Flooring

I filed our taxes today, and was pleased that we're getting about the same amount in our refund as last year.  We are pretty excited, because we are going to make a small upgrade in our home, something that should benefit Judith and make our lives a little easier.

John thinks the carpeting in our living room and dining room is original to the house, so that would mean it's well over 20 years old.  I'm not so sure about that, but it's definitely possible.  Over the past 5 years, it's really started to look sad, and in the last year, year and a half it's gotten much worse.  Between general wear and tear from us, moving and rearranging furniture, and the dogs using the same trail between the living room and dining room as a drag strip, frays have developed, the carpet is bunching in places, and bald spots are starting to appear.  It's definitely time to do something.

For a few years, we've discussed what we would like to do with the flooring.  We tossed around the idea of getting new carpet, doing hardwood in the living room and ceramic tile in the kitchen and dining room, or doing wood laminate throughout the whole lower level, save for the powder room (the tile flooring in there is still in really good shape, and was only a couple years old when we moved in).  We're going to go with wood laminate, since we feel it'll be easiest for us to maintain and to keep clean.

It's going to be really, really nice to not have to try to get urine stains out of the carpet when one of the dogs misses the newspaper, and it should be easier to clean up all of the stray strands of fur that are constantly shed.  It's also going to be nice to know that we're getting rid of allergens and who knows what else that might be festering in the carpet or padding.  One of my fears is we're going to rip the carpet up and find some really gross stains from pet accidents (our own dogs and the former owners' animals), or worse, mold.  I have mold allergies, but I'm more concerned about the impact that any crud could have on Judith down the road.  Granted we don't keep her in a super sterile bubble all the time, but it will be nice knowing that our highest traffic areas won't be harboring an insane amount of dust, dander, and other miscellaneous things.  Also, it's going to spruce up our living space and make it look a little fresher and newer.

We're in the early stages of the process, and are only starting to look at styles we like, but I hope that we can move quickly with this and get everything installed soon.  Once we do that, we're going to start a bit of a clean out and reorganization of the spaces, and Judith will get her very own table and chair set so she has a comfortable space to color and do some crafts.