Rental carpet colours

angeltreats

I would agree about considering laminate flooring. In the last two houses we rented (before buying our current house) we had carpet that was fairly light beige in colour, and despite never wearing shoes and hoovering constantly it was a nightmare to keep clean. I was forever shampooing it to try and keep it pristine. Laminate is a lot less hassle and pretty inoffensive regardless of the tenants' tastes.

Re pets - we have had our cats in three different rental properties and got 100% of our deposit back each time as we left the places pristine. If I was looking to rent out my house I woudn't rule out pets at all (although I would definitely say no to smokers).

Edit: Typed too slowly and missed your post above. We have rented two different properties both with very cheap laminate (one only in the kitchen & living room, one throughout the entire flat). We lived in one flat for five years and when we left, the cheap laminate was as good as the day it was put down - not a scratch. The other we only lived in for about 18 months but again it was fine. I think it all depends on how well it's been laid and what kind of underlay you use. We also put down some dark coloured cheap Ikea laminate in our current kitchen, which only has to last until we can afford to renovate the whole kitchen. It's now been down for 16 months and apart from a small, unnoticeable scratch from when we had to pull out the washing machine in a hurry due to a major leak, it's still good as new and we haven't been that careful with it.

olgadapolga

Our rental has dark blue carpets in some rooms and white carpets in others. The blue carpets are fine, the white ones a nightmare especially with children who tend to have various accidents (including throwing an entire plate of spaghetti bolognaise across it by accident, tripped over his own feet), but always on the white carpets!

Sadly the white carpets are in the dining room and living room, where footfall is heaviest. Not a great idea.

I wouldn't go for anything light coloured, especially if renting out to families.

Re laminate, from a personal perspective, I hate laminate and certainly wouldn't rent a house that was decked out in the stuff.

robatwork

Another vote for laminate - your tenants can put rugs down if they wish. At least you can clean laminate properly.

As a tenant (or come to that, buyer) moving into a place with carpet you have no idea what has happened on that carpet, and it's impossible to clean properly.

Some flats of course insist on carpet on anything other than the ground floor so this may be moot.

whalster

Agree with the laminate as said above cwrainly for the downstairs rooms ,carpet bedrooms in lightr colours but still neutral
A nice vgroove laminate looks nice and lasts ages

ANGLICANPAT

Right I think Im sorted now , taking an overall look at replies. Look again at laminate for at least the hallway , and possibly the lounge knowing people can put down rugs. Or --- otherwise go for the dustbag colour carpet throughout and folk can top it with as light or bright an inner carpet or rugs as they see fit.

Thank you very much everyone, truly a great help for this beginner.

Callie22

Not laminate upstairs - especially not the cheap, gappy, badly fitted squeaky stuff! Personally as a tenant, if there's carpet then I'd prefer it to be fairly neutral and all one colour. If I don't like it, then I can cover it with rugs. I'd hate really pale carpets as they look such a mess after a couple of years, particularly if you're the second, third, fourth etc lot of tenants to use them. Personally what I like is mid-range carpets - not so cheap that they look terrible after a year, but not so expensive that you're frightened to walk on them (and not so expensive that the landlord will never ever replace them because they need to get their money's worth). And I'd never, ever, ever rent anywhere with carpet in the kitchen or bathroom - that's just gross.

Emmanuel1998

God i wish you were my landlord!

I dont see it as a problem, you are providing a nicely carpeted co ordinating property and i think you are great for even asking the Q :beer:

amr547

laminate is practical but not very warm. in my previous rented house we had brown carpets but they looked as old as the house and were filthy when we moved in.

current rental has beige carpets, theyre OK but i am worried about spilling something on them! i'd recommend laminate downstairs, carpet upstairs and definitely no carpet in the kitchen - i went to view a place that had carpet in the kitchen and i thought it was very weird and unhygienic. i imagine other tenants would feel the same!