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. 

Room and Board Sideboard

The day finally arrived! There hasn’t been this much excitement in our house for a very long time. Our sideboard was delivered this morning from Room and Board. We ordered it in early March after deciding it was time to clean up the very messy plant console we temporarily placed under the large mirror when we moved to northern Virginia three years ago. Aside from having to wait three months the service and communication was exceptional. I also established an account on line and managed the delivery date and all communications from there. You can tell it’s been a while since we have had any furniture delivery. Being in a condo we also had to coordinate the delivery time with scheduling the elevator. And wouldn’t you know the elevator needed a service repair earlier in the week that luckily didn’t interfere with the schedule. Now that the sideboard is here we need to figure out how to decorate it appropriately. I’m sure there will be several iterations until we figure it out. Moving one thing from one place always upsets the Apple cart. And we aren’t about to go out and buy anything. Now the holtkotter light has a home and it works after being repaired. The sideboard was made in North Dakota. Let’s hope for a long life. Now the house is finally beginning to feel more like home. 

Room and Board Sideboard

When we moved to Capitol Hill sixteen years ago we lived in a 500 square foot condo. After three years we bought another 500 square foot condo across the hall. That gave us a bit more breathing room, windows on both sides of the building, and a great apartment for anyone who came to visit. We didn’t have a dining room in either space - just a table that expanded when we had guests for Thanksgiving dinner. So when we moved to northern Virginia three years ago our 1000 square foot condo had a dining room space. But it needed a bit of something to fill in the space so we got a distressed console table to put under the mirror for several plants. Since we have been cooped up inside for over two years we decided the dining room might look better with an actual sideboard. It would give us a bit more storage space and then we could move the console behind the couch, or maybe even under the window. I’ve been looking for something for the last two months that would meet the criteria: 60 inches wide and dark wood to match the tables and chairs. We checked Crate and Barrel and Calligaris after finding some options on line. We didn’t like either one. Our go to was always Ethan Allen - but we didn’t like anything there. So we drove in to DC to visit Room and Board and finally found what we wanted without breaking the bank. Going to town reminded us of why we moved. There was construction everywhere, parking was ridiculous, and everything looked cruddy. We had been to Room and Board before but never got anything. So it was a bit of relief to see something that looked good and was made in North Dakota. It won’t be available until June but we don’t have anywhere to go and have plenty of time on our hands. It’s been a long time since we bought anything. I hope we like it.