When making the decision to carpet your floor, it’s best to do a little bit of research first. Finding the right quality and style for your home takes some effort. When you know your options before talking with a salesman, you’re less likely to end up with a purchase that’s just not right for you. Here are the questions you should know the answers to before your carpet purchase.

1. How much traffic does the carpeted room get?

If you’re carpeting the living room, you’ll need a much more durable product than if you’re carpeting the guest bedroom. Do a quick estimate of how often people usually walk through there on a daily basis. You don’t want to buy a lighter carpet and wear it down in a year or two.

2. Is there direct outside access?

A room with direct outside access is likely to get a lot more dirt on it. Even if people take their shoes off inside the door, that area around the door will still be pretty dirty. You’ll want to get a rug that is sturdy enough to handle outdoor traffic. If you think you’re likely to have other frequent messes on the carpet, you’ll want to consider that too. For more info, check out carpet cleaning Manhattan NY.

3. How big is the room?

Obviously you’ll need to know the room’s size to know how much carpet to buy, but there’s a less obvious reason to know this as well. The color you choose for your carpet can make a room seem smaller or bigger. In a tiny room, a lighter floor will make the whole place seem roomier, while you can make a large room seem cozy by selecting a darker carpet color.

4. What is your existing decor like?

Consider bringing curtain swatches, wallpaper samples, or paint chips from the room along with you to the carpet store. That way you can make sure the color of the new carpet looks good along with the style you have already set up in that room.

5. What are the lighting conditions?

The light in the carpet store is most likely not the same kind of light you have in your home. What looks like the perfect color in one location could look oddly wrong in another. Some carpet stores offer lighting boxes to simulate common home lighting conditions, while others will let you take a carpet sample home.