back in april, on a whim, jesse and i got a free quote on what it would cost to rip up our carpeting in the living room and hallway and put down wood floors.
they did the measure and gave us the numbers. at that time, it was just not financially feasible or wise to undertake that kind of project/investment. we put it in our "one day when we're rich" file. (oh, what a file that is! so much caviar and diamonds)
fast forward to the end of may. after judah's epic birthday party, my parents came over to my house for a visit. that next week my dad texted me (an event in itself!) and asked if jesse and i would like to consider getting new floors in the house as our bday/anniversary/christmas present from them this year (and for future years as well, depending on cost).
we hadnt mentioned to them that we had researched this before, so my first comment was, "oh my gosh, dad, HOW did yall know?!?!"
followed swiftly by, "oh wait, you've been in our house. thats how you knew."
you see, he knew we needed new floors because he had been in the house and had been witness to this:
i'm not sure if the cell camera captures the horror.
what we have now is an amalgam of disgusting textures, colors, smells, and heights above sea level (aka: our carpet has speed bumps). it is velcro for all kinds of toddler funk and crumbs. it's essentially the same consistency and pleasing-ness of sasquatch's pubes.
when we bought the house the previous owner had just installed brand new carpet. sadly, this turned out to be bottom of the line garbage that was just put in to help sell the house and not so much to, say, BE WALKED ON EVER.
before we even had kids, the carpet was impossible to keep looking good and standing up straight. it was constantly getting matted down, no matter how we vacuumed (we even bought a dyson to try to cure this!).
on top of that, from day one the carpet never felt nice. if i am working on a big sewing project (pantsless, of course) and i have to sit on the carpet for extended periods of time, my legs feel like i have been sitting on sandpaper and are all irritated. (sasquatch might have crabs, guys).
so the carpeting had major issues pre-kids, but when those little boogers got mobile, a whole new mess of crap just let loose into the fibers of our being carpet.
we tried to make it go the distance, paid for professional cleanings, vaccumed like crazy people, used heavy duty stain removers, but this was just a sad case of DOA junk. there would be no lazarus moment.
we gave it this terminal diagnosis at least 3 years ago and have just been tolerating it since then, and like a hair in some delicious dish of food you are too starving to be grossed out by, we chose to pretend it wasnt there (but be enraged and barfed-out by it later).
but in swooped my crazy generous parents with an escape route. we immediately mortaged all future presents and said YES! we did say we would only do the living room and hallway since, though poor quality, the carpet in the bedrooms is fine and looks good since it is much more low-traffic.
we came home with about 85 samples of laminate from home depot and after muuuuuuuuuuuuuch discussion and soliciting of friend's and family's opinions, we narrowed it down to 2 favorites and then jesse let me make the call.
we picked a lighter color because, A: that room gets really poor light and we didnt want to further encaven (fictional word) it by adding dark floors (though i love the look of them), and B: so that dirt wouldnt show. this was the #1 thing people said: dirt and dust show up like cray-zay on dark floors and unless you sweep daily, prepare to be driven insane by them never looking clean.
no thank you! i will gladly live and wallow in our own filth if i am not aware it's there.
this type of floor also has some good texture, which will diguise any gashes or dents that we inevitably inflict upon it, and i have heard that dust will snuggle down into these grooves between cleanings rather then drifting around on top like an air hockey puck as it might with a smooth finish.
during the comparing process. (lest you forget, let buzz be a reminder that the living room is the playroom and dining room as well).
we love how the color goes with some of the tones in our bitchin' stone fireplace. we also love how it is a really rustic looking surface because we love the home decorating style of rustic + modern that is so popular now (it is, right?).
or, you could just really lean into the rustic feel and go full blown french provincial kitchen like the sample room on the pergo website shows:
via pergo. as seen in ratatouille.
the supplies came in last week and we picked them up (because they need to acclimate to the climate of our house for 72 hours so they dont warp post-install). the kids enjoyed using the 26 boxes as a performing stage/ultimate fighting platform/diving board at the foot of our bed all week.
we ripped open a pack to get a feel for what was about to happen.
and i also took out 6 years of rage on the carpet with the kids' crayons. judah woke up the morning after i did this and said, "there are some letters on the floor, mommy!" this message became a full blown flural (floor mural) through this week as i added a beach vista to my drawings with crashing waves, an umbrella and a happy crab.
take that, you evil fuzz!
i made sure the kids understood that they could never ever ever again write on any carpeting ever. because i am a great mom who plans ahead when modelling behavior. dammit.
so the installation is going on RIGHT NOW. here is our farewell before shot:
and yes, this SO means new paint color because i hate the khaki anyway (fun fact: i was painting the walls this khaki color back in 2008 and was up on the ladder when the news broke about heath ledger dying. deep stuff) AND am not into the whole floors matching the walls matching the chair thing. the camel monster will NOT devour this room!
this is such an amazing gift from my parents and such a blessing. it feels like a dream come true to get these, but due to the state of the BEFORE carpet, it's also like a nightmare come false. 2-in-1!
jesse is at home with the install guys and he just sent me this picture of the progress. i'm freakin'!!!
down the hallway towards the cul-de-sac of rooms. yup, and new hallway color is coming too.
AHHHHHHHHHHHHHH shiver me tingles!!!!
swoongasm
i'm straight bonkers over this transformation!!!
yes: this will undoubtedly be another "if you give a mouse a cookie" scenario that leads to more DIY projects and improvements to bring the room and hallway up to the esteemed standard of the new floors. i am okay with that.
full AFTER pics coming as soon as they are done and i can snap them. bigfoot's getting a bikini wax, yall!!!
do you have laminate floors? do you love them? what are the drawbacks or positives of having them versus carpet? are there any tricky cleaning things i dont know about? someone educate me!