When Kev and I bought this place back in October of 2007, we had to tackle a couple of projects just to get the place livable before we could actually move in.
First project- the floors. The carpet in the living room, hallway, reading room, office and guest bedroom was buckling up in several places and there were big black, moldy stains on it too. It was a dirty job and Kev even discovered several of the tack strips holding it (somewhat) in place were still soaked with “the markings of previous owners pooches” ifyaknowwhatI’msayin.
I remember thinking, “How is that possible? The house has been vacant for almost 8 months!“
Grizzity-oss!
Once the carpet was out- and the horrible “houstench” was gone, (yay!) we had to make a quick decision about what to do with what we found underneath it.
At one end of the living room, we found a 14′ x 5′ concrete foundation that was 1/4″ – 1/2″ higher than the original hardwood flooring that covered the rest of the room…
The kitchen, master bedroom, master bathroom and laundry room were all added onto the house in 2003.
Here’s a (rough) floorplan that shows how everything is laid out…
According to our neighbors, the living room used to stop where that concrete foundation starts, and there was a screened-in porch on that side of the house. (Sure wish I could’ve seen what that looked like!)
Other flooring dilemmas included, a really bad tile job in the kitchen, laundry room and master bathroom, baked-on yellow linoleum in the pantry and hallway, and plywood flooring in the reading room. We didn’t have the time or money to deal with it all, so we just decided to cover it all up with 800 bucks worth of laminate flooring from eBay instead. Since it was all gonna be temporary, Kev just laid it right up and on top of the concrete in the living room, right up and over the bad tile job in the kitchen, right on top of the plywood floor in the reading room, and right on top of the yellow linoleum flooring in the hallway and pantry.
Unfortunately, that means our floors slope up and down, here and there and everywhere. And as of today, we’ve got some major plank poppage goin’ on around here. Â Not good, and super embarrassing when we have company over and one of the shorter planks actually flips up and outta place because someone thinks our flooring is actually securely attached to the floor and they can walk around wherever they want. Silly visitors! (Think: Me and Kevin repeatedly assuring them that “it’s just temporary flooring” and that “it happens all the time“, and our guest repeatedly apologizing for “breaking” our floor. Semi-funny/nightmarish)
Anywho, this is what we’re thinkin’ these days…
The homestudy process will begin sometime after the 1st of the year. Probably in the Spring. Â That means a social worker is going to come over and tell us if our home if fit for a child to live in. Â We’d love to have more stable/less booby-trappish floors by then, so we weighed our options, and decided on the latter:
Option 1-
– rent a jackhammer,
– break up the concrete at the end of the living room
– scoop out the broken up concrete
– pour in new concrete that’s a little lower than the original hardwood flooring that covers the rest of the room
– lay new, similar-sized/grained hardwood planks over the newly poured concrete
– sand the entire floor
– coat the entire floor with polyurethane
Option 2-
– carpet the living room, hallway, and reading room and use a little more padding on top of the original hardwood floors than we do on the concrete part so that everything is nice and level.
As much as it pains us to cover up the original hardwood floors in our hallway and living room, we just don’t have the extra funds/skillsets to deal with the all the unlevel probs right now, and with our upcoming adoption plans, option 2 just seems like the easier/faster/least expensive route to go.
We do, however, plan to refinish the original hardwood floors in the office, guest bedroom, pantry and dining room in January…
And then we’ll have a friend help us re-tile the kitchen, laundry room and master bathroom. We’re thinking we can get the tile from a place called Total Liquidation in Montgomery. It’s a great, big builders supply warehouse, and we can probably find some nice 12″x12″ tiles for under a buck a piece.
After the flooring business is all taken care of, we’re going to move our office into the room we’re currently using as our guest bedroom. (My Mom is really the only person who stays over night with us, and she said she didn’t mind sleeping on the twin-sized mattress in the reading room.) Then we’ll begin Operation: Kids Room in the room we’re currently using as our office. Â It’s nice and big, so he/she will have plenty of room to rip & roar. That room actually used to be the master bedroom back when the house was just a wee little thing. Â And speaking of wee little things, check out its *closet…
It’s the same shrimpy size as *the one in the guest bedroom…
It’s crazy how tiny they are! I’m talking 18″ wide, 18″ deep. Maybe.
We’ll definitely have to use a lot of free-standing storage pieces, and we’ll probably have to build some built-ins too.
