Guide · For the trade
Carpet samples: how to order them, read them and present them to the client
Carpet samples and rug samples are complimentary to approved trade accounts and ship from the mill within 24 hours of the request, in the sizes the mill cuts: a 12 by 18 inch piece of broadloom, an 18 by 18 or 27 by 27 inch rug sample, or a memo of a hand-knotted design. Order enough to cover the job (five to eight for a first round is normal), present them flat on the floor in the room's light, and keep the one the client chose with the order so the roll can be checked against it.
This guide is for the designer or the junior running sampling on a project with us for the first time: what to request, what arrives, how to read a sample for direction, color and pile, how to show it to a client so the decision sticks, and what happens to the sample after the order. It is the process side; the strike-off guide covers the woven sample for a custom rug.
How to request carpet samples from Interiors
- Open a trade account if you do not have one. Approval is online, in a business day, with the firm name, resale certificate, business license and a professional credential.
- Pick styles on the site and request them from the trade samples page, or send us the room, the look and the budget tier and let our team pull a round for you. Either way, name the project and the ship-to address.
- Say how many colors you want of each style. Mills send one colorway per sample; if the scheme is between three greys, ask for three.
- The mill ships within 24 hours. Most arrive in two to four business days by ground anywhere in the country; ask for air if the presentation is this week.
- Ask for a narrower second round once the client has reacted.
What arrives: carpet sample sizes by product type
| Product | Usual sample | What it tells you | What it cannot tell you |
|---|---|---|---|
| Tufted and woven broadloom | 12 by 18 in, sometimes 18 by 18 in | Color, pile height, hand, backing | Pattern scale on repeats over 18 in; seam appearance |
| Patterned Wilton and Axminster | 18 by 18 in or 27 by 27 in | One full repeat or a quarter of a large one | How the repeat lands at a wall or a stair nosing |
| Hand-loomed and hand-tufted rugs | 12 by 18 in to 18 by 18 in | Fiber, pile, edge finish | The border and corner on a bordered design |
| Hand-knotted rugs | Memo or 12 by 18 in corner sample | Knot, fiber, colors in the design | The full design; ask for the rendering and photos |
| Natural fibers and flatweaves | 12 by 12 in or 12 by 18 in | Weave, color, binding options | Rug-scale color shift of undyed fiber |
Mills cut from current production, so a sample is a good proxy for the roll, but it is not the roll. Dye lots shift slightly between runs, and a sample from one lot sits next to a rug cut from another; the dye lots guide explains what to approve before cutting.
How to read a carpet sample before the client sees it
Set it on the floor, not a table, and look at it from standing height. Turn it 180 degrees: cut pile reads darker against the nap and lighter with it, and the room's main view should see the lighter face. Check the pile height against the door clearance and the adjoining floor (a 1/2 inch pile plus a 7/16 inch pad is 15/16 inch, which matters at a tile threshold). Bend the sample back to see the density; if the backing shows easily between the tufts, the carpet is thin for a hall. Look at the back for the construction and the label for the fiber content, the width (12 ft, 13 ft 2 in or 15 ft) and the repeat, and write those on the spec now, not after the order.
How to present carpet samples to clients
Three or four samples, never twelve. Lay them in the room, in daylight and then under the evening lighting, on the floor they will meet; a sample on a white conference table is a different color than the same sample next to walnut. Show the one you recommend first and say why in one sentence: the fiber for the room's use, the pile for the traffic, the color for the light. Hand the client the sample to hold. When the client chooses, write the style, color name and color number on the back of the sample with the date and keep it. That sample is the reference for the roll inspection and for any claim later.
Rug samples: what to show for a finished rug
For a line rug the sample shows fiber and color, and the photos show the design. For a bordered or custom size rug, ask us for the binding or border sample alongside the field sample; a leather border on sisal is a decision the client should make holding both. For a hand-knotted or custom design, the sample is the strike-off, 18 by 18 inches or a corner with the border, woven in 4 to 6 weeks, and that is what goes in front of the client before production starts.
After the order: what to do with the samples
Keep the approved sample until the install is signed off; compare it to the roll or the rug at delivery, in the same light, before the installer cuts. Samples do not need to come back to us. Keep the ones that worked in the firm's library, labeled with the mill, style, color and width; a current sample library is the fastest sampling of all.
Questions designers ask
Are carpet samples free for designers?
Yes, for approved trade accounts, with no limit that gets in the way of a job. They ship from the mill within 24 hours of the request and arrive in two to four business days by ground anywhere in the United States. Trade approval is online and takes a business day.
How big is a carpet sample?
A 12 by 18 inch piece for most broadloom, 18 by 18 or 27 by 27 inches for patterned woven goods so a repeat shows, and a memo or corner sample for a hand-knotted design. Ask for the larger size when a pattern repeat is over 18 inches.
How many samples should I request for a project?
Five to eight on the first round across the rooms, then two or three on the second. One colorway per sample, so count colors, not styles.
Will the carpet match the sample?
Closely, because samples are cut from current production, and not exactly, because dye lots vary. Keep the approved sample, ask for a cutting from the actual roll before it ships on a large order, and compare in the room's light. Natural and undyed fibers vary most.
Can I get rug samples and carpet samples of the same style?
Yes. Many rugs in the catalog are cut from broadloom, and the broadloom sample serves both. For a matching stair runner and area rug, ask for the runner width sample and the field sample together.
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