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A HOME DESIGN ANýD IMPROVEMENT FEATURE Some- tips. on choosing a carpet A good carpet can add ain air of elegance or cozy warmth to any room in your home. What should you lol for when you set out to buy a new one? Here are some pointers. Chooulng Style and Colour Keep the floor treatment simple. to make decoratin1g easier, or If there's a chance you might decide to' use the room for something else. A mors neufral decor suco appeals to prospective homo buyers. Give cobour a lot, of thought. That great-looking swatch In thé showroom qould overpower your living room. Bring samples home, or have them deliverod, and lay thsm out on the floor around the room. How doos the llght affect them as tho day goos on? 'Muil over your options for a few days, and try out a varlsty of colour and shados. You could incorporats a bold uplash of colour with a border or centreplece on a mors neutral background. Scale and pattern should b. 'appropriate to a room. Large patterns, particularly colourful ones, and 'dark colours seemn to Idecrease a room lasize. Busy patterne can ho distracting and make decorating changes difflcult. Light colours will malce a room open up, and appear more spacious. Quaiity Countst When it comes te carpet quality, You really do get what you pay* for. The densityr of a carpet is based on the number of yarns per square inch, and the more yarn, the more durable the carpet. Each piece of yarn twists out from the carpet backing, and the mrater the twist, the higher the quality. The twists add resiliency, and spring hack inte shape when they're crushed, Wool carpets are generally the best quality, and also the most expensive. There are excellent synthetic carpets on the market. You want» your carpet to b. resilient and soft under foot, with good resistance te soiling. They should ho treated te provide maximum protection against dirt and damage. What Worke Weil Where Be practical, and ask how well will "hi stand up te puppies, dirty shoos, mucky kide, juloe and cola spills? A subtle pattern can minimize AS ABOU OUR *EC£L ithe effecta of spilîs and rstains. For heavy-traffc area like itchens and entrance halls, Lchoose a carpet with a bard, high-density pile that's specially deslgned for high- volume traffic. A tight-weave carpet- shows fewer footprints. ý- Stair carpets help solve noise probloms, but they talcs far mors woar and tsar than other carpotu, and woar out fauter. You could use a hlgh- density carpet ln the same colour as a plusher pioe for colour continuity. It may oven ho worth buying and storlng extra carpet* tg replace worn-out piocos.1 Famly room carpet should ho tough *nough to ho practical, yet uoft enough to ho comfortable. Stain- resistant troatments are worth it hors. Thm bedrooms the place to go for an expans of soft single-shade carpet that makes you want to get out of bod on cold monings. It also cuts down on noies. Batbrom carpets should b. mositure-resistant niildew proof and haVe an esasy-to-cloan weave. A Top-Néteh Finish Go for the bout installatiorn and finish for a good-looking carpet that wil last for years. If the carpet's in setions, make sure the pile, or nap, runs the same way. If seame Home inspection I r PROM PAGE 12 commitment needed te do things properly from beginning to end. For a liet of professioral, renovators in the greater Toronto area and a free copy of Professional Renovation Magazi*ne, contact the Greater Toronto .Home Builders' Association at (416) 391-HOM. QUALITY, CuSTOM MIADE *BIinds *Shadleý *Shuttet UP.T 507o OF ...amooeý Free shop at home service 905-430-3192 run perpendicular to the largeet window, they'll ho parallel to rays of light. Keep sea out of heavy-traffic areas-. A seam across a doorway will soon show signs of wear and tear. For the plushest look,ý have the pile lean towards the doorway. On stairs, bave the nap running from top to. bottom with the direction of the nap laying down the stairs. A carpet on a good pad can ho laid over ufleven or irregular floors to help you avoid extensive sub-floor repairs and preparation. If your home is new and you're putting carpot on top tapA. After a day or two, t/w real estate ma,*eL of concretes, make sure there's no moisture problem. Concrete can retain some moisturs for montha after being laid, and it can pick it up from the ground. Check for problems hy sticlcing a 25-centirnotre square of clear heavy plastic te the floor with masking check the plastic for water droplets. The choice can seem howildering, so get as much information as you can. Shop around te compare prices. 774s article la providied by loos realtora and thie Ontarjo Real Estate Association for. the benefit of oenaumers in Go atr Ef-ficient? With Duiham Region' s water Fixtue Replacement Pmrgramn The Water Fixture Replacement Program is offering a 40 % subsidy towards the replacement and installatiôn of toilets, showerheads, faucet aerators, sprinkler timers and rainbarrels. You can get a toilet replaced with a 6 litre toilet for $153.00 plus GST. This price includes installation by a qualified contractor and one-year warranty for material and labour. To participate in the programn for the installation of low flow toilets and water efficient fixtures, have your water billing accoumt number ready and cail Green CAP at: (905) 5711 .7227 Watch your malibox for fuil details in the "Durham Works" newsletter or pick up a program brochure from your local Municipal Office, any Regional Office, Info Oshawa Booth (Oshawa Centre) or your Public Library. Green CAP Green Conservation Action Program j Whitby Free Press, WednesdaV, September 11, 1996, Page 13 WAT]ER iAM EFFI(IENT URHAM h-is is a liinited d n It time offer, so -is is a 'imit onIt delay!