A wonderful morning to you all!

I now take you to the major landmark in this renovation....the carpet change!

The carpet saga actually technically started back in the summer of 2018. Knowing that I was going to have to foot the bill for the carpet, I needed some sort of estimate so I knew how much to pull out of my paycheck each month.

That first consultation was....interesting. I had taken my brother Anthony with me as my dad was unavailable and I was NOT going to deal with salespeople by myself, thank you.

Well, we started in the luxury section by mistake and I have a feeling that we ended up making a spectacle of ourselves. Oh well, at least I managed to walk away with some idea of a price point.

So this project sat for seven months as I earned the money ($700), cleaned out the room and painted it. Once the paint was on the walls (and a month delay to sort out some life-y stuff), it was all systems go to get the carpet down! 

Carpet - October 20, 2017

Seeing as how I wasn't exactly impressed with the service of the initial carpet store (all embarrassment aside of course), my family and I investigated two other carpet places during the beginning of April. I took a lesson that I had learned from car shopping with my aunt to make them give me the numbers and I'm glad I did.

The one shop quoted me $300 dollars over my budget. The second one was local (local as in, he knew practically everyone on my whole street!) and quoted me close to my budget for the same carpet. Actually, he was extremely nice and swallowed some dollars off the actual price so I could still get a good carpet at my budget.

No brainer, right?   

Anyway, so the carpet got scheduled for May 1, as the carpet had to be ordered from the factory. We knew we wanted it down as soon as possible, and that I was going to be away at my aunt's during that time. Which worked out for the best, because I probably would have been sleeping on the couch.

Well, it got moved up a day! Our carpet guys had to rearrange a schedule, so we gladly took the earlier date. I was still going to be away, but whatever.

In the few days before I left, I cleared out everything except my bed. Let me tell you, it's very eerie sleeping in a practically empty room, even if it's one that you've lived in for almost 20 years.

The morning before, I stripped the bed and took off the mattress and boxspring. Then I whipped out my camera.....

Full Carpet - April 29, 2019

And behold! The Peach Monstrosity in all it's faded and stained glory!! 

This floor, I tell you. I can only guess that it was the original carpet that was put down in the 90s. As I was little when I moved it, I can't give you really a sense of how the condition was. All I know is that most of the stains (including paint stains, water marks, and others) came from my verrrry long tenure in that room. I hated this carpet as a kid - who puts a color like bright peach on a floor anyway???

As I snapped away, I got a full sense of how damaged the carpet had become over the course of almost 20 years. And my goodness it was worse than I thought....

Carpet Detail - April 29, 2019

See that dark stained "path" in the above pictures? That stretched from the door to the head of my bed. What you're actually seeing is wear, not dirt. Even though the floor isn't vacuumed at all, it would not have made any difference. And when the vacuum doesn't improve things, you know it's bad!

It's not as easy to see in these pictures, but there are marks where all the furniture was, and there are also a lot stains in the area where I had my night table. You know, from stuff spilled there in years past....

Closet Carpet - April 29, 2019

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The best piece of carpet probably was in the closet. That's about as close to the original color as I'm ever going to see it. Still ugly, in my unbiased opinion.

And yes, my closet is that small. I had the choice of either having a small room with a big closet or a big room with a small closet as a six-year-old. Not exactly thinking about the fact that my clothes storage would be a factor in the future (or frankly, that I was going to be staying there for all the rest of my childhood....), I chose the latter. In a way, the space was great - even as a kid, I had a lot of stuff. But.....not having room to hang up stuff can be a bit annoying.

But I digress.....let's get back to the carpet.

I had chosen the color for the carpet during the first visit to the carpet guys - a beautiful solid color called Brilliant Gray. Even without a sample to place down, I knew that would be smashing with the purple walls. And gray (or is it grey? I guess the former, since we're not British exactly) is one of those colors that doesn't go out of style and it will go with a lot of color options.

As I couldn't be there to witness the installation, I asked my mother to send me pictures of the completed job. In a way, I wish I had been there....I really wanted to see that horrid mess go out the door and hand my hard-earned cash over to the guys myself.

But, the pictures were worth it.....



























 


 So much so.....































That I'm making you scroll for them......




































Almost there.....






















 TA DA!!!!!

Carpet Detail - April 30, 2019

According to my mom, the carpet guys were a little startled. Purple isn't a common color for them, and they had just completed another job with purple carpet that morning. So when they saw my purple walls....they weren't sure if the carpet color was supposed to be gray or purple!

Mom set them straight though, much to my relief. Purple carpet would have been a bit much, don't ya think?

Full Carpet - April 30, 2019

When I came back for a brief visit, I took a feel of the carpet. It was sooooo soft!! Which was another reason why I was glad the other was gone - no scratchy rough carpeting to get a friction burn on.

I do not regret it. I'm so glad that I bit that bullet and had the carpet replaced - even if it meant delaying paying off some rather persistent loans. It had to be done, and it gives me such peace of mind. It really cements that a change is happening.

The fresh start is really happening, y'all. And I couldn't feel any better about it.

Old-fashionably yours,

Catherine