Office Carpet

Finding the right office carpet is not as easy as you might think. It needs to have enough durability, it has to be functional, matching your interior design style, long-lasting and appropriate for the setting of your office or commercial space. Our featured selection of carpet floor tiles and broadloom carpet gives varied options in different colors and styles so you can find the right commercial grade carpet, specifically made to withstand high traffic, being easy to clean and coming at competitive price. We would also be more than happy to help you by providing installation services, along with moving and storage of existing office furniture for any renovation project.

There are, indeed, many of the same steps involved in choosing the right carpet as there are in selecting new home carpeting. Here we will give you some insights, at the most basic level, that will help you determine precisely what you should consider and look for in a carpet, before you add the right one in your shopping cart.

You will need to make a decision on colors and styles, you have to calculate the area of the floor and the amount of carpet needed to cover it. Also, you should consider the potential wear on the carpet flooring, depending on expected traffic levels. When taking your budget into account for your final decision, you need not only estimate how much you're willing to spend on the purchase itself and the installation, but what the new carpet will cost as cleaning and maintenance and what the down-time will cost you during the installation, as well. Do you prefer textured carpet or frieze? So, you see, there are so many factors you need to take into consideration when choosing your next new carpet, and we're here to help you do just that.

Your office décor, which includes the choice of carpeting, says a great deal about you and your company's image, and this translates a certain feel to your customers. A stylish modern carpet can help you enhance the overall mood and ambience of your business.

The market offers a really dramatic range of colors and carpet patterns, and since colors hold a very distinctive significance in our psychology and mindset, they can encourage certain feelings required in people for better productivity at the workplace. If you want to know more about the uses of different colors and their impact on the psychological balance of people, then read further! You will also get acquainted with some of the most popular carpet fibers and their Pro's and Con's.
 

CARPET COLORS:

Understanding the importance of color carpet uses in commercial spaces:

Color is important to the image of your business, just as it is used in your logo, office or store design. If you were to decorate an auto body shop, our guess is you wouldn't choose pink as your dominant color, right? Not only does pink bring a more feminine overtone to a traditionally masculine environment, but it has also practical disadvantages to its use, such as showing dirt more, so in this case you would want a good industrial carpet with an appropriate color. Let's see what science has to say about the psychological impacts of colors on people's perception and connotations:
 

Reds and Oranges

Those are the ones that insipre excitement and activity. Red and orange are almost always easily noticed and contrast to any background that isn't in the same color scheme. Red color has proven to activate the pituitary gland and to increase heart rate and blood pressure, which usually adds to the excitement of a sale. However, red is traditionally associated with financial loss, anger and danger, so use it carefully. Orange, on the other hand, is often seen in team colors in different sports, as well as in gyms, because it encourages fan passion and support.
 

Yellow and Brown

Yellow and brown both are warm colors, but in their effect they tend to be somewhat opposite. Yellow is a color that is of high energy and optimistic – brightening up people's moods in waiting rooms, where a pale yellow can make them more inviting. However, brighter shades could seem a bit harsh and annoying to some folks. Brown, on the other hand, can bring a rather upscale look, when its shades of clay or chocolate are used. The practical sides of brow are that it can successfully disguise dust or scratch marks in some areas that are usually more dirty, such as utility and service areas.
 

Greens

Green is most often associated with nature. Dark shades of green (especially when paired with natural wood colors) usually promote quiet and rather elegant feelings to a room. Brighter and pale greens suggest associations with healthfulness, as they remind us of plants and nature, that's why they're widely used in organic food stores, juice bars and spas, to name a few.
 

Blues and purples

Blue is the color mostly associated with authority and trustworthiness, which is why it has such prominence in uniforms and bank logos, for instance. It has a calming effect that avoids the risk of annoying people like reds and yellows may do. Purple relates to passion and creativity, when in its darker shades, as for its lighter nuances like lavender – it brings the sense for beauty and nostalgia. Ideal for gift shops, beauty salons and clothing stores.
 

Black and white

Black is the classic color of sophistication, elegance and power. Very definitive and bold, it works well to bring some style to imperfect and unatractive walls and ceilings. Used as a color foundation along with bright colored accents, you can often find it in modern upscale bars and salons. White is the carrier of cleanliness, professionalism and luxury. Maybe that's why bedsheets in nice hotels are always white. It's the perfect background, because it offsets any other color to its advantage, which works well as a background to brightly colored kids' products and in spas.

CARPET FIBRES:

Now, to the fibers. There are a few different main types of fiber typically used to make carpet. In the next few lines we're going to summarize the Pro's nad Con's of four of the most popular ones – Nylon, Polyester, Olefin and Wool.
 

