I’m back. In the past six months, I’ve moved to the country and had a baby boy. But I haven’t spent the time drooling over Mamas & Papas catalogues. No, I’ve been spearheading the carpet revival.

You might ask why carpets need reviving at all. Well, back in the mid-1990s, the carpet industry had the rug pulled out from under it. Makeover programmes told us that the thinnest laminate was chicer than the deepest shag pile. Carpets were unhealthy and, worse still, unfashionable. It was part of the wider whitewashed buy-to-let look that sanitised homes of any personality. With barely a second thought, millions axed their Axminsters and stripped and polished the floorboards, as Carol Smillie looked on, cackling.

In fact, much of makeover TV’s anti-carpet infomercial was misleading — carpets insulate brilliantly, keep down sound (ideal for flat-dwelling, stiletto-wearing party animals) and feel fantastic in a way that even the widest, limed-oak floorboards never will. What’s more, carpet has shed its fusty image. “Consumers are more discerning, and the carpet industry has fought back with better-performing materials, bold colour palettes and new textures,” says Tony Judge, of the new industry-funded Fun on the Floor campaign.

My part in it has centred on designing a five-storey townhouse in Clerkenwell, east London. The house showcases contemporary carpets for all price ranges, styles and tastes and, most importantly, in situ. So, rather than wandering around a soulless box in a retail park, you’re looking at carpets in their natural, cosy habitat. It’s a bit like the difference between a zoo and an African safari.

What’s more, the carpets themselves are a far cry from the glum floor coverings of yesteryear. Think everything from overscaled loop weaves to thick, black shag piles. Meanwhile, for those who want to go down the bespoke route, companies such as Carpet Workshops (carpetworkshops.com), based in Enfield, can print any pattern you want. “Design-wise, carpet is hitting an interesting time,” says Simon Goff, who runs Heal’s flooring division. “It’s back in fashion, so it’s at the forefront of people’s minds, and it’s about to have the same kind of revival that wallpaper did a few years ago.”

You needn’t go to extremes with printing an OTT creation to make your point. While designing the house, I found that just picking an unexpected colour, such as vampy red or acid green, was enough to give any room a design overhaul. I think it’s something to do with being so used to seeing blond wood floors. Suddenly, colour looks original again. If you can’t choose, buy different shades and get a fitter to join them together in DIY stripes — which brings me to Charles Clarke. Another revelation was meeting this magician (the owner of Carpet Workshops), who can stitch different carpets together to produce any number of cool effects. His work in the house took carpet up walls and over sofas and bedsteads — wall-to-wall is so passé, it’s all about floor-to-ceiling now. But if a fitted carpet still makes you shudder, just think of it as rugs gone large. After all, rugs were key to paving the way for carpet’s comeback.

Meanwhile, predictably, fashion designers are getting in on the act. Jean-Charles de Castelbajac is in negotiations to produce his own designer carpet, while Alice Temperley is looking to do the same. This is all giving carpets a fresh new spin. Suddenly wood is starting to look “whatever”, resin “faddy” and concrete — well, do you really want your home to look like a car showroom?

For details of carpet suppliers, visit funonthefloor.com

MAGIC CARPETS

1 STRIPES

They are enduring — just ask Paul Smith — and the height of chic in flooring. They’re also a great design tool as you can use them to elongate or change perspective in a room. Rhubarb Custard by Brintons, £48 per square metre; brintons.net

2 VICTORIANA

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