(PS- We do have two, nice-sized closets in our master bedroom, but like I said, these drawings are really rough and I seemed to have left them off and shown a shortened version of the kitchen & laundry room. Oops!)
So. There ya have it.
Not all parts of the plan are 100% ideal, but it’s the way it’s gotta be for now.
The big question is, what kind of carpet should we go with? It’s gonna have to be super tightly-woven or Max will be tempted to go into shred mode. Â Except for his “buddies”, he’s never been much of a chewer, but he absolutely can-not resist plucking a hole into a sea of cut pile. I’m afraid he’d freak for frieze too, so that’s out as well.
Something like this might work though:
I’m not sure about the pattern, but it looks pretty tightly-woven, and it’s neutral in color (but lighter than our sofa and chair-and-a-half) which would be good.
Here’s another photo I came across while Googling hardcore carpets today…
I don’t think we’ll go with anything this visually “loud”, but what a cute room, huh?
Maybe we could go with something that looks sort of sisal-ish…
Then we could use a big area rug under our coffee table to ground our furniture arrangement. Choices, choices.
We’re gonna try not to over-think it when we go out to look at our options. We’ve gotta get this party started soon.
And, who knows, maybe one day we can have the concrete part fixed, and we’ll be able to restore those original hardwoods after all.
For now though, we’re just hoping for level floors and that Max doesn’t pull a “Toby” on us…
Have you had carpet installed in your home recently? If so, what brand/color did you go with? Â Has it held up? Do you love it?
Any info you could pass along would be greatly appreciated!
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Ricki Jill Treleaven
I think you are wise going with the carpet because it is so much easier on little crawling knees! I really liked the “loud” room, Layla. I it is cheerful, and I like the pattern and texture. It is interesting! I would actually choose that for my home. We moved in eight years ago, and the first thing we did was replace the carpet. It is almost time to replace it, and I wish you would share where you found the “loud room” carpet 😀
Layla
Here’s the link! 🙂
http://www.housetohome.co.uk/galleries/details/French-style_garden_room_1571.html?subslug=/galleries/styles/eclectic,/galleries/details/lighting
Kathy
Layla,
I love your site and ideas but I’m writing to you about your upcoming adoption, which WILL happen. Layla, I don’t even have to know you to know that you will have no problem adopting a child. When they come to look at your home for “suitability” you will do great even with your silly floor as it is. People renovate all the time but I understand that you want everything to be perfect, no one expects that. Put an area rug over it or do whatever fits best economically because they will look into your finances and it will be beneficial if you have $$ in your savings for your new child’s basic needs (food/shelter/medical care/clothing) If they are worried about anything they will tell you and ask you to fix it. They’re looking for hazards, broken railings, holes in ground, exposed electrical outlets, get the idea….
You are already one of God’s angels for even thinking about adopting a child, don’t worry-it will all work out.
You and Kevin are a warm and loving couple, that’s what they’ll see and your home is a dream….
Kevin & Layla
Thanks for the sweet comment Kathy!
I’m embarrassed to admit that there are SEVERAL spots throughout the house that ARE unsafe because of the “booby trap” flooring we’ve got right now, so we definitely want to get it fixed before we get the adoption ball rollin’!
🙂
Beth
Any kind of berber, which looks like the ones in the pictures that you posted, is not good for pets or kids. Some salesmen will try to tell you that they are high-traffic, but don’t listen. The berbers are a continuous thread carpet, and once a thread snags, it will pull up a whole ‘line’ of thread and be very noticeable.
This is a great website that will teach you about carpet and help you find what is best for your family. It gives lots of info and details that most salesmen from Lowe’s or Home Depot don’t even know.
http://www.howtobuycarpet.com
Good luck.
Ann Marie at white house, black shutters
I second this comment! We replaced the faux wood paneling and trim from our family room and in doing so, exposed the rough edges of of our carpet. We’re waiting to add in trim until we have the funds to replace the carpet with wood, but I have a several areas with a long line of thread. For now I just trim it with scissors, but any time I vacuum I heard a loud ROAR and more unravels. It is a huge pain.
