I always feel guilt when I look at an animal skin rug and think to myself ‘that looks fantastic’. I know full well that some of my friends look at it as though it’s an animal’s corpse. Sheepskin, goatskin and cowhide are all popular animal skin rugs, but you can also buy reindeer, rare breed sheepskin and springbok rugs among others. I’ve never liked the feeling of fake animals skin rugs, but over the last few years I’ve become a little less at ease with the whole concept. No animal should need to be killed for its skin, just so a wealthy, pompous person can rest their sweaty feet on it. I had a change of heart recently, but I can declare right now that I’ll never buy an animal skin rug. I’ve always much preferred polyester runners anyway!

Most towns will have their own carpet stores, but as you enter there will be rolls and rolls of carpets piled high, and the choice can actually be quite overwhelming. If you want to leave with some change in your pocket, you may want to consider these tips:

Never accept the going price – Most stores will price slightly higher, but they’ll soon drop their prices if you show and interest but say the price is putting you off. If they don’t agree to drop the price you should start to walk away, they’ll be sure to give you some kind of offer when you leave, especially if it means they close a worthwhile sale.

If you visit a store and can’t quite find the colour you’re looking for, then they’ll most likely be able to order it in for you, but you will usually need to put down a deposit first.

When you’ve spent a great deal of money on a brand new carpet, it can be a shame to waste any material that’s been leftover. There is some good news though, you don’t have to! We’ve thought of many purposes for odd cuts of carpet, and we’re going to talk you through a couple of options.

Use carpet as a protector for heavy items

When you’ve put a brand new carpet down, it is okay to double up. Let us explain… If you have a heavy filing cabinet which is about to sit on a new carpet, you can cut a leftover piece to sit directly under the filing cabinet and on top of your new carpet. It’s essentially double the protection, and it means your new carpet won’t aquire lines of wear, which are familiar with heavy goods.

Use odd carpet for cupboards

Not many people think to put carpet in their cupboards, but it’s worth it. If you have a built in wardrobe or built-in cupboards, you can use up odd pieces of carpet in the bottom, and it’s a much nicer surface for your belonging to sit on.