That rug really tied the room together, did it not?

September 2, 2010 5:12 PM

Ugly Vegas Carpets Want You to Keep Playing. "Mathematician-philosopher Alfred North Whitehead once said, “It requires a very unusual mind to undertake the analysis of the obvious.” This certainly rings true with Chris Maluszynski’s Las Vegas Carpets series, whose name explains it all. The photos draw out the psychology of Las Vegas through the simple observation of carpet."
posted by Fizz (51 comments total)

Complicated patterns are best for hiding spilled drink stains.

Simple as that.
posted by GavinR at 5:18 PM on September 2, 2010 [5 favorites]

I think it's also common sense. Weird wavy nauseating designs, bright lights, loud sounds. All of this adds to a sense of disorientation and confusion.
posted by Fizz at 5:19 PM on September 2, 2010 [1 favorite]

"Oh, Lord, what should I do?"

"Keep Gaming"

"What?"

"It means gambling. Keep gambling."
posted by horsemuth at 5:21 PM on September 2, 2010 [6 favorites]

Weird Casino Carpets Previously seen here.
posted by Fizz at 5:26 PM on September 2, 2010

Complicated patterns are best for hiding spilled drink stains.

Pretty standard stuff for pubs and taverns up here in Canada. (Though never this clean when I used to go to them.)
posted by Trochanter at 5:35 PM on September 2, 2010

Most of the Vegas Strip bores me to tears ... but some of those carpets looked pretty fantastic!
posted by kanewai at 5:38 PM on September 2, 2010

Imagine having some of these carpets in the basement of your home.
posted by Fizz at 5:39 PM on September 2, 2010 [1 favorite]

Complicated patterns might also be part of a general campaign to overwhelm the senses: bright colors, shiny metal embellishments, slot machines firing bells and horns, cigarette smoke and other odors, etc. If your surroundings are busy, stressful, exciting, your mind is not relaxed. Perhaps agitated people could more easily lose themselves in the excitement of betting, which calm people might find it easier to be rational and would perhaps less profitable marks for the casino.
posted by Blazecock Pileon at 5:39 PM on September 2, 2010 [2 favorites]

I was at a casino in Reno that had a carpet design with a RAINBOW in SPACE. SPACE RAINBOW was red on the inside and violet on the outside, presumably because light refracts oppositely in SPACE.
posted by 0xFCAF at 5:45 PM on September 2, 2010 [5 favorites]

I was at a casino in Reno that had a carpet design with a RAINBOW in SPACE.

That would be the Peppermill's carpet.

I hate that I know this.
posted by elsietheeel at 5:49 PM on September 2, 2010 [20 favorites]

Those rugs sure do tie the room together.
posted by sonika at 5:53 PM on September 2, 2010

There's a scene in Fear and Loathing, where the casino carpet comes alive via special effects, that I would link to if I could.
posted by StickyCarpet at 5:54 PM on September 2, 2010

Thesis: Crazy rugs keep people gambling.
Proof: I said so.
posted by DU at 5:55 PM on September 2, 2010

And then there's this hideously shot and cheap production value video.
posted by Fizz at 6:01 PM on September 2, 2010

Anything StickyCarpet posts in this thread is eponysterical.
posted by elsietheeel at 6:01 PM on September 2, 2010 [1 favorite]

If by ugly you mean TOTALLY AWESOME, then I would completely agree. I would totally sport any of those rugs in my house.
posted by MaryDellamorte at 6:04 PM on September 2, 2010 [3 favorites]

Some casino carpets are designed to compliment (or even contrast) the inlay pattern of its playing chips.
posted by Smart Dalek at 6:18 PM on September 2, 2010

Imagine having some of these carpets in the basement of your home.

Somebody missed the 70's.
posted by Trochanter at 6:24 PM on September 2, 2010

Imagine having some of these carpets in the basement of your home.

Somebody missed the 70's.

I thought that 70s carpets were all about the shag!
posted by Fizz at 6:26 PM on September 2, 2010

After about 15 years of wearing 501s, concert t-shirts (mostly black) and flannel shirts over those if it's chilly, I've been thinking about refreshing my look.

