Lifestyle Carpet Collection Part 4: Headlam Group

Cottage Berber: This one has been selling like hot cakes. It’s a 100% wool berber made at a super low price and is doing the job for us and a lot of other retailers, if stocks are anything to judge by. It also bears a striking resemblance to range we’ve always done well with – Corsa.

It’s a boucle design, which I’ve shown below and is basically a smallish looped wool berber in the style of those that have been so very popular everywhere for the last few years.

At the price, you can’t go far wrong if you like this kind of carpet and you understand what you are buying. The appearance of this carpet will be very ‘rustic’ as they say in the trade, so if you like a neat, precise, sharp looking carpet then you are barking up the wrong tree with this one. I never like this kind of thing on stairs – the cheaper wool berbers just don’t stand up long term and are also often prone to ‘pilling’ as it is known, where fibres will need to be cut as they protrude from the surface of the carpet and this is not a fault as such (although it makes your new carpet look absolutely awful).

Personally I find them difficult to work with, difficult to maintain, but very easy to sell and therein lies the dilemma for the retailer I suppose. I do always warn customers about the drawbacks of a carpet like this one, but they do often go ahead with the purchase anyway. It is officially rated Heavy Domestic, as opposed to ‘Rustic Retreat’ from the same collection, which is only rated General Domestic. I’d not really be optimistic about either on the stairs, but that is just my opinion of course.

California Dreams: This is a very very well known carpet to all and sundry in the trade. It has been in production (though I don’t believe the weight is exactly what it once was) for many years now and it has gone from being a very big seller for us, to being just ‘steady’ nowadays.

It’s an all nylon shadow pile (the label says 100% polyamide to avoid using ‘nylon’ – the ‘n’ word in UK carpet it seems) and does have a very appealing soft touch, but it doesn’t come across as being lightweight at all. The carpet is fairly heavy and dense and you could use it just about anywhere around the home, and we frequently do.

It is what is known as a ‘tonal’ shadow, which means that not only is there a pattern cut into the carpet as with most shadow piles, but the colour has what I might describe as an ‘iced’ look. There is a lot of variation of shade within the colour of the carpet and this creates a very appealing look. It contrast markedly with the manufacturers’ (Associated Weavers) sister product to this, ‘New Territories’ which has a solid colour).

It is manufactured in 4 metre and 5 metre wide rolls and should be more or less instantly available through the Lifestyle Collection (as they all should be). I’d estimate cost at £19-£26 per square metre and I recommend it as just about the best shadow of this kind at this price.  The nominal pile weight is 36oz, but handle a sample for yourself and you will be impressed I’m sure.

Stately Homes: This is a heavy woven wilton and comes in a good variety of traditional and modern designs. We have a tradition floral ‘ispahan’ design, a very traditional ‘Arabian panel’, which I’ve shown below and also a small square motif and an eye-catching cameo.

The colours are very traditional for man-made wilton and this carpet bears an uncanny resemblance to Balta’s best-selling Wiltax. I like the look and feel of this dense, comfortable wilton and it really impresses as much as this sort of thing ever will. It’s a very good all-rounder for those who want a traditional look without either buying cheap rubbish or running to the expense of a wool Axminster or similar, as it will retail at around £24-£32 per square metre.

Like most, it is available only 4 metres wide off the roll. However there is one glaring error in the sampling in my opinion. A 5 year warranty? What? When far inferior carpets in the range are getting 7 and 10 year warranties? Very strange and I don’t understand that one bit. This is indeed a heavy man-made Wilton and is suitable for heavy domestic areas – genuinely. I’m mystified as to the 5 year warranty which really seems like an anomaly to me. It really ought to last significantly longer than that.

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Lifestyle Carpet Collection Part 3: Headlam Group

Farmhouse Twist: This one is a longer pile, slightly shaggy twist made from 100% polypropylene with an action back. It’s available 4m and 5m wide and is fairly good value at the likely selling price of £12-£16  per square metre.

It feels very soft, but it is still a twist and I expect it might flatten fairly easily so I would personally be looking at bedrooms more than lounge and stairs for this one.

Colours are similar to Village Twist with subtle, muted tones – probably at their best with a decent blue in ‘Bluebell’ and a decent ‘greigey’ ‘Graphite’. The now obligatory ‘Aubergine’ is seen yet again, but it lacks any real sharpness and looks a little lifeless to me.

