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.