Room and Board Carpet

We have been thinking about replacing the living room carpet for quite a while. We always had Persian carpets, but the last carpet was a solid light blue color with a design pattern in it. It was okay, but we were always worried about the wear and tear and it would not only get dirty, but would show the dirt too - even though we have a hand held Bissel carpet cleaner for the occasional clean up job. I also prefer warm tones to cooler tones, and never really liked the solid color. So we searched around and found a lightly patterned rustic Persian carpet at Room and Board. It took another few weeks to decide if we should get it. So we ordered it last week and asked that we pick it up at the warehouse that is located in Elkridge Maryland rather than have it delivered like furniture. Yesterday we got a call that the item arrived so we decided to get it rather than wait for Monday, thinking that the traffic would be lighter. That was a mistake. It seems everyone was on the freeway heading towards Baltimore. It took forty minutes to get there and probably ninety minutes to get home because we decided to take the side streets rather than the freeway. It didn’t matter which way we went the roads were solid traffic. But we did enjoy the ride home more because it was vibrant and a beautiful day to be outside. The cities around DC are so congested and the populations so diverse. It’s always an interesting vibe. When we got home we put the new carpet on top of the old one and I was exhausted afterwards. Now I know why people have the delivery guys do the job - we aren’t cut out for it anymore. Do we like the rug? Yes - it looks more like us. But we still need to get used to it. 

Room and Board Carpet Search

When you get an email from a place you shopped before, you sometimes look at it. Most of the time I dump them all. For whatever reason I was intrigued with the email from Room and Board. Earlier in the year we got a console for the dining room - something we haven’t had space for on Capitol Hill. Since we moved to Virginia it made for a nice addition to the 1000 square foot space. But what caught my eye was a carpet they were marketing. Our living room carpet is a solid color light blue - don’t ask me why we decided on that. Obviously it would show every mark and it does. We won’t even walk with our slippers on it to avoid any undue stress. Eventually something bad will happen. Even though we have a hand held Bissell carpet cleaner, it could get ugly. So we decided to take a look at the carpet that was being shown on the email. It was also an excuse to take a ride to Bethesda and then U Street in NW DC. My husband didn’t like the carpet at all up close. It almost looked machine made. We always had Persian carpets in our Midwest house but left all of them there because we had no room here. The trend these days is very light carpets without a lot of dark colors and patterns. In fact we turned one of our carpets upside down in the den to tone the colors down. So we looked around the store at a few more in the showroom and found one that looks fairly interesting and was within our budget. The problem is is that the size we want can’t be shipped - it requires delivery to the unit. So I called to find out if it was possible to pick it up from the warehouse somewhere. It’s not the typical carpet as it is very thin. Apparently it can be done but we haven’t made up our minds yet. The house changed to cooler tones in the living room but I much prefer the warmer colors. This might be one option to pull all the rooms back together. We will have to think on it. In the mean time I hope we can keep the existing carpet in reasonable condition. 

Living Room in Transition

When we moved to our new condo in northern Virginia seven months ago, we took most of the furniture with us. We always had Persian carpets in our homes. But the large tribal carpet was now too big for the space, and the couch and chair seemed too dark. So when we visited Milwaukee in September, we met with our favorite Ethan Allen designer to help us figure out what we could do. He literally redid every room in our Milwaukee house, and we were always happy with the results. So we got a call that half of the furniture we ordered was ready for delivery. Luckily we got the huge carpet pulled out from under the tv/bookcase a couple of weeks ago. And I edited the bookcase and got rid of stuff to clean it up. The carpet, along with the couch, chair/ottoman, and recliner were being donated to a new family arriving from Afghanistan. That furniture was picked up on Tuesday. Since we needed something to sit on, we brought in our patio furniture for a day - talk about uncomfortable! On Wednesday, the sleeper sofa that is eventually going to the den, my husband’s new leather recliner, and carpet were delivered. It’s so different from what we are used to! Luckily we now had furniture to sit on for our family Thanksgiving dinner yesterday, but we are still waiting on the real living room couch and the accent chair to arrive some time in December. We have gone from red Persian carpets and dark fabrics to a seafoam carpet and very light furniture to match the glass tables and and vases throughout the house - and away from a very ethnic vibe but still retaining key features. It’s been a couple of days and it is beginning to look like it’s supposed to, but there’s a long way to go. Suddenly it feels like a new home - something we have thought about for quite some time. It makes the old tv/bookcase and dining room look new again. Thanks so much Glenn for your help. 

The YLiving Dauphin Spare Foldable Chair

When you live in a tiny space that has one big room, you need to be creative. The room is a living room, bedroom, dining room, and exercise room all in one. It is also our guest room whenever we have visitors. There is enough seating for three people comfortably, but if a fourth person arrives, it is workable, but not necessarily pleasant. A dining room chair can serve the purpose, but it has no arms. The ottomens in front of the couch work too, but there are no backs. So I searched for an armchair that was not space occupying, and could be rolled in and out of the closet as needed so as not to clutter up the already reasonably spaced furniture needed for every day use. I found a padded seat and cloth back number that not only rolls but folds up too. It's from YLiving made by Dauphin. I ordered it on line in the fabric color of choice and it arrived this week. It's not the most aesthetically pleasing piece of furniture, but it definitely serves the purpose. So what happens if we have more than four people in this room? I guess the dining room chairs and footrests will do. 

Bye Bye Couch

It's been almost seven long years. The king size sofa bed in our studio apartment days were numbered. Once we decided to get the wall bed installed last summer, there was no more need for this behemoth. It served us well, but expecting guests to pull out the huge frame to sleep at night was asking too much. The fabric was becoming worn on the arms and the cushions and I did my best to patch and save. But the time has come to get rid of it. So yesterday our handyman disassembled it to get it out the door. We gave him the mattress cover and sheets to go along with it. I will miss the comfort of the old couch, as that is where I sit to do all my digital art. The room looked huge once it was gone and we put our two chairs together as a temporary fix until the new Ethan Allen couch arrives today. I hope it is as comfortable. I know it will fit a lot better in the space! My husband hated that couch. For the first time I'm feeling sentimental. 

Restoration Hardware Comes to the Rescue

We moved some furniture in our tiny space. That meant the end table on the side of the couch would no longer be on the side of the couch. It was placed next to the chair across the room so my husband would have a space for his iPad and glass of wine. But that left a void on that end of the room, because in the evening he needs a flat surface for his tea and cookies. So I looked for "c" tables that were small and the bottom could fit under the couch. It took a while until I stumbled upon restoration hardware's martini table. It's all of 10 inches in diameter and 26 inches high. We wanted black, and it came in bronze. So I ordered it on line and it came in two days when it was supposed to take much longer than that. So we unpacked it and it is the perfect piece. It's easy enough to move to wherever it is needed, but will primarily sit by the edge of the couch. It was also tested yesterday - one of our friends stopped in and a plate of pistachios was moved front and center among us on this little tray. And the tea and cookies later in the evening worked well. Later on it became the iPad and TV control stand. You really need to make every inch of space count in our tiny place. This is a great way to do it.