I didn’t know what type we had since it was existing, but if it’s the kind the PP described (it looks like it), I would really advise against it. It’s a huge pain, scares the crap out of my kids any time I hit it with the vacuum, and a magnet for little fingers who want to pull the string. It’s like a pair of panty hose… once you get a run (or a thread in this case), it just gets bigger and bigger…
Sorry to be the bearer of bad news, good luck with your decision!
LaPriel
So true! Here’s what i did to stop the running in the berber once it is pulled. I glued the end down with hot glue and cut any fuzzies off. I did this at least 3 years ago and it is still holding even with vacuuming and having had the carpets cleaned.
I had the carpet shown in your first picture in my master bedroom a few years ago. I thought, no problem, it’s the master. Not true! There was a visable traffic line after a couple of years. Esp. on the parts that are raised up. I had it cleaned and scotch gaurded. It looked bad again in a very short time. I replaced it. Our house is all solid surfaces (tile, wood, linoleum) on the main floor except for the bedrooms. I have rugs at all of the entry doors. But, what I noticed is that some of the dirt tends to stay on your feet until you reach the bedroom carpets. So, the entry of the rooms are dirtier than the rest. Does that make sense? I also have a small dog who wanders in and out of our room alot. She brings in a lot of dirt. I replaced my carpet with a darker carpet and am much happier.
Jillian Mitchell
Oh the stress of home ownership, forgive me if you already knew about this, but there is a floor leveling compound you can buy and poor to fix concrete issues. My dad used it in our bathroom and then tiled right over it. Lowes and Homedepot can hook you up with that. Good luck.
Cindy Logan
I agree with Jillian. Layla, you would put the leveling compound over the original hardwood floors. Although it would mess up your dream of finishing the hardwood floors, it would be a permanent solution to a crazy problem. You might be able to pulll the hardwoods up, lay down subfloor, put down the leveling compound then reinstall the original hardwoods and refinish them. This might be an area that would be good to get some professional advice. May-be even just get some estimates to see how a professional would handle it.
Personally, I don’t like any carpet with pets.
Good luck. I can’t wait to find out what you do.
denise sabia
Hi Layla,
How exciting! You must be over the moon dreaming of holding your very own baby!
The first thing I thought of when I read your post was a crawling baby…I had 3 kids in 3.5 years, and we used to live in a house with ALL hardwood floors. Although it looked great , it was so rough on their little knees, even with area rugs. it just wasn’t the same. And the babies didn’t know where the carpet ended and the hardwood floors started…so there’s my 2 cents.
We just moved and choose a tightly woven sisal looking carpet and love the look, but it does show the dirt more than I’d like.
Anywho, what ever you chose will be fab, I’m sure.
Keep up the good work! ,
denise
MeganDVD
I completely agree with your option 2 route. Baby Palmer will be here soon enough and you will want to spend your energy getting the kid’s room to “Layla-fied” perfection for your little boy or girl. Plus…kids fall all the time. We have hardwood throughout the great room and while Thurgood was in “learning” mode…there were some bumps and falls that make a momma throw out what is pretty for what is safe.
We still have carpets in the bedrooms. I am actually glad we have yet to change it only because Thurgood has yet to NOT fall in his room while playing. I would love to change it up now…but he loves wrestling these days. See? You always have the kiddo to keep in mind…but oh what a frame of reference to indulge in.
Cheers~
e
Jaime Costiglio
Layla please don’t carpet those hardwood floors – simply carpet only over the concrete section (area rug or carpet piece cut and bound to fit) and refinish the hardwood in the Living Room as long as you’re doing all the other original hardwood. It really makes sense. I have 3 little ones very close in age and believe me they spill, bottles leak, throw up, pee and poo everywhere so the carpet will get trashed before that baby is 1. Also I believe that walkway in front of your fireplace is a main throughfare so I can only imagine the dirt track (that greyish – brownish hue all carpet turns to in the main walkways). STAY WITH HARDWOOD!!!!!! Just my opinion of course.
Good luck!
Sarah W.
I love your blog and appreciate that you’re including us in your journey to parenthood. We have an 18 month old (and large dog) and before she was born we had a lengthy debate about floor coverings. We chose a low, tight, cut-pile carpet and LOVE it. It’s so cozy and fun to play on and worked well with the uneveness we had going on. Carpet has a gross factor, for sure, but if you are a shoe free house it’s not bad with frequent vacuuming. We have hardwoods in other parts of the house and by comparison i definitely prefer the carpet in our family room.
