Looking at the latest fashion trends, it seems obvious that beauty and comfort rarely go together. Four-inch heels or flip-flops? Suit and tie or jeans and a t-shirt? Fashion or function?

A lot of homeowners face the same dilemma when it comes to choosing flooring. Hardwoods and natural stone appeal for their beauty and contemporary styling. But they can’t always compete with the everyday comfort carpeting provides.

Good news: With the range of products available now, you don’t have to sacrifice one for the other.

Comfort
“The overriding theme right now,” says Trevor Sohn, general manager of Carpet One in Urbandale, “is comfort. If it’s not soft, it’s not selling.”

Even the denser, berber-style carpets popular for their durability and lower maintenance have a much softer feel these days than products available a few years ago. “Often clients with older kids or no kids like the plush-cut pile products, which are naturally very soft underfoot,” Sohn says. “Younger families who want the lower maintenance of a low-pile carpet still want a soft carpet though.”

Durability
Both types of carpet provide the comfort homeowners seek, along with the easy maintenance we’ve come to expect.

Sohn says, “Carpet manufacturers offer products with stain resistance and warranties to back them up. And Carpet One provides a Beautiful Guarantee that basically assures homeowners they can have the carpet replaced if they’re not happy with it.”

In fact, the Lees line of carpets, which is on sale at Carpet One in May, has the best warranty in the business—a 25-year, no exclusions stain warranty.

Style
But comfort and durability aren’t usually enough to satisfy the savvy shopper. We also expect our floor coverings to be stylish and attractive.

“We still see a lot of taupes and neutral colors,” Sohn says, “but color is coming back. Gray, from soft dove gray to darker charcoals, is still neutral but adds a deeper earth tone to a room. And area rugs are available in every color and pattern imaginable.”

Using area rugs allows homeowners to add a pop of color or change a room’s style as quickly as the trends change. You can also have a room-size rug customized to suit your needs.

“You can choose your carpet and have it custom-backed-and-bound, even add borders or patterns to it, if you have hard-surface flooring that you don’t want to damage or replace,” Sohn says.

Ecology
Some homeowners who long for the comfort of carpet resist the product because of its petroleum base or because of allergies. Products on the market today address those concerns, too.
Sohn explains, “We have corn-based products that aren’t polyester or nylon, so there’s less petroleum involved in their production. They’re just as stain-resistant and soft as traditional carpets but less chemically oriented.”

These days you can have fashion and function together.