While carpet may look fantastic in your living room, family room, and bedrooms, it tends to be less attractive in the kitchen and bathrooms. Aesthetics aside, it’s much less functionally practical to install carpets in these areas. The lack of functionality can also cause a dip in resale value when looking to sell the home again, so it’s important to consider carefully where carpet is best suited in your home.

If you’re thinking about laying carpeting in the kitchen or might want to add it to your bathrooms, keep these important factors in mind:

• Mold Could Develop: Wall-to-wall carpeting can serve as a breeding ground for mold to develop in the right conditions. Those conditions are especially prevalent in kitchens and bathrooms, where dampness is common. Steam and humidity can also contribute to rot, and before long your carpet will likely need to be replaced.
• Leakage Causes Damage: It’s not uncommon for leaks to develop in kitchens and bathrooms. If you have a faulty appliance or toilet, for example, it could leak and ultimately seep moisture into the fibers. Carpeting could even conceal a leak for a little while and prevent you from realizing that there’s a problem until you discover that the ground is soaked through.
• Products Can Stain: Think of all the common household products that you use in your kitchen and bathrooms. Basics like hand soap, shampoo, body lotion, and body oil can easily spill in the bathroom, and you’ve probably lost count of how often you’ve spilled even a small dollop in the kitchen. Anything from ketchup to cooking oil can cause an immediate stain that can discolor the carpet and be quite difficult to remove.

Instead of carpeting, consider a flooring product that is easier to care for in these high-traffic areas of your home. Laminate flooring, ceramic tile, and hardwood flooring are all very common, sensible options that are easy to clean. They’re also versatile and attractive, and available in a wide range of styles designed to suit any design preference.

Carpets To Go, based in Prairie du Chien, WI, is the area’s leading carpet dealer and flooring contractor. You’ll find everything from laminate and hardwood flooring to ceramic tile and vinyl tile flooring. Visit their website, or call (608) 326-1700 for more information.