Saturday, August 23, 2008

Out With the Ugly, In With the Pretty!

In my effort to get myself together for the beginning of our new school year, I dutifully decided I needed to clean our carpet. Have you ever had new carpet? If you have, you probably remember how wonderful it felt under your feet. And, I always make the sweeping proclamation, "By order of the Queen, there shall be no eating or drinking in the royal family room!" But, what do you do when the King decides to eat his nightly bowl of cereal in said family room? Or, he makes popcorn for everyone watching the movie while the Queen is at Walmart? Anyway, I was an IDIOT for choosing light colored carpet when we built this house. Anyway, as I tried to clean it, I became progressively depressed. It is truly disgusting. Do you see those dark places that look like shadows? They're NOT! They are stains. When we built the house, we chose the carpet at a local carpet store that is now out of business. Unfortunately, we have no idea what kind of carpet it is...or the maker. So, we don't know if there's even a warranty.








These are pictures of our family room. The lighter patches by the wall, that has been hidden under the couch, are what the carpet is SUPPOSED to look like..
Here is a picture of our school room. That large dark patch is where every one's feet go as we sit at the computer. Ugh!! The light spot in the corner is what the carpet is SUPPOSED to look like. What was I thinking!!??













It was with great trepidation that we decided to recarpet the family and school room. I chose a darker color of carpet. I ordered it 3 weeks ago, hoping against hope that it would be here before school started. Naturally, it wasn't. So, after many painstaking hours of cleaning, planning, organizing, and moving stuff around, I had to completely undo everything I had done and moved everything out of the school room, as well as the family room. Well, the carpet was installed on Friday, and it is lovely. It only took them about 2 hours...it took me 2 days to put everything back where it belongs...but it was worth it.

I got it on sale at Lowe's and then signed up for a credit card for an extra 10% off. I would have loved to have done the stairs too, but the budget wouldn't allow it right now. It's a light, slivery blue. It looks darker in the school room because there's not as much light...just one window. The family room has lots of light, so the carpet looks lighter. So, we're going to try to go at least one week without eating in either room... wish me luck!

8 comments:

Mom Keena said...

Wow! New carpet! It must feel great! I'll let you know about the cards, I'll have to check where I got them.

Wendy said...

I know the sinking feeling of trying to get out stains. We chose multi-colored Berber, thinking that it would show less wear. While that is true, it still shows LARGE stains, such as constant footwear (also near our computer) and big grape juice spills. Paint spills. Pretty much any kind of spill you can think of.

The popcorn while the queen is at WalMart totally cracked me up!! My dear King does the same thing. And how can I get upset, when he is doing something "special" for the kids? ;-)

Congrats on the new carpet!! It looks lovely, and your rooms are so CLEAN!! One week into school, and we already have things strewn about. Such is life, I suppose.

Jerri Dalrymple said...

It's BEAUTIFUL!!! We went with wood floors when we got tired of the stains. It's been 6 months and I like it, but I find myself sweeping often. :0)

Melissa Flaming said...

Oh, Trish, I love your new carpet, and I sooo feel your pain. You know, there's a certain "comfort" in knowing that the Flaming Family is not just a bunch of slobs, but rather a typical family who LIVES in their home. We'll never be the type to "Removest Thy Shoes Upon Entering".
Only problem...renting a home with light colored carpet keeps me in a constant state of panic, as the carpet looks like a herd of buffalo live and walk on this carpet. This week I looked at ALL the stains and said to myself, "Who cares anymore?". I shall deal with it when we move.
Enjoy the softness under your feet.

Lynn said...

ENJOY-ENJOY-ENJOY!!! It's been my experience the "do-not-eat" rule for living spaces doesn't last long!! In Florida I had WHITE wall-to-wall NEW carpet (I didn't pick it, it was already there). The first person to "baptize" it was my soon to be son-in-law Brian. He dropped a piece of pumpkin pie on it up-side-down!!! haha. I always hated that carpet!!

I have hardwood floors now, and love them. So again I say, enjoy all that lovely carpeting---it's beauty, softness & cleanliness----while it lasts!

See you Tuesday. :-)

Becky said...

Hi Trish!

Your new carpet looks great! I wanted to tell you that I read your blog all of the time, although don't think I've ever written a comment. sorry! I wanted to say that I just love your music on your site. I usually end up walking around the house the rest of the day humming what I've heard! I love the "new soul" song! It's great keeping up with you and your fam. Say "hey" to Roger for me and my kids!

Suzanne said...

I completely forgot to admire the carpet last night! But I did admire you!

Sylvia said...

Looks so great! My Mom never let us eat anywhere but the kitchen table. I always thought it was persecution and so unfair but now as a "Queen" I totally get it!!! Lova ya.
(Club was perfect -- glad to be back.)