Are you looking for new carpet or flooring for your home? There’s a crucial step you don’t want to skip when choosing the best floor for your needs. That step is taking floor samples home with you to see in the actual space where you will be installing it. You may love the color of a certain luxury vinyl or carpet, only to get it to your home and find it looks much different.
Lighting (both natural and artificial) affects how floors look. So, if you want to be sure you are getting the right color floor for your aesthetic, be sure you check it at home.
You can get an idea of the type and color of carpet or flooring you’d like by browsing online and visiting our showroom. However, nothing will be as accurate as taking some samples home, placing them under your lighting and seeing how they look in your space. The color can look much different from a computer screen to the bright showroom lighting to your actual home.
The best thing to do is visit our store to decide on the type of carpet or flooring you’d like first. Then take several samples home with you and see how they look at different times throughout the day. The orientation of your home and the room where you’ll be laying the floor affects how much sunlight it receives and when. In North America, south-facing windows receive the most direct sunlight. East-facing rooms get more morning sun, while west-facing rooms get more in the afternoon.
Besides blinds and shades, there’s not much you can do to control the natural light in your home. However, the artificial light also plays a big role in how your floor will look, and this is something you can change if needed. The “temperature” of the bulbs you use as well as where lights and lamps are located, can all influence the look of the room.
Color temperature ranges from warm to cool and is measured on the Kelvin Scale from 1,000 (candlelight) to 10,000 (clear blue sky). The lighting you choose within that range, combined with the tone of the flooring, paint and furnishings, will affect the ambience of your space. Warmer lighting creates a cozy, inviting mood while cooler lighting feels vibrant and modern.
If you are shopping online, some room visualizers will allow you to update the type of light bulb in the space to see how it changes the color of the flooring. But again, the best way to know how a carpet or flooring will look in your home is with actual samples. We gladly check out samples of the carpet and flooring we sell for free so you can find the color you like the most in your space.
After you’ve had time to compare different samples in your home, both under natural and artificial light, you can then order your favorite. It’s an extra step, but an important one to make sure you are happy with your new carpet or flooring once installed in your home.
As always, if you have questions or need help choosing the right flooring for you, just visit with one of our flooring experts at Hopkins Carpet One. We are here to help and guide you on your new flooring purchase. Give us a call at 952-933-8944, stop in to see us in Hopkins Center, or contact us. Happy floor shopping!