability to then take that design, and place it within a lifestyle shot - really allowing you to see exactly what your rug would look like in the real world.

So, have you got a bit of a blank area in the front room you'd like to fill? Spend a few minutes dreaming away, and see what creation you can come up with, by using the online rug builder.