Looking for something to cover the ugly carpet in our apartment for less than $500 for 156 sq ft.

September 6, 2008 12:21 PM

Can we get area rugs (or custom cut+bound remnants) to cover our apartment's ugly carpet that won't bubble up or fall apart?

The gf and I have an apartment that has two carpeted rooms (one is roughly 8x9 and the other 7x12) but the carpet is just an ugly brown. When I first moved in 18 months ago, I got some cheap Ikea Erslev rugs. But they get dirty quick, don't stay put (even though I've resorted of copious amounts of carpet tape) and have started to wear out. So we bought a remnant at a local carpet place, had it cut and bound and tried it out. It bubbled up in several spots and we thought it was because it was too tight a fit. We had it cut down and even with two inches on each side (which I think looks ugly since now the room is ringed by a stripe of brown carpet) it still won't lay flat. We do have the bed on one half of it and two bookshelves on the other half of it.

I'm tired of spending money trying to cover up the ugly brown carpet on solutions that don't work. I'm OK with spending up to $500 to hide the carpeting in these two rooms and have started looking at carpet tiles. Would those work and would the fact that they are tiles, as opposed to one continuous piece, and thus wouldn't bubble and buckle so much? Is there another solution we should be looking at?

Thanks!

posted by Brian Puccio to Home & Garden (5 answers total)

I ask because you don't mention it: Do you have a mat down under your rugs? That should do wonders for keeping it in place.
posted by Tomorrowful at 12:29 PM on September 6, 2008

Response by poster: I tried Ikea's Stopp (as recommended for their Erslev) and it didn't work as well as carpet tape, so I've been using that. The cut+bound remnant doesn't slide all over, but it bubbles and buckles within a day of putting the furniture in the room.
posted by Brian Puccio at 12:32 PM on September 6, 2008

Could you ask your landlord if it would be okay to replace the carpeting? If you are willing to pay for new carpeting (that you like), it seems worth it to ask.
posted by sulaine at 12:58 PM on September 6, 2008

Nail gun it in place. Around the edges of the room there should be tack strip which holds the ugly brown carpet. Just nail gun your new rug to the old carpet tack strip. If you're reasonably careful when you remove the nails, the old carpet should be no worse for wear.

You may need to stretch and nail it a few times, since carpet has a bit of give to it.
posted by 26.2 at 2:09 PM on September 6, 2008

Without knowing why the carpet buckles, I think carpet tiles would work. Are you thinking about FLOR tiles? I have some, although on a wood floor, but they do seem like they would be stiff enough to not buckle. You basically stick the FLOR tiles to each other, not to the floor. I suggest getting samples though ($6), because some are way better looking then others. And, some seem to attract lint/debris/you name it...like house pet, fedora, and between the lines. I have morning coffee and it has held up very well.
posted by hazel at 5:38 PM on September 6, 2008