Susan Conway is a Decorator and Home Stager specializing in Stainmaster Carpet from Carpet Direct. Last year she shared her tips on Home Design Trends for 2012. This time we asked her to share one of her secrets of excellent home staging: removing divots from carpet after the furniture is moved. Susan can be reached at 913-706-8008 or visit her website.

The Carpet Divot Solution

Have you ever moved a big piece of furniture, only to reveal small divots in the carpet? I constantly come across this problem when staging homes. Whenever we move furniture, the room looks great except for the tell tale signs of where the furniture used to be. These small divots are caused by heavy and constant pressure on the carpet fibers and are difficult to remove just by fluffing them with your fingers.

So, here is my secret to fix carpet divots. . .ICE CUBES!

Simply get enough ice cubes to fill in the dents or indentations. Begin with putting one cube over each dent and if you think your carpet can absorb more water, put in enough to fill the space. Allow the cubes to melt over the carpet divots. The best time to remove the dents is at night, so no one will step on them. (Additionally, if I attempt to do this during the day, my dogs think that the ice cubes are toys.)

In the morning, use a white paper towel to absorb any excess water and fluff the carpet with your fingertips. You will be amazed at the results! Carpets that have held large and heavy furniture for years may need the process to be repeated to get a better result and completely get rid of those carpet divots.

It’s All About the Pad

It is true that not all pads are created equal. If you find that after using “the ice cube trick”, your carpet still appears to have indentations, it is likely that your pad is compressed. Feel free to call me for the name of a professional installer who can pull back your carpeting and replace the pad in those areas.

Now that I am an expert in the carpet industry, I swear by the Stainmaster Carpet Cushion Pad. This is the best pad on the market today. It has an anti-microbial, anti-bacterial moisture barrier, and is guaranteed for the life of the home! (Not just the life of the carpet.) So, if your pad ever compresses more than 10%, the company will replace it for you.

I recently moved a pool table off of my basement carpet, and assumed that my Stainmaster pad would need to be replaced. After placing ice cubes on the indentations overnight, I was amazed to discover that the carpet and pad had both bounced back!