On another note, as a new mommy I really like having our room across from our daughter’s and don’t foresee that changing for a few years. You probably considered it already, but making the office your bedroom and putting the kiddo in the guest room would make middle of the night wake-ups easier.
Jaime Costiglio
Sarah W I second your concern about the proximity of the master bedroom to the baby’s room. I didn’t want to rock the boat but being so far across the house with a little one who’s likely to wake multiple times nightly (mine all did until about 1 year old) just isn’t logical. If anything you’ll be getting lots of exercise up and out of bed walking back and forth! I would definitely switch it – office becomes your bedroom, your master becomes the office / playroom!!! Before you know it you will want that playspace to confine all the toys and stuff. Good luck.
Alisa D
Even if your child comes to you at a younger age than you anticipate, it’s totally do-able. I did it and have no regrets about not moving to a bedroom that was closer to our girl. It’s not THAT far. So excited for you guys.
Sharyl@Thelittlebrownhouse
I have to say I love the low/tightly woven/pattern carpet alot. We put some in our family room about 3 years ago and it has held up so well! I almost think some sort of pattern helps hide things too – and you don’t have those “vacuum lines” !
Tina Fleetwood
O.K. folks…I made myself crazy over a homestudy and, believe me, the social worker is not going to care one whit about your carpet…nor your closet organizational skills…nor anything other than gross danger/negligence issues…we successfully adopted the most gorgeous baby girl in the whole world.
Kevin & Layla
Thanks for the heads up Tina! And congratulations on your baby girl! 🙂
Candis
I would definatley try to get the new stain resistant carpet if you are thinking of going that light because girl red kool-aid is not your friend! I have actually looked at some of it, I took a sample home and ground ketchup and chocolate and playdoh in it and it all just rinsed out under the faucet so I think it will be pretty good stuff.
Beth@A2Z
Hey Lay, Wow I’m tired just from reading all you have to do in January! We had to put carpet on the other two levels of our home and I chose a tightly woven sisal type that I LOVE. It has held up well after 3yrs of hard abuse. It has endured every kind of human and dog excrement SEVERAL times and still looks great. It’s by Stainmaster and it’s there Canyon Road.
Beth@A2Z
Oops. link is here http://www.stainmaster.com.au/styles.aspx#
Jaimie@AtHome
How exciting that you are getting ready to bring a little one into your home! My favourite of the three carpets is the sisal-ish one! I think it would look fantastic!
Shawna
When I first seen your layout I thought “Wow that is a big office!” Glad to hear that it’s going to be the future Mini-Palmer’s room 🙂
I like the last style of carpet, but then again I like simple things
SheilaG
We had to pull up all the carpet in our house- previous owners had 2 cats and a dog- I think they all had “mark your territory” fights- the smell was horrendous. (It was covered by candles, flowers, plug-ins when we looked at the house- boy, do I still feel stupid!) Anyway, we used a carpet similar to your first pic. One problem with geometric patterns- if your walls aren’t straight or you’re trying to match the lines from doorway to doorway, it will drive you crazy (that is, if you’re anal like me)! Go for a carpet with variations in the color to hide stains. Ours doesn’t do that very well, either.
Missy
Ugh..I hate covering up original wood too! But I’ve been in the same boat and had ot do what you can do with the money and time you have!
If i had to do it again, I would go the sisal look. It looks clean, yet casual. Not so stuffy.
Good luck going through your choices! Can’t wait to see what you come up with! Whatever you do, there is no doubt you will make it work fabulously!
Sara
I know you are stressed a bit about your homestudy, but I want to tell you it will be fine! I don’t really think your social worker would even say your home was unfit because of the uneven floors. 🙂 I’ve been in your shoes and just wanted to reassure you and tell you to not get overly worried about it. As long as you have your smoke detectors and a bedroom for the kid(s), you’ll be good!
bekah
I LOVE the look of hardwood floors throughout a home, but, having a toddler, I think it is important to have carpet. My in laws house is 100% wood or tile, and it is SO stressful to know that if Jack falls, and bumps his head, more like than not, he WILL get hurt. Its a harder to keep clean, and we have a dog so UGH the hair, but I just feel so much safer letting him toddle around on our carpet. I wouldnt trade it for beautiful hardwoods until I know that the time of little babies is past.