Chic Saxony: Something very different is to be found with Chic Saxony. It’s a long, stringily-shaggy effort that reminds me of all of those shaggy rugs that are so very popular right now.

It does have a lovely soft feel to it and will appeal to those looking for something a little different for the master bedroom. It’s not really going to be ideal in heavy wear areas and the Lifestyle Collection confirms this by giving it a 5 Year Warranty in spite of it being about the most expensive carpet in the range – retails at £20-£27 per square metre.

I think this one is more just decoration for the stand in all honesty and I’m not expecting many sales. It’s just the kind of carpet that customers will invariably run their hands through, say “ooo look at that” and then buy something else instead.

Again it’s 4 metre wide, 100% polyprolpylene and made on an action back.

Waterside: A pretty thick Saxony, made to impress with its feel and touch and it arrives into a very cluttered part of the market. With mega-sellers like Mont Blanc, Colorado Springs and Montana competing with it, things will not be easy.

It is impressive and does have a very solid colour range to it. The black with grey speckles of ‘Liquorice’ will sell and sell as it has over the last year and it’s worth having on display just for that one really.

A great asset is that it’s available in both 4m and 5m wide, whereas many similar carpets at this sort of price do not offer that (Montana does) and I think this will propel the sales significantly.

It’s 100% polypropylene, action backed and ought to sell between £18 and £23 per square metre. It’s certainly a contender.

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Lifestyle Carpet Collection Part 2: Headlam Group

Following on from my last post looking at the newly launched Lifestyle Collection released by the Headlam Group, here are another handful of new ranges:

Rustic Retreat: This is a 100% wool berber made at a price. It’s definitely aimed at those on a budget who want the benefits of wool without having ‘wool money’. It’s available in 4m & 5m widths and comes in two different designs – the ‘Hobnail’ and the ‘Stripe’. Below we have the Stripe in Wheat:

As you can see it’s a very narrow ribbed stripe and not at all unusual for a carpet of this type.

One problem retailers may have with this one is its classification of ‘General Domestic’ on the label. I do understand why they’ve done this – it’s hardly likely to offer very heavy wear in reality, but until there is some realism in grading carpets then we will continue to see cheap and nasty budget twists being rated ‘Heavy Domestic’ while this superior effort is only ‘General Domestic’. To my mind, they are correct in saying ‘General Domestic’, but it just shows up the anomaly all the more.

Consequently there is ‘only’ a 5 year warranty on this. Honestly you should take carpet warranties with a pinch of salt if ask me.

Price for this one £9-£15 per square metre. If someone claims it has a RRP of £20+ then ask them just who is recommending they price their carpets like that.

Village Twist: This one is another fairly decent 100% polypropylene twist in the range. You could probably see it as big brother to City Twist.

It does have a superior feel to City Twist and is finished pretty well. I quite like it and its colours touch most popular bases. I especially like the inclusion of a nice and subtle ‘Silver’ as well as the ‘Rose’ pink, which we often struggle to find these days. Most colours in this range are subtle and muted and at the price it will be sold at (£10-£15 per square metre), I think it’s good value.

You can have this either 4m or 5m widths and it is worth considering if your budget is around £10-£15 per metre.

Royal Court: The standout carpet in the entire range is Royal Court. This is an 80% wool, 15% nylon, 5% meltbond twist that will impress. It’s available in 40 or 50oz weights and 4m and 5m widths. It also has a jute back, in line with many quality wool twists.

I’ve shown the ‘Apple Blossom’ colour here, as there does seem to be a dearth of green around right now:

Hopefully you can pick out the density and definition from the image. It’s a very very good range and I am glad they chose to include a good twist in the collection and not just look to roll out the cheapest thing they could muster.

It should sell at £18-£27 per metre – obviously the lower end for the 40oz and the higher end for the 50oz. Intriguingly they have decided to label the 50oz as extra heavy domestic just to set it apart from the heavy domestic of the 40oz. Not a bad idea I always think.

I really do think they’ve come up with the goods on this one though. It looks clean, well defined and the colours throughout the range are very very solid. It’s certainly far better than the other wool twist in the collection.

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