There are a number of those patterns which, if I could get them as shirts (or pants?), would go a long way toward helping shake me out of my rut.
posted by hippybear at 6:27 PM on September 2, 2010 [2 favorites]

all of these are definitely the most beautiful thing i've ever seen in my life

i just realized i am a serious gambling addict
posted by Potomac Avenue at 6:35 PM on September 2, 2010 [1 favorite]

Vegas isn’t all obvious ornament however; Maluszynski did manage to find refuge, “There is actually a surprising number of galleries in Vegas where great art can be found. Wynn’s art collection is impressive.”

Hey Wired, David Hickey called …
posted by device55 at 6:40 PM on September 2, 2010

Insidious and evil.

But so colourful!
posted by bwg at 6:45 PM on September 2, 2010

Vegas is a weird place design-wise, for many reasons. Take a look at the now-defunct Star Trek Experience at the Vegas Hilton. The area around the bar/exhibit entrance had been given a Trek makeover, with the unique corridors and such, but after the place went kaputt the branding had to be removed. They left most of the decorative touches, but genericised it such that you wonder why the heck you're suddenly walking through this lame space casino.

I forget what the carpets looked like :P
posted by RobotVoodooPower at 6:46 PM on September 2, 2010

Complicated patterns might also be part of a general campaign to overwhelm the senses: bright colors, shiny metal embellishments, slot machines firing bells and horns, cigarette smoke and other odors, etc.

I've only been in two casinos, neither in Vegas, but the combination of all those noises, blinking lights and smoke gave me an instant splitting headache. I was just there for the buffet each time and was with a group so I couldn't leave but I really wanted to run away from all that chaos as quickly as I could.
posted by octothorpe at 6:51 PM on September 2, 2010

After about 15 years of wearing 501s, concert t-shirts (mostly black) and flannel shirts over those if it's chilly, I've been thinking about refreshing my look.

There are a number of those patterns which, if I could get them as shirts (or pants?), would go a long way toward helping shake me out of my rut.

Hippybear - If you're in the market for neckties, Jerry Garcia's estate may have a deal for you.
posted by Smart Dalek at 6:52 PM on September 2, 2010

Casinos in as diverse locations as Macao and Monte Carlo have equally hideous carpets. I can only conclude it's a deliberate psychological tool, in the vein of the Spanish art-torture cells. Perhaps it's meant to keep gamblers confused and excited and constantly moving, as that means they're not concentrating on the game, which is always to the house's benefit.
posted by Slap*Happy at 7:14 PM on September 2, 2010

If your surroundings are busy, stressful, exciting, your mind is not relaxed

You're not saying *gasp* that they would stoop to using something like intermittent reinforcement?
posted by P.o.B. at 7:20 PM on September 2, 2010

The carpets are actually one of my favorite things about Vegas, a town I generally deplore (the casino part anyway).
posted by Mister_A at 7:27 PM on September 2, 2010

There's a scene in Fear and Loathing, where the casino carpet comes alive via special effects, that I would link to if I could.

In any case, these are the carpets the whole hip world would be stepping on if the Nazis had won the war.
posted by gompa at 7:29 PM on September 2, 2010 [1 favorite]

that space rainbow carpet totally made my day.
posted by lapolla at 7:37 PM on September 2, 2010 [1 favorite]

I kind of like those garish lobbyesque patterns in a rug, but as for Las Vegas, once was more than enough.
posted by emhutchinson at 7:52 PM on September 2, 2010

Note to self: Next time I do 'shrooms in Vegas, I must look at the ground.
posted by cazoo at 7:57 PM on September 2, 2010 [1 favorite]

The ugliest hotel room I have ever been in in my life was in Vegas -- and the carpet was part of it. The wallpaper, the curtains, and the bedspread were all EXACTLY THE SAME PATTERN -- big fat three-inch stripes of black, brown, and red, and the carpet was also the same colors but a different pattern, a sort of harlequin diamond thing.

and with bubblegum-pink trim on the one lone unpapered wall.

