Why I Let My Kids Spill on Martha Stewart's Carpet~

A few weeks back I was contacted by the good people at Home Depot to see if I would like to review some samples of Martha Stewart's new carpet line. Their timing was impeccable because the Hubby and I have recently been having a debate over carpet. Our entire main floor is hardwood. And don't get me wrong, I LOVE hardwood. And I wouldn't trade it in our living room. But, I really like carpeting in bedrooms. Area rugs just don't do it for me in a bedroom. And although we rent this house, and I can't install wall-to-wall in the bedrooms, I told him in my sweetest wifey way that I WILL have carpet in the bedrooms of the next home we purchase.

So what is his hang-up? He's got nothing against wall-to-wall except that it stains. Okay, I'll give him that. Stained carpet is one of my pet peeves too. But these samples I received of the Martha Stewart Living carpet, and of her Platinum Plus collection are supposed to be stain resistant. According to them, The Platinum Plus carpets are "steambonded with Scotchguard to create an invisible shield against liquid and dirt." It's supposed to bead up and wipe off easily. And The Martha Stewart Living carpet is supposed to have R2X stain resistance technology.

Well, thought I, they sent these carpets to the right place if they want their stain resistance to be put to the test. I have 4 kids. They are stain creating champions. If we can't stain these samples, it can't be done. Plus, I really wanted to show the Hubby that carpet wouldn't be such a bad idea.

So I gathered up my helpers. Don't they look excited?

And I pulled out the "test kit" that I received from Home Depot. I must admit that the kids were most excited about the "staining agents"...the juice box, and the chocolate milk.

Then we got to work.
I must say my kids are expert stain testers. They knew just how to spill those drinks on the carpets. Although Mr. Two certainly didn't like wiping up the spills as much as he liked making them. (Doesn't he look happy in this photo?)

Oh, and never fear...we spilled a lot more on the carpets than I have pictured here...these tiny spills are for amateurs...not my kids.

And just as it said in the information they sent along with the carpets, all we had to do was wipe with a paper towel. That got most of it up. But I must admit, when it came to the tomato juice, we had to put a little elbow grease into it (well, I did anyway) and use a bit of water. But it did come up.

Here's a picture of both carpet samples after our testing was complete. You can see that they do seem to show a bit of staining. This was confusing to me. Because when I look at the samples in reality...and indeed when I showed them to the Hubby he agreed...they don't look stained. But the camera seems to pick up a bit of color. Now as I mentioned, all we did was wipe with cloths (and a bit of water for the v8 juice) we didn't use any cleaning agents. So considering all of that, I think that they came clean quite easily. This momma has a lot of experience with staining, I also know that Scotchguard doesn't work miracles, and these carpets are stain-resistant, not stain-proof, so that said, they performed quite well in my opinion.

All in all, I liked these carpets....especially the sample of the Living line that they sent (It's the darker, textured piece). The texture was pretty, and the color was great. Which reminds me. The good people of Home Depot also sent me a paint sample from Martha's new line of paint. I wrote about using it here. The reason they chose to send me the paint was because the carpet lines and Martha's paint actually color coordinate. And for those who are a little hesitant abou their ability to match carpet to paint, both the carpet and the paint have codes that help make matching easy. They're always thinking!

So, if you are having the carpet debate at your house, or if it's just time to replace the wall-to-wall where you live, you might want to check out Martha's carpet lines at Home Depot...you can put them to the test in your home!

Legal Stuff: I received the carpet and paint samples in exchange for my review, but the opinions expressed are my own.