Your ideas intrigue me ... seriously, I'd like to know more about this. Which nationalities are you speaking for, and in which contexts? For example, I believe Americans think Brits are very odd for having fitted carpets in bathrooms.
Mostly, I know that Italians think carpet is illogical and disgusting. It dropped heavily in fashion in the mid-nineties in Ireland, and now parquet and tile are close to God. Now I think of it, the last couple of German hotels I stayed in had some type of carpet; very industrial looking.
We Irish have for a long time tended to avoid carpet in bathrooms, but maybe we just don't piss as straight.
