Tag Archives: carpet

Never doubt me.

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Remember my perfect carpet? The expensive Karastan I chose on day one…

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The salesperson from the store where I found it (they have exclusive rights to the brand and none of the other places we’ve tried can sell it) has been staying in touch after giving us an installation estimate. When I finally told them my husband balked at the price and was looking around for something comparable but cheaper, they wanted to help and said they would check their inventory.

I received this message a week ago.. but didn’t tell my husband until he’d had his fill of fruitless floor shopping.

I’m evil that way.

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To be honest I didn’t think carpet was something you could barter… but you live and you learn.

And save $500 apparently.

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Installation in 8 weeks.

😊

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His patience is running out…

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Shopping for bedroom carpet continues.

And you can tell one of us is not having a good time.

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This is not my fault as I found the perfect carpet on day one… but my husband swore he could find something comparable for less money so we kept shopping.

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This was an interesting display.

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Made even more so by the fact it opened for samples.

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After another whirlwind weekend tour of flooring stores, my husband chose carpets he thought were close to the shade we wanted. Even though I (and numerous salespeople) assured him they weren’t.

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Ironically the two large sample boards he brought home were very close to the price point of my original choice which kind of defeats the purpose… no?

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And since none of them were the right shade (again), my spouse is slowing coming around to the realization he should have just agreed to my selection a few weeks ago and called it a day.

Men.

They always have to do things the hard way.

😉

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And he thought furniture shopping was bad…

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Since my husband balked at the price tag of the carpet I chose and thought it would be easy to find a comparable replacement, we shopped.

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And shopped, and shopped.

And then shopped some more.

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The man had no idea how many different beige carpets existed… and I was determined to show him each and every one.

Textured, tonal, sculptured, Berber.

Wool, nylon, polyester, olefin.

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There was even a line devoted to pet accidents.

But not a single one held a candle to my original choice.

The search continues…

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Next project is on deck…

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While we’re (none too patiently) waiting for the new living room furniture to be delivered, it’s time to turn our attention back to the bedroom.

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The newly trimmed windows and sills are in…

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The new door has been installed…

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With its pretty morning reflection.

So now we need to get rid of that horrible dusty rose carpet the previous owners chose and replace it with a nice neutral beige.

I did a little preliminary shopping and fell in love with a Karastan.

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Of course I did, it was the highest quality and most expensive available. Unfortunately the husband did not fall in love with the price and wanted me to choose something less pricey.

So began our carpet shopping saga.

You know the drill…store to store to store trying to find something comparable. He thought it would be easy.

He was wrong.

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He brought this one home, but it was too grey.

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He brought this one home, but it leaves those awful striped vacuum marks.

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He brought this one home and asked Lord Dudley to choose, but nothing matched the quality, softness or color of my Karastan.

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The search continues…

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The major, the minor and the furry inconveniences.

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This first picture is what I call porn for women.

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A man, using a shop vac to clean.

And boy do we need cleaning.

Dust?

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It’s everywhere.

And since my husband is retired again … (did I mention that? He went back to work for 6 months but decided to call it quits for good this time. Or so he says)… our contractor has put him to work with the time consuming annoying jobs.

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Like pulling out all the little pieces of old carpet trapped under the frame of the brickwork.

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So many little pieces.

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Of that horrible dusty rose crap that’s still in our bedroom.

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Its removal will be the next project we tackle after this one.

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If this one is ever finished that is.

And because you know nothing goes smoothly here…

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See the threshold piece wrapped in plastic on the right? See how it matches the flooring? There should have been 3 tubes of that, we got 1.

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The other 2 tubes looked like this.

Not even close… which means another delay and annoyance while we wait for the store to replace it.

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Furry inconvenience?

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We’ve got that too as Lord Dudley Mountcatten has developed a fascination with power tools.

😉

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I am not amused.

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Lord Dudley Mountcatten is a good cat…. for the most part. When we first adopted him he had an annoying habit of scratching the furniture but my purchase and rapid deployment of a tiny water pistol solved that problem lickety split. His highness does not like to get wet.

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Well, it wasn’t swift. But lately, I have to say…. it’s been quite thorough. Instead of scratching the furniture? He’s decided to unravel our Berber carpet one loop at a time.

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Every morning I wake up to new section of destruction….

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And I have to say, I am not pleased.

Lord Dudley?

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He denies everything and points at my husband.

We don’t have a dog… the cat has to blame someone.

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White Mountains trip…. Day 1. The resort.

 

As you know, we use our timeshare when we travel. Some of the resorts we choose have been fabulous… some less so.

The Grand Summit Resort at Sunday River?

 

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From the outside? Not bad.

Good location, up a long driveway, past a babbling brook… nestled in the mountains.

 

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Technically it’s a ski resort, so yes…. there are ski slopes.

 

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Inside?

 

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Rustic decor, heavily ski-centric.

 

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With questionable carpet choices.

 

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Which did not improve when we made our way upstairs to our condo.

 

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Yeah.

This literally made my head swim every time I had to walk on it.

 

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See? It even made the camera dizzy.

The only good thing I can say about it is they are in the process of ripping it up. Though sadly, not soon enough for us.

While I usually book the larger 2 bedroom unit for extra space, an extra bathroom and a larger kitchen…. this was a last minute deal and I had to take a 1 bedroom. Never having been here before, I have to say I was not impressed.

 

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It was really small.

 

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And as basic as I’ve ever seen.

The “full”  kitchen? Not so full.

 

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It also went a little heavy on the moose theme.

While it was clean and the bed was comfortable…. the smoke alarm went off everytime we made toast, which must have endeared us to our neighbors since we’re up with the sun most days.  The shower head was so low the 5’8” husband hit his head every time he attempted to wash his hair, and the kitchen cabinet doors stuck to the frames like glue. If you managed to pull them open? The shelves wobbled.

 

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Thankfully we only slept and showered there because the noise from the heating unit would probably have caused me to drink a Drano cocktail had we stayed any longer.

Of course they did provide some stellar reading material on the coffee table….

 

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And a nice big tree in front of our balcony…

 

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With a stunning view of the 6 slot parking lot.  The slots everyone jockeys for because otherwise you’re hoofing it down the hill to the auxiliary lot.

 

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Yes… 6 spots up front. For a resort that has hundreds of condo units as well as a hotel and restaurant. Smart planning, that.

Oh well.

The restaurant was fun.

 

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Appropriately named Camp, it was modern rustic.

 

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And we enjoyed it.

Who doesn’t want to be lit by an upside down canoe?

 

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Tasty seasonal cocktails…

 

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And a light dinner later….

 

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We called an end to our first day.