Wednesday, May 16, 2012

The Saga of the Carpet

This Saga began quite a few months ago when Mickey & I decided that our living room carpet needed to be replaced due to foot traffic areas.  We were in a dilemma as to whether 1) re-carpet - 2) hardwood - 3) finish the concrete floors.  I asked everyone I saw & talked to their opinion of what they had and what they liked or disliked about it.  I asked my fb friends the same thing in a post.  I got a LOT of feed-back, and as you might expect a variety of suggestions.  We had first thought we wanted hardwood but then due to the cost, decided that was not a good option for us.  We immediately ruled out the concrete floor refinishing.  So that left us with carpet.  Then it was a discussion between Berber or a commercial style carpet..  We decided to look at commercial samples and brought home probably 12-15 samples.  After several days we narrow it down to 1.  We called the carpet people back with our selection and they came out to measure.  The man walked into our home, knelt down at the end of the couch and said, "Why in the world do you want to re-carpet?  There is nothing wrong with this carpet."  We explained, "Because of the foot path across the LR & down the hallway.  He felt we could get it out with cleaning it.  A couple of years ago we had it professionally cleaned and were not happy with it.  About a year ago I borrow a friends shampooer and we cleaned it ourselves.  Still not happy with the track area.  At the family Easter dinner we discussed all this with the kids and they agreed it might be best to try shampooing again. 

After MUCH discussion, thought and prayer we decided to buy a Bissel carpet shampooer.  Marc went in 1/2 with us on the purchase.  We purchased this on April 8.  We have been so very busy that we did not even find a free day to do the job until last Wednesday, May 9th.  The carpets over all turned out really well, BUT we still had a slight foot traffic path.    On Friday I said, "We were going to put down an area run, if we had done the hardwood floors so what about getting an area rug??!!!"  So off we go to look at area rug.

 Here is the 8 x 10 we selected.  The photo shows more color variation from the top to the bottom than is actual.  We both REALLY like the rug.

We saved so much money with not re-carpeting we decided to buy ourselves a new couch, which was sorely needed at the one we had was 14 years old and getting very worn.

 Our new vynal  couch.  It looks almost black in this picture, but it is a dark brown mahogany. 

 The new rug, and couch with the coffee table in place.
This is Mickey & my Mother & Father Days present to each other and we are so very please & happy.

The 14 year old plaid couch that you have seen as a backdrop in so many of my pictures.. We gave it to a wonderful lady from our church who had told me some time ago that if I got a new sofa would I give her first option of purchasing it.  I told her, "NO!  If we buy a new one I'll give it to you."  So God has blessed us both.

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7 comments:

Shirley said...

Oh, I just love how He works everything out. How great of the man to tell you that your carpet didn't need replacing, too. Enjoy your new treasures!

Ginger said...

Susan, it looks wonderful! After seeing your solution I remembered my mom and dad this very thing years ago when they had foot traffic issues and their condo. Their carpet was off white and in great shape, just spots she couldn't get clean. She got a large area rug and it was fantastic.

Yay for the new couch! What a blessing to be able to give to someone in need as well.

Now, can you help me with my carpet issues? It's a mess with my scooter days and the boot that gets worn inside and outside. I think we will clean it once I'm through this.

Sharon said...

I am so glad that you ended up with a new sofa and rug which is beautiful and managed to save money.
What a true blessing you are.
Hugs

Cheryl @ TFD said...

I love your new area rug, Susan, it looks wonderful and so does that new sofa you then purchased. Wonderful how things worked out!
Have a great day!

retha said...

How nice when things "work out" like this!
I feel a bit sad to know we won't see that couch in new photo's, but looking forward to the new ones. Specially to see who will be first on it. :0)

Michelle-ozark crafter said...

I think that was a great way to go!

Kathy said...

Must come to sit on that beautiful new sofa! I love your area rug, and I'm glad you've purchased it. Now, whatever you decide to do in the future with flooring, you'll have a beautiful rug to go with it! Love and hugs.