What Type of Carpet is Best for an Office?

Selecting the right carpet for an office space involves more than just personal taste. You’ll want a durable, long-lasting carpet that complements your interior, creating a productive and welcoming office environment for your team.

With decades of experience supplying contract carpets to businesses, our expert guide covers some essential tips when choosing your next commercial office carpet to match your company's brand and unique requirements.

Things to Consider for the Right Office Carpet

Whether you’re replacing an aging carpet, or fitting out an entirely new office, there are some key things to consider when choosing your office carpet to make sure it’s perfect for your business.

Carpet Durability

The first consideration is how much foot traffic your office sees each day. Our contract carpets cover a range of durability levels, with our heavy duty carpets carrying a ‘heavy contract’ rating to ensure they stand up to the highest levels of foot traffic.

These carpets feature a high stitch count and short pile, making them especially resistant to crushing from foot traffic, boxes, and chair castor wheels, for a longer lasting office carpet.

Office Carpet Types

Once you’ve decided on the contract rating required for your carpet, you’ll then need to turn your attention to the carpet construction. At Birch Carpets we offer many different types of carpet, each coming with their own pros and cons as well as differing price points.

Loop Pile Carpet

We’ve covered this in more detail in our loop pile carpet guide, but in summary, the unique look of a loop pile carpet is created by looping individual fibres into the carpet backing to create a textured or patterned appearance. This dense carpet is generally more durable than other types, and is easy to maintain as dirt and spillages take longer to seep through.

Choose loop pile carpet if you want a textured look or where you need a durable solution for high foot traffic. One thing to consider is that the loops can be prone to snagging on sharp objects, so this carpet type won’t be suitable for all situations.

Cut Pile Carpet

Instead of leaving the loops intact for a textured finish, the fibre loops are cut off in a cut pile carpet to create a more even, luxurious finish. These still provide a good level of durability for office spaces, but the softer feel underfoot makes them a particularly good choice for meeting rooms and executive offices.

Nylon vs Polypropylene

Synthetic office carpets provide a higher level of durability when compared to wool at a cheaper price point. At Birch Carpets we offer both Polypropylene and Nylon carpets in a range of styles to suit any office space.

Polypropylene carpets have an inherent resistance to stains and spillages, making them a great choice for an office environment. Sitting at the entry-level price point, a polypropylene carpet offers high-performance and maximum value for money for any budget. See our separate guide for a full breakdown of the pros and cons of polypropylene carpet.

If you have a bit more budget to spend, nylon carpets offer a step up in quality and durability, with a strong resistance to crushing meaning they maintain their appearance for longer. Many of our nylon carpets are ‘heavy contract’ rated, and are able to withstand the highest traffic footfall.

Carpet Tiles vs Broadloom Carpets For an Office

Once you know the type of carpet construction you need, the next thing to consider is the format you want this carpet supplied in.

Woven on wide looms, broadloom carpets are the traditional option for commercial use. These wall-to-wall carpets are supplied on rolls of varying lengths, before being cut to shape and size on location.

Carpet tiles have become an increasingly popular choice due to the versatility and straightforward installation. These are supplied in boxes of tiles, usually in a standard 500x500cm square size, which makes them much easier to transport between office floors and slot into place. You can also mix and match different carpet tiles to create a unique pattern, with the flexibility to combine several of your brand colours.

Office Carpet Colours

When it comes to choosing a colour for your carpet, you may be looking for something that closely matches your branding. But there are also other colour considerations too.

The colour of our surroundings plays an important role in our day-to-day moods, and so you may want to opt for certain colours to evoke a particular emotion. Consider cooler colours such as blue and green when you want a calmer office space, while warmer tones could help boost energy levels and productivity.

A final consideration, particularly for high traffic offices, is hiding dirt, debris and stains. Neutral or darker colours may be the way to go if this is a concern, especially when it comes to your choice of entrance matting.

There’s never been more choice available when it comes to choosing the colour and style of your next carpet. And carpet tiles are increasingly becoming a statement piece in themselves, with many bold designs and patterns which you can base your entire interior design around!

Choosing Your Office Carpet

Weighing up all of the different factors, you’ll hopefully now have a better idea of the type of carpet you want for your office. At Birch Carpets we have a wide range of colours, textures and patterns to choose from, including everything from a simple plain carpet, to a trendy, striking design like our shape and create tiles.

We also offer completely free samples which you can order online for any carpet in our range, to check you’re happy with the colour and properties before you buy.

If you’d like any further details on the carpets we offer, advice on measurements for your next carpet, or a competitive quote, contact our expert team today to see how we can help.