Sandy
Too bad you can’t grind down that one slab that’s too high. I have read about grinders that will take down and polish cement, I just don’t know by how much. I’m a hard wood floor lover!
But I also know what your other “commenters” are saying… we have a 9 month old crawling grandson and I think he’d like the carpet better too. Home Depot is carrying a new Martha Stewart line that is supposed to be super-duper stain & pet odor resistant.
Laurie
Yes, Martha Stewart has an amzing line of carpet at Home Depot. Friends of ours just installed it at their beach house and it’s amazing!! Very sisal looking and super soft. I would seriously consider her line of carpets. Not to mention the fact that there are no chemicals sprayed on top of the carpet.
Kim
Makes me so sad to hear you say you’re going to have to add carpet… I absolutely hate having carpet. We have very thick, expensive plush carpet.. couldn’t even tell you the name, but when my dog decides to puke on it or when my son spills a can of hot pink slime, it has to have a hair cut or some huge cleaning job… I would DEFINITELY suggest you go with the carpet that looks like sisal. It’s beautiful, and hopefully wouldn’t soak up as much. Can’t wait to see the progress! On a side note… in Florida, home studies are only good for a year, so our adoption attorney has suggested we wait till our profile has been looked at and possible matched before we go any further into that… at the moment I’m making an appointment with the foster care system to see if the home study they perform is transferable.. if it is, that’s a couple thousand dollars in our pocket! Praying for you along your journey!
Sherri Langford-Farrell
We were having trouble finding flooring for bedrooms that was affordable. My suggestion is to go to a carpet place and check out their remnants. We got some high-end carpet in really big pieces for less than we could find anywhere else. I don’t know the names or colors since they were remnants but, they were in a mossy green and cream color which worked well for our house! The place we went was in the boonies of north TX…sure you could find something like that in your area. Family run/owned businesses are the best to bargain with!!! Good luck!!!!
Julee
Okay so this is the first time I’ve posted a comment on your blog! Anyway…I am the mom of two teenagers now but I just wanted to add I would definitely go for a patterened multi shaded carpet. Something extremely stain resistant. Babies leak….and on light colored carpet those leaks will show up like crazy!
Caroline @ The Feminist Housewife
I can definitely relate…our home is a 110+ year old farmhouse, and all of our furniture tilts and leans all over the place because of our uneven floors!
Shannon
I love the look of sisal, but it just wasn’t the most practical solution for our large family. We opted for a frieze, which is a loop carpet where the loop is lifted and cut. The color we chose actually had “dirt” in the model name. Seemed like a good choice for a household of children. When we sold our last house, the realtor mistakenly checked “new carpet” on the listing form because she thought it was brand new. It was actually five years old! We loved this carpet so much that we actually put it in our new house too. It is also very affordable too.
alison
Shannon what is the carpet? Please share.
SheilaG
Oh, something else: You might want to use something other than extra padding to level out the floor. Maybe a thin layer of plywood? I’m just thinking that as the padding starts to compress, the different thicknesses will start to show. Just a thought. 🙂
MotherShip
This is the same thing I was going to say. You’ll definitely notice the difference in height–especially since you are planning on having a piano span the space. I have a spot in my basement that is a bit concave. I really thought the padding would make it level, but that spot makes me crazy now. I wish I had filled it. If you put the plywood in the living room and hall, then thresholds at the doors of the rooms would make the slight step down virtually unnoticeable.
Rachel
We have berber carpet in our home and my dog has been destroying it- stinks bigtime! Not sure if you guys are considering it but it’s not something I’d recommend unless you get the teeny loops. Once they get a hold of one loop they can take out a whole strip of carpet by just pulling, it’s a nightmare! Too bad because it is easy to clean and doesn’t leave those awful just vacuumed lines all over it 🙂 Good luck on your carpet hunt, can’t wait to see what you choose- we’ll be replacing ours soon enough lol
Sherri Langford-Farrell
Layla,
I was showing my husband your post. He’s in construction, has been for years. He said if you had any questions or would like him to give you some advice, to call him. His name is Vince and he’d love to help you guys out. I’ll send his number on your facebook as a message. How far are you guys from Mississippi?
stephanie
absolutely carpet those floors. i would save every penny you can for that sweet baby that is waiting for a loving home! i would go with a solid, tight carpet with low pile that looks sisal but might even be more of a commercial grade or even builder grade…whatever is most economical but doesn’t look heinous! You can get your hardwoods whenever in your future but right now you need your sweet baby!! Best wishes & prayers as ya’ll start your adoption journey!!!
