Whether to use light or dark colored rugs in your home can be a huge decision, and one that can transform the entire look of your home. There are no hard and fast rules as to which looks best; it all depends upon your taste, preference and more importantly, your lifestyle. You may dream of plush ivory colored rugs in every room, but if you have three kids and two dogs sharing your home, ivory colored rugs could very well be a major decorating snafu.

Consider the following when choosing dark or light colored carpeting for your home:

When It Is Better To Choose Dark Colored Rugs

Dark colored rugs will not reflect stains or footprints. If you have dark colored carpeting in your home and your child spills grape juice on the carpeting, chances are it will not show up. Not like it would on an ivory colored carpet, anyway. Dark colored rugs are ideal for hiding those inevitable juice stains or muddy footprints.

People who have children should opt for darker colored carpeting. They are more child-friendly, cause you less stress and will save you a packet from constant carpet cleaning costs.

Precautions When Choosing Dark Colored Rugs

Dark colored carpets may draw everything in and make a room appear much smaller than it really is. They do tend to show up every bit of dust and pet hair, unless of course you are lucky enough to have a black rug and a black pet too. If you have dark carpeting, you must be prepared to vacuum often to get rid of dust and hairs, which seem to be magnified with dark colored carpeting.

Pros Of Light Colored Carpeting

Light colored carpeting makes a room appear larger than it is and gives a room more light. If you have a cat or a dog with light hair, you will not see the pet hair all of the time in the carpeting. It will be there, of course, you just will not see it all of the time.

Cons of Light Colored Carpeting

Any stain will be apparent. If your children or husband decide to track in mud, it will show up on the carpeting. Light carpeting looks worn a lot sooner than dark carpeting and needs to be cleaned a lot more often. Heaven forbid if you have a black cat or dog as the hair will show up and look like a mess on the floor. You will constantly be trying to get the hair up from the floor as it will look like black fuzz.

There are pros and cons to both light and dark colored carpeting. One way that you can eliminate some of the negatives about any color carpeting is to employ the use of area rugs. Area rugs with designs can save your carpeting from stains, pet hair and foot prints and will not reflect every imperfection. If you purchase cheap area rugs, you can change them every two years and save the wear and tear on your carpeting.