Nylon

Pro's:

Nylon carpet has a really good elasticity, it can stretch up to a third of its length and then come back to its original shape. This is crucial in areas with heavy traffic and, apart from that, you may drag office furniture across the carpet with minimal risk of damaging the fibre. Nylon is also very resistant to abrasion, in this property it surpasses even wool. Most of modern day Nylon fibres are static resistant and non-absorbent – they will absorb no more than 8% of its weight in water, so this carpet dries pretty quickly. It is also mildew resistant, because it provides no food for fungi. However, if another food source is available, the nasty whitish coating can grow on it, so make sure you keep it clear of damp organic materials such as an overly watered plant pots. In case you do manage to somehow grime it, no hurry to worry – Nylon responds amazingly to most commercial cleaning methods and treatments.

Con's:

In most cases, Nylon will be acid dyed, so it could pose problems with bleaching, fading etc., as opposed to the solution dyed carpets. That's it!
 

Polyester

Pro's:

Since the production of polyester misses dye sites (it's usually dyed with either a disperse or a solution dye method), it is quite resistant to bleaching, fading and dye reactions to soil and other organic materials. This makes it stain resistant, as well, but mind you – this applies to water based stains only. It also dries quickly, due to its low absorbency.

Con's:

Because it must be solution dyed, this generally limits color variety, which may or may as well not be a major concern to you. A notable setback, however, would be that Polyester isn't resistant to oily stains. In fact, if oily spills or spots were left long enough without being properly cleaned up, they would oxidize and can even permanently bond with the fibre. So, be wary and mind that some spots just won't come out, whatever you do. Early Polyester used to go matted and tangling in matter of just a few months, due to the loss of twist and crimp. If long strait fibers were left in areas of heavy traffic, this would quickly destroy the original fullness and fluffiness of the carpet. However, some definite improvements have been made in the recent years, like heat setting and the use of finer yarns, but crimp loss can still be an issue, nonetheless. But this really is just a characteristic of Polyester and not a defect.
 

Olefin

Olefin is actually quite versatile – it's being used in the polypropylene carpet backings, as well as in the face yarns and even in AstroTurf.

Pro's:

It's astonishingly moisture resistant and it will hold up only a tenth of 1% of its weight in water. This material is very difficult to stain, chemical resistant, very lightweight (it's actually the only common carpet fiber, apart from celluloid, that can float on water) and it's great for outdoor applications. It wears well (except for its resiliency factor – see Con's) and has good stain release (except petroleum-based stains – see Con's).

Con's:

Olefin is not very resilient. It won't regain its original shape easily, when crushed. Traffic areas tend to lie down and furniture will leave indentation marks. It is also a very heat sensitive fiber – it won't melt below around 300 F, but it could sustain some damage at lower temperatures. Friction can cause damage, as well, so if heavy furniture pieces were dragged across an olefin carpet, there's a high risk of leaving permanent marks caused by the heat generated by friction. Just like with Polyester, prolonged exposure to oil-based stains can make them permanent.
 

Wool

Wool is derived from sheep or lamb fleece and is perhaps one of the oldest fibers used by man, dating back since the B.C. years.

Pro's:

Having excellent soil hiding capabilities, wool will show considerably less soil than other fibers. It's very strong, elastic and resilient – it will endure even the heaviest traffic and still keep its beautiful looks (notice the carpet in most hallways and lobbies of the finer hotels and casinos). It's natural crimp makes for its excellent insulation properties and it has good absorbency – meaning that wool reacts well to different dyes and dyeing techniques. That said, mind that this means also easy staining. Wool fiber has a good soil release, meaning that it responds very well to cleaning, because moisture make wool swell and release dirt. It's also flame retardant.

Con's:

As the processing costs, the cleaning and preparation is considerably more expensive than the actual cost or the raw material, this makes Wool rather expensive. It's prone to distortion by excess agitations. It stains easily by wine and other acid dyestuff, due to its absorbency and ease of dyeing, but that's actually the same quality that makes it so desirable – if this weren't so, you couldn't obtain the beautiful, rich colors found only in wool carpets and rugs. Wool is also sensitive to alkaline chemicals (above a pH of 9.5), such as chlorine bleach – beware that chlorine bleach will completely dissolve wool withing minutes. So, only water-based cleaning solutions with a pH in the range of 5.5 to no more than 8.0
 

There are a few other things to consider, besides style, color and fibers. There are different types of carpet that can differ in installation time and methods; for instance, floor carpet tiles or pieced carpets are generally more easily installed around existing furniture pieces and fixtures and can be installed in different areas one at a time, limiting the downtime of workers and allowing business to continue on some level during the installation. On the other hand, a broadloom carpet that is installed wall-to-wall requires that the space to be covered is completely freed from all items, including furniture and cubicle walls, but this type of carpet offers a smoother and more seamless look.

In conclusion, if you have a good eye and a practical mind, selecting a good office carpet should not feel like a tedious job. However, if you think that you might not be fully able to make the right choice yourself, then you can always seek a professional advice from our staff members, who would be happy to assist you in choosing the best item for your needs.