Real Mountain Values (Brianna)
I have to second what Beth and Sherri said. My parents had a berber (snag free) and, boy howdy, the cats made a mess of it. They didn’t claw it on purpose but they would catch it running around. Also Sherri had a great idea to check for remnants. There are a number of carpet places that just have giant rolls of nice carpet that is the end of what they are selling. It will just depend on how much square footage you need.
I totally feel your pain about the different flooring heights. Our previous home was from 1913 and there wasn’t a level floor in the place, plus various rooms were at different heights. We eventually ended up having an engineered hardwood floated over the original hardwood and various other surfaces. In a few places we had to “break” the floor and basically put a thin threshold through the room. This dealt with the major height/slope changes. Not the perfect solution, but older homes have that “character”.
BTW, if you do go with a harder surface your baby will be fine. My son crawls/walks on hardwood all day. However, the carpet would be warmer in the winter.
Beth
we did carpet in our old house {we just moved 3 months ago}, and if i had to do it over again…i would have sorted out our floor issues to have hard wood {which thank goodness we have wall to wall in our new abode}. sure it’s easy on little knees, but that’s what accent/area rugs are for. and, bonus, many accent rugs can be washed or replaced all together when they’ve become too dirty/dingy. carpet is just dirty. it made me feel like we were in a constant germ parade. we are even a ‘no shoe’ house, and i just felt like it was never truly clean. in the end, you have to do what is the best fix for you and your family. but, i learned the hard way. good luck!
susan
Interesting post and something we are dealing with right now as well. We bought a cute fixer upper in another state that our son is renting from us. The first project was to pull up the old tricolored sculptured shag carpet in one of the guest rooms. It had tile from the 50’s underneath. My first plan was to simply paint the floor a crisp white and get on with the decorating. Alas, the tile was crumbling in areas so we decided on plan B which was laying a vinyl plank flooring.We then scrapped off all the tile and glue to find that the concrete foundation had heaved and was raised about 1/4 inch just like yours. After trying to level it out, we realilze that it will always have a dip to it and have finally decided on carpeting with a great pad. I am definitely going with a tight sisal/berberlike nuetral. The room itself is only 8×11 and what I thought would be a slam dunk has become a huge project. Oh well, such is life when you buy a fixer upper. I will be looking forward to seeing what you choose. Good luck!
Kate
What about wall to wall seagrass?
Tara
Hi Layla & Kevin!
We had the frieze in our home in GA…HATED it. It held onto stains…there’s my input on that…
I love the carpet in Picture # 1…LOVE it.
Okay..and here’s the thing about your homestudy…our daughter is from China so we had not one homestudy but had to have a repeat b/c the time lapsed during our long wait for her.
*The homestudy was only “good” for a year when we were going through our adoption 3-4 years ago*
I double, pinky promise that the social worker will not over analyze your home. It’s beautiful…It’s clean…I haven’t SEEN your floors where they flip up, but I really don’t think anything would be said.
I guess I’m just saying this just in case you want to work on the nursery and save the floors until you can do what you really, really, really want to do them.
Unless, they really are unsafe and your child might get hurt. Then, I totally get it! 🙂
I just wanted to offer you this info just in case it isn’t as bad as you think it is.
Can’t wait to watch your adoption process from blogland….your lives will never be the same.
Kevin & Layla
They are both really unsafe AND really ugly. We’d like to take care of the prob now…while we have the energy!
🙂
Katie
We just got some stainmaster installed. Loses had a $37 for the house deal – as long as you move all the furniture. It looks really good. We had a similar issue (only the concrete was in the master. You can’t tell at all.
Oh andempire today sucks. They mismeasured, misquoted and were nasty when we went with lowes. Horrid customer service.
Finally, Berber is not good
amy jupin
hi layla and kevin!
we just finished recarpeting our living room and a couple bedrooms. what a tough decison!
we settled on martha stewart (from home depot) winterthur pattern
(http://www.homedepot.com/h_d1/N-5yc1vZ1xg1/R-202507455/h_d2/ProductDisplay?langId=-1&storeId=10051&catalogId=10053)
it is really low pile and super soft and plush. has a nice pattern (like in your pics above) but very much like a sisal type rug. i have to say it instantly made our rooms look so new and fresh!
i think it might be what you’re looking for!
best of luck to you both!
