A carpet is not a home furnishing necessity, but it does add a dimension to a room. 'Carpets make a room look stylish and give it an arty feeling,' said Geoff Fuller, managing director at Tequila Kola. 'Carpets can be the focal point of a room. Most people use carpets to draw the room together and make the space look cosy and warm.' Tequila Kola sells mostly shag pile rugs and also some fur carpets with rubber backing. They come in a range of colours and sizes and are relatively cheap. An 8x10 foot carpet costs about HK$6,800. 'Our business is all about fashion,' Mr Fuller said. 'We sell carpets because they are very much in. Low cost is important because carpets are not the kind of things to live with forever. People usually change their carpets every four to five years. Hong Kong apartments don't have a lot of space to store carpets, so it might not be very wise to buy expensive ones.' Nadeem Butt, director of Carpet Buyer, believes the less-expensive modern carpets are becoming more popular than the expensive Persian or Pakistani products. 'People want simple but special designs. Persian carpets have more than 15 colours, modern carpets have only two or three. But modern carpets are more creative in pattern and design,' he said. 'Hong Kong people are very conservative. They look for carpets that complement the furniture. They want the carpet to blend in with everything. Also, they don't want wall-to-wall carpets They prefer individual pieces that match the furnishings of the different rooms.' Carpets come in various sizes to fit any room. If well cared for, a high quality carpet can last 10 to 20 years. Carpets placed in 'high traffic' areas in the home, such as the entrance way, need extra maintenance. Mr Butt has this advice for choosing a carpet: 'You must first decide where to put it, and take the measurements. Then you must decide whether you want a carpet that blends in or one that stands out. Then you choose the materials. Wool, silk, or wool with silk blended in. More silk makes a carpet finer and gives it extra sheen, but it is also more expensive. 'Consider the colours and the style of the furniture and narrow down your choices to three or four carpets. Ask the shop to deliver the carpets to your home and try them out. Usually you know straight away which works best.' Tequila Kola and Carpet Buyer are at Horizon Plaza in Ap Lei Chau.