In early March 2020 we saw the highest spike in ‘house renovations’ in the last five years according to Google trends. The devotion to redesigning our homes didn’t stop then, continuing well into 2022.
A great way to give any room a new lease of life is with fresh flooring and in the UK where we settle in to hibernate 4 months of the year, it’s carpets!
Famous carpets
Which carpet springs to mind when you think of famous carpets?
No, not Alladin’s carpet.
The Ardabil carpet is the oldest dated carpet. It is an Iranian design from the mid-16th century. This carpet is renowned for more than its age, it is also the largest at 34.5 by 17.5 feet. It is made of a silk foundation with a wool pile of approximately 26 million knots which attributes for the incredible details.
The carpet in Shaikh Zayed Mosque in Abu Dhabi measures at 60,546 square feet and it took 1,200 weavers 18 months to make. It is a 12 tonne cotton and wool carpet that was first shown in 2007 and is made up of 2.2 billion individual hand-tied knots.
The red carpet can’t be forgotten here. Whilst red doesn’t feature on the top 15 for carpets for our homes in the UK, the red carpet in Hollywood marks the start of the golden age. Red carpets were rolled out for heads of state before they made a debut for movie stars. Red is often depicted at the feet of royalty or religious figures in Renaissance paintings and only became relevant in the film industry in 1922.
Which carpets are the most popular?
A carpet’s lifespan is between five and 15 years depending on the type of carpet, wear and tear among other factors.
Sustainability has been a growing interest for years and investing in quality flooring that is economical is no different with options such as sisal, seagrass, coir, organic cotton, jute, organic wool and bamboo on the market.
In the 1970s, the most popular choice in the UK was plush and colourful shag carpet, this was replaced by beige on beige on beige in the 1990s. Now we’re firmly rooted in the 21st century we’re seeing natural fiber carpets in colours ranging from grey to floral…although beige still reigns in the top ten.
What colour carpets dominated 2021?
How adventurous are people getting with their carpet choices? Are we venturing into pinks, oranges and patterns or staying safe with the more classic primary choices?
JustServicesGroup.com found that grey came in top beating blue in second place by 71,400 searches over the period of a month according to Ahrefs.
Further investigation found;
- Grey: 88,620
- Blue: 17,400
- Black: 15,460
- White: 12,680
- Green: 11,780
- Brown: 10,190
- Beige: 7,690
- Patterned: 5,870
- Pink: 5,350
- Silver: 4,240
- Gold: 3,550
- Purple: 3,020
- Yellow: 2,690
- Orange: 2,400
- Floral: 1,020
Popular neutral carpet colours include greys, beiges, browns and some shades of blue. These choices remain favourites because they adapt to most trends or styles and can be lower maintenance as they don’t show up dirt and marks as vividly as white, pink or yellow might do.
Interior Designer, Rita Chulani from Downtown Interiors agrees with the data by saying “for most homes and commercial spaces the durability and neutrality of greys, blacks and blues always works to bring a warm cohesiveness. This trend for neutrals has followed over the years due to it’s adaptability to other furniture and pops of colour through your spaces. Sticking to neutral beiges and grey carpets certainly helps to follow trends for certain colours in fabrics, drapery, cushions and upholstery”.
Do as the influencers do
Influencers tend to have quite a say on the trends picked up across brands so JustServicesGroup.com looked into some of the most followed accounts on Instagram to get an idea of their aesthetic.
The most prominent house decor account on Instagram is by far Mrs Hinch with 4.2 million followers. Tesco now features Mrs Hinch’s own home decor range which is largely tones of grey. The carpets in the Hinch home are a light grey colour which seems common throughout the house.
Olivia and Alex Bowen run a home account called The Bowen Home which journeys their entire renovation of their home. They have opted for hardwood floors with carpet details in beiges and greys with black detailing on their staircase. They have 753,000 followers.
@myfamilyhomebyclaire has 197,000 followers and showcases a natural interior design style punctuated by carpets that are shades of beige. Some really lovely natural materials in all their carpet choices which adds a lovely texture to the rooms.
With 127,000 followers, @thehomethatmademe is a muted neutral journey with touches of foliage. The carpets are beige or brown accentuated by neutral details in each room such as a patterned blue rug.
Looking at some of the top influencers in home decor, there is definitely a trend emerging of neutral tones of greys when it comes to interior design.
Which tones are the most popular?
Under the grey carpet umbrella, the most popular searches were for light grey carpet with 5400 monthly searches which matches with what we learnt from the influencer accounts. This was followed by dark grey carpet with 2400 monthly searches and then grey striped carpet with 1300 searches.
The most searched for blue carpet tone was navy blue, grey blue and blue grey all at 600 searches. Dark blue came in joint second with blue pattern carpet with 350 and royal blue was at third with 300 monthly searches.
Black and white carpets had the most searches with 900 followed by 600 searches for black and white stripes. Grey and black carpet was also searched for 400 times over a month.
Interestingly, with patterned carpets, the most popular search was for grey patterned carpets at 800 followed by patterned stair carpets at 400. Green patterned carpets followed with 250 monthly searches.
Floral carpets had a variety of searches such as; vintage floral carpet, modern floral carpet, floral axminster carpet, wilton floral carpet and floral carpet runners. The most popular search was floral patterned carpets with 200 monthly searches.
When you choose your next carpet are you going to go with the expected hue of grey or are you going to strive to match the splendour of the Ardabil? At least venture into the realms of colour if you dare…