Missy
Carpet will be just fine as a temporary fix for your floor issues. 🙂 Besides the bumps and bruises little ones get on hard woods, they are also very cold, so carpet is a great idea! You won’t be sorry. Love the idea of the sisal look, but would def get a stain resistant one….it’s amazing the stains that kids can bring that you would never think of in a million years! lol
Whatever you decide to do, I know it will be lovely.
Have a great week!
HUGS!
Missy
gg
i definitely say carpet for all the reasons you said……CHEAP and quick!!! i would go with SEAGRASS. it’s a natural material like sisal but is not as scratchy and is just beautiful. it will hide dog stains and kid stains for years and is durable. it also goes with that cottage look that you have….love, love!!
http://www.floorbiz.com/carpet/carpet-buying-guide/carpet-fiber/seagrass-carpet.htm
Carrie-Lee Hurzeler
There is a site called Sisalrugs.com and you can have any size or shape of rug made. There are different weaves, and they look really nice. And if push comes to shove and baby or pets make a mess, you can clean not only the top but you can fold back the rug and clean underneath, but still have the allover look of carpet. Just my two cents.
Carrie-Lee
Emilie
Hi, I read all the time, but don’t comment
In my last house (about 3 years ago) we installed a deep, chocolate brown carpet. We LOVED it. And we got so many compliments. Most people don’t think to go dark with carpet, but it was gorgeous. It would mimic the look of your hardwoods too.
Something like this http://www.carpetone.com/shared/pages/product/product.aspx?ItemId=734785&ChildItemId=734403&CategoryId=32169
Look at me…telling the design gal what colors to pick *blush*
We really did love it though (hid everything!) and I think a dark chocolate would look amazing with your walls.
julianna
You don’t have to jackhammer the concrete and pour new — just grind it down. I’m sure you can rent a grinder, but since it’s not too big of an area, it might not be that expensive to hire it done. At least get a quote — that way you’ll know your options.
Instead of poly, have you considered an oil finish, like Osmo? It won’t yellow over time, like poly can sometimes do, it’s easy to apply, and if a section gets scratched or dinged from a dog or a small child, you can repair just that section (with poly you’d have to sand down the whole floor and reapply the poly). Best of all, an oil finish will give you a beautiful look that will go better with your style.
Layla
Unfortunately, “Option Grind it Down”, isn’t an option. 🙂 Too much destruction, and too dusty!
Thanks for the tip about the Osmo…I’m off to Google it now!
Kate
Layla, If you are moving the office into current guest room and making the bigger room into a childs room, do you really need a closet in the office? Why not use the space occupied by both closets to make a larger closet opening into the kiddo’s room?
With regards to carpet, I love the ones you have photos of, but my suggestion is whenever there are pets, go for a cut pile rather than a loop pile. Some of the modern synthetic carpets are so beautiful and soft, and solution dyed which means you can even scrub them with pure bleach and they never fade or stain. Very important when kids and animals are involved 🙂
Kate
lindy
I like the sisal and area rug option — I love area rugs!
Melissa @ HOUSEography.net
Hi guys! So excited about your adoption! Hope your little one arrives quickly and safely and you both stay sane while you wait. An idea on the closet situation – What if you block off the closet on the “office” side and open up the closet on the guest room side, making the guest room a somewhat reasonable but still not large closet. THEN, build in a new closet in the little one’s new room. Not sure of your window configuration but if it’s a single centered window on the front side, you could build closets on either side of that and then put a cute window seat with toy storage between. We did something similar in our house remodel last year. Definitely something we could have handled ourselves but we had our contractor do it since it was a mere drop in the bucket at that point 🙂 Hope you’ll stop by my blog and check it out – http://www.houseography.net
Kevin & Layla
Oh girl…I’ve got BIG OL’ plans for those rooms….you just wait. There will be lots of ch-ch-ch-changes goin’ on!
🙂
Melissa @ HOUSEography
I should have known 🙂 Can’t wait to see the progress!
Jennifer
Pull a Toby. Ha!
Sisal-ish would be perfecto-mundo! I’m super duper excited for ALL of your upcoming plans!
geri
Oh Lordy Layla.
