Choosing the right carpet colours for your home is a big decision, one you will be living with for years. Because carpeting is one of the more costly expenses in decorating your home, you'll want to choose a rug colour that works with your current or planned colour scheme. Trends do change, even in the popular colours for floor coverings, but they run 1-2 years behind those of the rest of the fashion industry. This means that the most popular shades in the ladies' clothing department will be showing up on floors in a couple of years.

What are considered outdated, at the moment, are the cool gold and green shades. Silvers, mauves and grays are also less favoured. The current trends are towards the much warmer colours. Golds and greens are still around, but they have been warmed up considerably. Earthy, environmental colours have become increasingly popular as well. Light blues, neutral stone hues, rosy quartz, khaki and suede shades are also very much in demand. Beige, the traditional stand-by, is considered too dull and too safe by many designers. However, no other colour has as much utilitarian value and flexibility as beige, so it will continue to be a popular choice, regardless of changing colour trends.

When choosing the right carpet colour for your room, there are several factors to consider. Fortunately, rugs come in almost as many colours as price ranges today. It is no longer difficult to find the colour you want at a price you canafford. Always remember that your carpet choice will become the foundation of your fashion decor for each room you design.

The following tips may help you choose the right carpet for the rooms in your home:

• Level of traffic - The more your carpet will be walked across, the more danger of spills, stains and tracked-in dirt. Lighter carpets can be treated to be more stain resistant, but the less expensive ones will still show wear and tear faster than darker-coloured rugs. If you have pets or non-paved outdoor areas, more dirt will be tracked in than if you live on a paved lot. Hallways and all-purpose living areas tend to take the worst beating. Most carpet - of any colour - is not recommended for kitchen use.
  
  
• Use of space - Do you want your carpet to brighten up a dark room or tone down a too-light space? Red is a perfect choice for darker family rooms, living rooms and hallways. It wears well and tends not to show stains as badly as some of the lighter colours. For rooms that have excessive sunlight, you will need to also think about fading, a problem that is more obvious with dark carpets.
  
  
• Personality match - Does the rug colour match your personality? Casual, more-relaxed people tend to favour the warmer colours and earth tones. Detail-oriented people, on the other hand, often prefer blues, blacks, whites, grays and jewel tones. Do you feel more comfortable walking in rooms whose rugs are in one colour family or the other?
  
  
• Design match - Do you want a carpet that blends in to your overall fashion design or one that makes its own fashion statement? Every room needs one main focal point. Your rug can be that point or it can support another object such as a painting or piece of furniture. You just don't want the carpet competing, or your room will feel too busy and confusing.
  
  
• If all else fails - Choose beige. It is a safe colour that goes well with white walls but also works with other colours. A mottled light brown rug will camouflage pet activities and stand up well to daily wear. You really can't go wrong with beige.