I think I prefer some of these carpets to that.
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 8:01 PM on September 2, 2010 [1 favorite]

wow, where can i buy a shirt with these wild patterns.
posted by tustinrick at 8:04 PM on September 2, 2010

I imagine if you took a culture of a randomly selected Greyhound station toilet these are pretty much what you'd see under the microscope. Yikes.
posted by Neofelis at 8:13 PM on September 2, 2010

After much experience with drinking and gambling in Vegas, I've learned two things about the hotel and casino carpets:

1. They make a bad drunk worse.
2. It's like the vomit just disappears into the floor.
posted by eyeballkid at 8:16 PM on September 2, 2010

where's Waldo?
posted by tustinrick at 8:23 PM on September 2, 2010

This makes me nostalgic for my hometown. Out here in the rest of the world, the carpets are boring, the buffets are tiny, and there's this weird gambling "lottery" thing in all the convenience stores.
posted by ErWenn at 8:35 PM on September 2, 2010

Note to self: Next time I do 'shrooms in Vegas, I must look at the ground.

Other note to self: Trust humannaire on this:

Don't.

Whatever you do, don't look at the carpet. Just ignore it and pretend it's natural. Than get to the top of something and look out over what has been carved out of the beautifully illuminated skeletons of something akin to but much large than dinosaurs.

And then... Remember!
posted by humannaire at 8:48 PM on September 2, 2010 [2 favorites]

The more I look at this one, the more see its suggestiveness. I don't know that it proves the theory put forth, but I hear differing arguments about what O'Keeffe painted, too.
posted by Graygorey at 9:09 PM on September 2, 2010

That first carpet image has a Louis Wain vibe going on.
posted by Marit at 9:27 PM on September 2, 2010 [1 favorite]

I think you have to see the carpeting in the context of the whole design. The Encore and the Wynn are lavish and certainly not to be confused with anyone's living room, but the styles are exuberant and festive. I liked the Encore's theme and colors quite a bit, and I've never bet a dime in my life.

Everything--the moldings, the lights, the flowers, the tilework--is OTT.
posted by Ideefixe at 10:24 PM on September 2, 2010

StickyCarpet: "There's a scene in Fear and Loathing, where the casino carpet comes alive via special effects, that I would link to if I could."

Of course you would.
posted by bwg at 11:00 PM on September 2, 2010

The Gawker article mentions a designer who brings up the carpets act kind of like "reverse camouflage," in that they make it more difficult to notice dropped chips on the floor, supposedly to be later swept/vacuumed up by casino staff.
posted by hamida2242 at 11:12 PM on September 2, 2010

The ugliest hotel room I have ever been in in my life was in Vegas -- and the carpet was part of it. The wallpaper, the curtains, and the bedspread were all EXACTLY THE SAME PATTERN --

I had this room! But it was mauvey pink roses with olive green leaves and trellis. I spent two weeks in that room, having nightmares about The Yellow Wallpaper. This being in Paris though and not Vegas, other occupants probably thought it either quaint or romantic. /shudder
posted by whatzit at 11:26 PM on September 2, 2010

I took a course in Casino Management. While the theory that "Complicated patterns are best for hiding spilled drink stains." never came up, what I can tell you is that these busy carpets have been studied by psychologists. The idea is that the floors are too busy for you to stare at, and the ceilings are too plain to draw your attention, so you are forced to keep your eyes straight ahead at all the games on the gaming floor. It seems to work, as mentioned in the article (albeit, without mentioning the ceilings).
posted by mrzer0 at 4:41 AM on September 3, 2010 [1 favorite]

The ugliest hotel room I have ever been in in my life was in Vegas -- and the carpet was part of it. The wallpaper, the curtains, and the bedspread were all EXACTLY THE SAME PATTERN --

I had this room! But it was mauvey pink roses with olive green leaves and trellis. I spent two weeks in that room, having nightmares about The Yellow Wallpaper. This being in Paris though and not Vegas, other occupants probably thought it either quaint or romantic. /shudder

Working in a hotel, one reason why the decor might intentionally be tacky, on top of the psychological effects is to prevent theft. Honestly, would you steal the carpet or the drapes from the rooms you've just described? Probably not.
posted by Fizz at 6:02 AM on September 3, 2010

In all seriousness, please contact me if you have a source for the space rainbow carpet. My better half just gave the OK on it for our place
posted by jtron at 6:28 AM on September 3, 2010 [3 favorites]

I LOVE this. Thank you. The crazy rainbow paisley at the front is my favoritest.
posted by fiercecupcake at 6:57 AM on September 3, 2010

I want these to be fabric that I can quilt with!
posted by QuakerMel at 3:29 PM on September 5, 2010