Fitted carpet

Fitted carpet, also wall-to-wall carpet or carpeting, is a carpet intended to cover a floor entirely. Carpet over 4 meters in length is usually installed with the use of a power-stretcher (tubed or tubeless).

Fitted carpets were originally woven to the dimensions of the specific area they were covering. They were later made in smaller strips, around the time stair carpet became popular, and woven at the site of the job by the carpet fitter. These carpets were then held in place with individually nailed tacks driven through the carpet around the perimeter and occasionally small rings in the carpet which were folded over.

The introduction of tack strip, "tackless strip", "gripper strip", or "smoothedge", simplified the installation of wall-to-wall carpeting, increasing the neatness of the finish at the wall. Because gripper strips are essentially the same thickness as underlay, using gripper strips yields a level edge, whereas tacking gives an uneven edge.

Gripper strip is a strip of wood bevelled on one edge with many small tacks protruding through from the bottom. It is placed around the perimeter of the area to be carpeted, with the bevelled edge side nearest the wall and held in place with nails (timber floors) or glue (concrete floor). The carpet fits over it (held on the tacks) and is wedged into the narrow gully left between the wall and bevelled side giving a smooth edge. Gripper strips allow stretching of the carpet during installation, greatly improving the appearance of the installation. Stretching can be performed with the use of a carpet stretcher or a manual knee kicker.

Martha Stewart

Martha Helen Stewart (née Kostyra; born August 3, 1941) is an American businesswoman, writer, and television personality. As founder of Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia, she has gained success through a variety of business ventures, encompassing publishing, broadcasting, merchandising, and electronic commerce. She has written numerous bestselling books, is the publisher of the Martha Stewart Living magazine, and hosted two long-running syndicated television shows, Martha, which ran from 2005 to 2012, and Martha Stewart Living, which ran from 1993 to 2005.

In 2004, Stewart was convicted of charges related to the ImClone insider trading affair and sentenced to prison. There was speculation that the incident would effectively end her media empire, although Stewart began a comeback campaign in 2005 and her company returned to profitability in 2006. Stewart rejoined the board of directors of Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia in 2011 and became chairman of her namesake company again in 2012.