Carpet isn't my bag

(This post will be updated as we tear the carpet from our new home)



I am not really into having wall to wall carpet in my house.  First of all, it traps dust making it hard on my allergies. The pile tends to look matted and you can just feel the germs and I just hate to be barefoot on it, or even walk on it with socks for that matter because your socks will get nasty.  I had read once that chances are good when you buy or rent a house with existing carpet you get all kinds of things from previous owners/renters, like toenail clippings and I know for sure it traps all that cat hair and makes it harder to clean if they vomit.  Yeah, I am done.


 Most of the houses we looked at had carpet throughout the place.  The one we purchased was full of it.  My goal was to get rid of much of that as I could.    I had no idea what was under ours.  I only knew the main part of our house was built in 1967, that COULD be good because there possibly would be hardwood under some of this stuff.  The first addition was built in the 1980s so chances were great that there was nothing but sub-floor under there.  And the last addition was built in the 2000s, and I know what is under there because I saw photos of the construction on old realtor listing sites....all sub-floor.  The last addition didn't bother me as much because it is evident that Trevor is the only person to "live" on that floor, both by the listings and the newness smell of the room.  I think it was just finished recently.  Carpet appears to be in perfect shape.


This post will grow longer as I tear this stuff up and redo the floors under this mess.

The grossest part to me was the carpet in the master bathroom.  As of today that is still down because I have to get money to purchase new flooring for that room.  I am looking at vinyl planks online but I want to see them in person.  Right now our country is going through this pandemic so installing flooring is really not something I want to tackle at the moment.


All the bedrooms have a carpet that is obviously older looking than the main house and the 80s addition, so I wanted to start with those, plus I slept better in a room without carpet (allergies).

March 20, 2020
We started in the closet room because I wanted to see what we were about to get into.   When we started ripping it up, the carpet tore easily.  It was full of dust (and I did find a fingernail) and was hard to breathe, I will wear a mask next time.  We tore the carpet in sections and ripped it up that way.  It was easier to manage and easier to put in the trash can.  We tore it in about 5 strips, as we got to the last strip, we saw the damage.  It looks like old termite damage to four boards.  I am pretty sure I can fix this so stay tuned because as I type this, it is the first morning and we are still in a pandemic so I can't get the wood I need.  I am going to finish ripping up the tack strips and covered the bad spots with a carpet until I can finish this project.  It took about 1 hour to get the carpet out, it is (and expected) to take much longer for the strips and the staples.

Woodrow's Place

Today I am talking about this "ugly" little statue that greeted us the first time we looked at our new house.  He was sitting on the sidewalk as you approached the front door.  He was NOT in good shape, but I liked him.  He had character, and his presence was welcoming.  When we looked at the house the second time, I felt of him and notice he was solid concrete.  A good sturdy dog.  In my mind, I started referring to the houses we saw as names to help remember things about them, this one I called "The Dog House".  I honestly never dreamed he would still be there once we closed on the house, but he WAS!  My husband didn't like him (and still does not), but I loved him and I am not even a dog person.  I was excited to let him stay and I wanted to name the house after him because he was his place.  Since I have this obsession with all things Presidential, I started calling him "Woodrow" instead of "dog" and this because "Woodrow's Place" to me.  I really want to keep him so I had to make him look good so he did not disappear while I was at work (I am still worried that will happen).  Here is a little before and after of what Woodrow looked like when we purchased to what he looks like today.

New house and loads of projects

On February 28, we moved into our new house.  It was a house with fabulous potential, it just needs some updating and personalization.  What you will see below is the before and after to what we have done as of today, March 14, 2020.  Some of the "current" views will evolve and possibly change completely, they were put in place to get us in a "home" environment and not a "you have much to do" world, I will tell you when that applies next to the photos.


First of all, I will tell you that we got possession of the house around 5pm on February 26. We could not do much on that day because it was almost dark.   The movers came early on February 27 and I really only wanted to keep them 2-3 hours....so the goal was for them to move all the furniture and we would move the boxes and other stuff ourselves.    We had to be out of the house on February 28, so we had to get busy and get things done.  What a whirlwind!

Many of the first photos here are from the realtor site because I had NO time to get before photos due to the moving timeline.

the living room

the living room is very large

the living room, I loved the kitty in front of the fireplace

the living room from another angle

I call this the "foyer", it is the space between the living and the eat-in kitchen

to me, the kitchen is simply a dream, except the flooring

2 photos of the hall bath

bedroom #1, the future guest room (I have not done much in here yet)

the fabulous linen closet in the master bath, holy cow

master bath double sinks

the carpeted master bath, ewwww 

the master bedroom

bedroom #2, which I had big plans for

The Bonus areas.....

 the sunroom

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 the room upstairs

Now for the fun part, making it ours. Below you will see some of what we have gotten done in two weeks.  The first thing was to transform the bedroom across the hall from the master into a closet.  We needed this because the house had only a few closets and we have lots of clothes and shoes.  The plan was to do one side for her and one for him and on the 3rd wall add my 43 pairs of shoes and my dresser....on the 4th wall, I planned to add shelves I have not added the shelves yet), ties, jewelry and an antique mirror with handpainted elements around it.  I want the room to have one purple wall and three gray walls.  In the above photos, this was bedroom #2.

I will have to add the gray walls next....and we are planning to rip up the carpet.  

Next up was the sunroom.  I wanted this to be my studio from the first moment that I saw it.  I have tons of art supplies and my crafting is loud, the isolation of the room makes it where I can create out here at almost any time.  I still would like to paint in here, but I am not sure what color as of yet.  At least, for the time being, I can create.  On the other side of the sunroom, I made a cat perch (so they can watch the birds and play with plants) and a library/sitting area.  It is going to be nice out here. I can tell that cats like this room the best of all.  

 the cats on the second day, you could tell they loved this room

Next up was the utility room.  I had just a small amount of turquoise paint left (the bath color from our last house) and I wanted to use it somewhere. I decided to lighten up the utility room so that I could use all my old laundry room signs I had made.  I would like to get crown molding for all the rooms.  

 the utility room before

Next up, the eat-in kitchen.  I wanted a square table here because the light fixture was at a weird angle and because the area was my gallery/command center area.  Olive has already fallen in love with the stools. I still have to find room for the trash and recycle cans.  I have changed out the fall flowers and put on display the spring flowers.  

 the was before we got the table

 The was the way it looked on the realtor site

 how it looks right now, I have to paint that cart if it is going to stay, but I really don't want it to stay.  I desperately need a coffee bar.

 looking from the kitchen to the family room and dining areas. It is a very nice area, and currently has Bobby Ewing on the tv.  The curtains are coming down as soon as we can figure out what we would like.   

Moving right along to the next steps done...I have not painted anything else, but I do have every frame up that I wanted to get up on the walls. I still have no idea what color I want to paint things. I have tons of swatches but have yet to commit to a thing.  Anyhoo, the next photos are just us living in the house until we figure out the next steps.  

 right as you enter the front door, there is oak floor under SOME of this room.  I am not yet sure how much.  Pay attention to the front door, it will one day be a different color or a different door, we are not sure yet.  I think I will paint it first.  

 the corner near the front door

 the master bedroom, this will soon be a green shade, I just don't know which one.  We do have new curtains up in there.  We placed some over the bathroom doorway too (there is no door), I plan to put a barn door there.  

 the Cat Room, the room under the stairs.  They stayed here the entire first day we lived in the house and it is the perfect spot for litter and cat food.  

 door leading into the cat room

 the walls are very scuffed, the room needs to be painted. 

I will be back later with more updates.  Hopefully, soon the bathroom carpet will be GONE!

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