The Things We KNEW about (kind of.)

There is a painful section of this story that I am going to skip over for this post and get to the pretty (the part I am skipping is what I considered soul killing....and there is more of that to come, but it will have to wait.  And when I say wait, it may have to wait until I die before the whole story can truly come out! hahaha)

But here are a few of my favorite things.  Please review my last post so you can remember it in it's glory.....

No my favorite thing is NOT the old pad, but I thought you might "like" to see it.  EW. I believe it was actually rubber based.  I had to take the section in the dining room out myself (the tile was actually done before the carpet) and it was HEAVY.  It was also taped together with duct tape so it was sticky.  It was the dining room's worth of this carpet and pad that gave me a true appreciation for why N's new car is a Honda FIT.  That tiny little car can hold a LOT of crap!  It also helped me make a goal to never EVER go to the Lawton dump.  Princess Leia...upon being told to go in the trash chute. Nasty.

So here is the new carpet pad and I will share an important life lesson N and I have learned. Always always always upgrade the carpet pad. For many years we had area rugs (Maryland, Hawaii AND Korea) and for many years our friends have always commented on how great our carpets are. The carpet itself was not expensive or fancy....it was a mid-grade remnant we had bound. The secret was two layers of carpet pad under it. I didn't know how two layers would hold up installed so I only went with one but I got the best they had....and I have to say, it has not disappointed.

What you see here is what I call the "contrast shot."  Look back to the pic of the raspberry carpet in the last entry....the one where you can see the HALLWAY through the door.  As I chose my carpet color I was haunted by that hideous view.  Since the raspberry was nearly new and in quite good condition....and since this house is likely to be a rental in a few years I decided (and occasionally regret) to only change the avocado....but I had to pick something pretty (that felt nice) and neutral but that would not be AWFUL with the raspberry.  SO here it is: Riverstone.  I wanted gray tones rather than brown, but with the family room still being brown I needed the tile to be both. Keep scrolling, and I think you will agree that I won that round. heh.

This is not the most expensive carpet we could have bought, nor is the tile special ordered (good thing since I bought/returned tile on 4 separate occasions...original purchase, HD estimated wrong, bathrooms and then BATHROOM.  Long story.) But I must say, it still makes me happy to walk on the carpet I picked with my bare feet, and doing Child's Pose with my face in the rug is NOT a problem at all. hehehehe

The folks who laid the tile recommend that you clean it with Listerine (original flavor...NOT colored.)  I thought that was interesting but have tried it in one of the bathrooms and it is the real deal.  Try it if you have tile.

Now, by rights, I should now post pics of how it looks with our stuff in it.  Of course THAT would require a good bit of house cleaning so that isn't going to happen today because I am either going to have to do a serious tidy or I am going to have to convince myself I can show it as it is....both daunting prospects.  But enjoy my pretty carpet and tile for now.  I still have the ridiculous window treatment but I have a plan! k.

I Know You Have Been Waiting

As in all parts of my life, the pictures suffer, the reporting suffers.  It is not that you should assume nothing has been happening.  Quite the opposite.  When you see posts it means I am desperately, uncharacteristically, without things to do!  (I am currently without sewing machine....in the shop, and the pears I wish to can are not quite ripe, so you see....)

In Mid-May of this year (2012) our little family acquired a house.  As our first house was very full of character and turned out to be a fabulous purchase we really had our job cut out for us.  Unlike our first little house though, this one had to be acquired by me.....alone with children in tow.  I am forever grateful for my parents who were here to rescue the jet-lagged, weary wanderers that we were and assist in the process in uncountable ways.
After much deliberation, and a little surprise, but not all that much, I decided on "The Avocado House."  A double garage, 4 bedrooms, an extra family room and fruit trees covered in tiny pears and peaches, it sounds great, doesn't it.  But there is no Avocado tree...THIS is the source of the name:

Yes, that is the living room.  The avocado carpeting was only overshadowed by the impressive Blast from the Past Window Treatment.  To be fair, the carpet must have been of incredibly high quality when purchased in the 70s (the house was built in 1973) to have survived this long.  Also, the window treatment, while massive and incredibly ugly was crafted with remarkable care.  The cut outs are corded with piping?!?!  Below is the Detail of the tile at the front door.

When the carpet guys came to replace the carpet they confirmed that, yes, it is probably original.  The area in the hallway and dining room had not fared as well as the living room and were pretty nasty.  Also, the pad underneath was something to see (and the cause of some of the trouble in the hallway as it had broken down visibly leaving large divots in the surface of the carpet.  Here are the kiddos in "House Hunting Mode."  They spent a LOT of time with their DSs on the floor...in houses....at the Home Depot....ooof, they do NOT like the Home Depot! hahah.  They are seated in the dining room under my husband's favorite ceiling fan! (He hasn't torn it out yet but it doesn't even have bulbs in it anymore and he refuses to use it.  It really isn't THAT bad....it does have painted brown flowers on it though...and ruffly edges.)

Other than the obvious carpeting challenges of color, you will note that the "dining room" is carpeted.  I remember absolutely hating the job of picking the little kid's rice leavings out of the carpet when I was a kid....so no carpeted dining area for me! No Sir!  The kitchen flooring situation made it easy to decide to do the whole area in modern tile....well, it made the design decision easy.  The practice of it?  Well that will come in another episode....I am not sure I can face it yet.

The golden metal strip covers a 1/4 inch lip separating the vinyl and the prison gray tile.....

Other than the 90's green of the vertical blinds the mostly neutral brown of the carpet in the family room could stay.  N objects more strenuously to the paneling (it is through much of the house) but I don't really see a problem with it.  The finished basement that doubled as kid bedroom central when I was a little girl was paneled so it speaks to me of home...or at least half home.  Featured prominently in the above picture is one of the....well, features of our new place.  Look carefully at the window there.  Yep, it looks right in to Bedroom #4 also known as My Office.  As the smallest bedroom (about 9X9) I don't mind, especially since it enables me to have my computer in the family room with the rest of the family but still have audiobook speakers in my office.  For those of you who don't know, in order to be counted as a bedroom, a room must have two possible exits for safety.  I do think it is funny that we have vertical blinds on the Family Room side of the window....I guess so no one HAS to look in my office if they don't want to.

The last few bits of character I feel I should point out are the surprising Raspberry carpeting (with matching miniblinds!) in the bedrooms and the interesting (and ultimately engaging) texture on the walls throughout the house. (yeah, those are gigantic Daisies.....everywhere.  I love them...no really, I actually do.)

Now the bathrooms are a completely "other" sort of category, but here are two of them in their glory. Note 70's avocado industrial design tile and jungle green vanity top....and be sure you don't miss my turquoise dream. (It looks more light blue, but it was turquoise!) We had a plan for that bathroom that involved a cool underwater quilted wallhanging and a fishy toilet seat. We were disappointed in our hopes.....To Be Continued......