I read these posts and I am more confused than before.
Actually it doesn’t take much to confuse me. hehe
I am in the same boat you are in.
It is alsways about how much money you have
to do it and what would be great looking without just settling. OYE!
I am between laminate and not having a clue.
I do know that I have never had a rug of any kind last longer than
1 year with my kiddies when they were home, the dog, the
very busy car hubby , and friends with kids going in and out.
I love the way your floors look now.
My dream is to get my upstairs all matched up like yours.
Having said all this, I saw a Candice Olson show where she was designing for a shelter
in a private house.
She rocked it room after room.
She used a vinal wood look a like flooring in a beautiful rich color
that was so durable to traffic and kids and pets.
Her style is so beautiful that it worked and looked amazing.
Seemless and went on top of louann(?) flooring to level all the floors that were either carpeted
or old tiles of very worn bad wood.
The other suggestion was from Empire carpet to use this bionic type carpet, gaurunteed for life, you can pour bleach on it, red wine, etc, and nothing will stain it. There is a special pee resistant pad now also that won’t let the carpet get penatrated. WOW!
Wasn’t crazy priced either.
Just an idea.
What ever you choose will be stunning and right for you.
Can’t wait as always. geri.
P.S. so sorry this is so long.
Andrea
We recently had Stainmaster carpet installed over terrazzo (not the pretty kind) in a color called Reserve, sort of a paprika color. Very pretty this time of year especially. Lowe’s did the installation and did a fabulous job, not one complaint. Certainly not a neutral, but it works with my mechanic husband who refuses to take his shoes off, and for that matter, me when I come in from the garden. Good luck with your decision. And I just wanted to tell you we adopted our first child..good for you!
Julie
We loved the frieze we had in our last house (for 7 years) so much that we just replaced our carpet in our “new” house with it. I ADORE it! We also had berber in our last house thinking it would hold up to pets and it was AWFUL! In addition to people mentioning how it “runs” it also got super fuzzy looking and our dogs didn’t dig at it or do anything crazy. NEVER again!
Susan
Layla,
Is there a company that can just come in and chisel/sand that concrete down a bit? I hate carpet…shows dirt so easily. Y’all can’t be the first folks to run into a situation like this. Call a few flooring companies and pick their collective brains before you commit to buying carpet…just to be sure. That’s my 2 cents worth.
Sarah @ Cozy.Cottage.Cute.
Ahhhh, I can SO relate to all of your dilemmas. We ripped out all of the ugly, stinky, stained, beige and pink carpeting that was all over our house when we moved in but we’re left with hardwood birch that is in desperate need of refinishing as its just coated with wax. The wax has worn off in a bunch of places and we’re left with pretty much bare wood in some spots.
Our.Floors.Need.To.Get.Refinished.Asap.
I can also relate to the whole homestudy thing. We were so lucky that our social worker was so laidback. She didn’t even mind that we had oleander plants and exposed electrical outlets n’ other reno stuff going on. Of course we promised we’d have it all taken care of before our adoption was finalized….. 🙂
I really like the look of the sisal carpeting in your last picture. It’s got that natural feel and it might also be more forgiving than a light coloured carpet (paw prints and smooshed goldfish crackers, heh heh heh.)
Good luck!!!
Jami @ freckled laundry
Layla,
Whatever you choose, I’m sure it will be fabulous. To be honest, carpet is my nemesis but that’s because I opted for a very light neutral cream…with a very messy husband & 7 year-old. That carpet needs to go to Jesus as soon as funds allow. I’m sure you’ve thought of this but I’m gonna throw it out there anyway…if you worked with the existing hardwoods in the LR, could you add matching unfinished hardwood to that concrete section with 1/4″ shoe molding/trim nailed to the the “lower” flooring to keep the wood on the concrete section from “popping” and shifting? Does that make sense? Once everything is stained the same color, it would help break up the visual line that the piece of shoe molding would create. Carpet is better on the babies knees but when the twins were still crawling last year, I put Baby Legs on them (love em’!) as we have hardwoods & tile in most of the house. Actually, I still put them on them because I think they look adorable. (Nice tanget, Jami.)
Good luck!
Jami
Kevin & Layla
Hey Jami!
I think I know what you’re saying- but unfortunately our piano would sit lopsided if we went that route.
Oh the design dilemmas!!!! 🙂