Room use plays an important role because it helps define typical traffic levels as well as decorating style. Will the new floor covering be in heavily-trafficked areas like hallways, family rooms or stairways, or in less active areas like bedrooms? Durable products made from tightly twisted yarns and dense loop pile with good dirt-hiding colors will be more effective in the high-traffic areas. More delicate carpets are better suited for places with less foot traffic. Think about the kind of activity that typically happens in the room too. Will the carpeting be in a more stain-prone location? Synthetic fibers will typically do better warding off stains than natural fibers. You may also want to think about darker colors or multi-colored patterns to hide dirt and residual stains.

Carpeting, more so than wood or other floor choices, comes in a vast array of colors and textures. Knowing your preferences for color family and texture will help narrow down the available choices. It's particularly helpful once you start working with a designer or flooring salesperson since they're going to take their initial cues from you.

While it may seem obvious that lighter colors show dirt more readily, it doesn't mean that a light color is necessarily bad. Darker colors have their downfall too in that they tend to show lint more readily than lighter colors.

The best middle-ground option for hiding dirt is to choose a floor covering with several colors and/or choosing a color that best camouflages the dirt that's typical in your area. That may sound a bit far-fetched but the color of soil varies depending on geographic location.

Your intentions for the home will have a bearing on the type of rug to choose. If you'll be selling soon you'll probably want to invest in more neutral colors. You're probably not interested in paying for top quality either. On the other hand, if you're staying in the home, quality, style and durability are factors that will probably drive your decision.