Best type of carpet to get in Living Room with Children

We need to replace our carpet in the living room. I don't want to pull it up and put hard wood just yet, since DD loves to play in there, watch tv, etc and with DS coming this May i'm sure he will do the same.

Can anyone recommend a good carpet for someone with children, something that can easily be cleaned, won't really show a stain if she drops something, is safe (somewhat eco-friendly)?

Re: Best type of carpet to get in Living Room with Children

We got a StainMaster platinum plus at home depot.
This carpet is awesome!
Super plush, thick and very very high traffic rated so you don't start to see wearing and traffic.
If anything spills on it, it imediately beads up and you can just blot it away
The carpet is probaby 4 -5 years old and still looks brand new after a quick vacumming.
It wasn't cheap- but it was worth every penny for a living room that gets high traffic and especially now with a toddler

Just watch the color too- try not to go too light. We went a bit lighter in DD"s room and it's showing some stains.

When shopping for it, check the back of the sample board- look for something with a high traffic rating and high stain resistantance rating- they have them all rated on the back.

Message edited 2/2/2012 9:01:29 AM.

Re: Best type of carpet to get in Living Room with Children

Mohawk Smartstrand
Unlike other stain resistant carpets, this one is inherently stain resistant, so the coating will never wear off, since there is no coating. It's made from corn by-products, so it's better for the environment. It also has less VOCs than regular carpet. This is what I have throughout my house. We have relatively light carpet, and no matter what DC drop on it (it's underneath the table we eat at all the time, so it's always getting spilled on), it always comes right up. There are absolutely no stains on it after 3+ years so far.

Message edited 2/2/2012 9:06:19 AM.

Re: Best type of carpet to get in Living Room with Children

thank you both for these recommendations, these are both exactly what i'm looking for!

Thanks :)