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Sickness, Sofas, and Carpet Saga

February 20, 2012

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Whew!  This weekend involved a lot of sneezing, coughing, crying and me attempting to make soup for my sick babies (Greta and Chris).  None of it was pretty, especially the soup part.  Thankfully, everyone is feeling loads better which means Chris and I are back knee-deep in sheet rock–we really want to finish building the wall today, let’s hope Greta cooperates.

There were also some other behind the scenes tasks and items to figure out that I took care of this weekend.  We ordered the couch.  I thought I had ordered it a week ago, but after you place your order, Crate and Barrel sends you a swatch to okay before they begin custom making the couch just for you.  Here’s where my heart sank, “Thanks for your order, Mrs. Marcum.  It will be at your home in 8-10 weeks.”  What?!  Eight to ten weeks?!  I tried to get her to tell me that it would be closer to 4 to 6 weeks, but I guess that time frame is not like price.  It can’t be negotiated.  Bummer.  I told Chris the news and he seemed unmoved by it, until I mentioned, “Maybe we should look for another couch?”  “No. That is our couch.  We’ll wait.”  He loves the thing.  And so we wait for our 93″ Gray Lounge Sofa to get here.  And wait. And wait.

We also got the carpet ordered.  Which always ends up costing more than we anticipated.  In our case, 30% more because that’s how much extra we will have due to our room + a couple stairs set-up.  The whole process was silly.  When the measurer came out to survey the room and get, well, measurements–he was done in about 7 minutes and then told me to sign a form.  I looked over his measurements and told him that the wall (the one we are currently building out a bit to house bookshelves) actually comes out a couple inches more than he has marked.  I told him this before he began.  “Well, it will be about the same actually.” “No, it won’t.”  “Well, why would you want to make your room smaller anyway?”  At this point I am puzzled why I have to answer to the carpet measurer but I give him the quick run-down about our bookshelves.  In addition to needing a teensy bit more carpet and having to pay for a lot more because of the way it is designed, we also have to fork out a little more for the installation because we have “hollywood style” stairs.  When I called the installers to ask them why our installation was so much, she explained that our stairs are hollywood style, meaning the carpet is firmly tucked under the lip of the stair, instead of going straight down.  
I had never heard of this.  And I definitely never thought about it.  I had to look again and sure enough, we have a touch of “hollywood” in our little ol’ home.  By the end of our conversation, she had somehow discovered that my birthday was the same as her husband’s and then praised me for being a Sagittarius–and suddenly I forgot that I just spent a grand on carpet.  We are hoping to have it installed early next week.  Which means we want to finish the built-ins, lighting, painting and getting the new window cut out and installed all this week.  Did I just say the new window is happening?!  Oh yes.  Yes I did.  (EEEeee!!!!)
P.S.  I gotta know, do you have “Hollywood style” carpet on your stairs?  The more I think about it, I can’t picture it any other way.  

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What do you think?

  1. I’m with Jessie, you guys are non stop! At first I thought Hollywood style meant it twists a little…haha a little mini spiral…
    I’m glad you’re sticking with Crate & Barrel couch! So classy!

  2. I just got ALL CAUGHT UP and I’m just so excited about this! I’m super giddy about the shelves. And the window!

    The house we are currently living in does NOT have “hollywood style” stairs. I’m kind of jealous. For reals. We’re white trash, obviously.

  3. Jessie McKinley says:

    Yes!! You must come visit!! :)

  4. Oh we definitely have “Hollywood” style carpet on our basement stairs (who knew they were called that?? Sounds way fancier than it is…). Oddly, that staircase and our guest closet are the only areas in our house that aren’t just plain hardwood floors. Anyways – we just started giving our basement a much needed makeover and are trying to decide whether to keep the carpet, replace it, or refinish the stairs to hardwood. Good to know that installing new carpet on our glam staircase will be more expensive than normal!

  5. meaganbriggs3 says:

    Yes please, my 2 bffs in the world might live in the same city!? I must come to visit!!!

  6. Thanks, Erica! We actually held onto that insulation just for that purpose. Although we have so many things we’re juggling right now, we could have easily forgot to put it back. Thanks for the reminder!

  7. Woot! That gave me the greatest boost of confidence.

  8. Erica says:

    And he also thought, as did I, that your bookcase idea was great! A very efficient and attractive use of your space and a smart way to get over the concrete “stumbling block”. :)

  9. Erica says:

    Ok, I was showing a contractor friend of mine your video and he wanted me to tell you to be sure and put the insulation back over that concrete. He said it acts as a “thermal bridge” between the outside and the inside of the house and if it isn’t insulated, it will reduce the temperature in your room. So, in case you didn’t know, which you probably did, I thought I would mention it. :)

  10. Jessie McKinley says:

    i am amazed at how much you guys can knock out in just a few short days!! projects take my husband and i foreverrr it seems. everything sounds like it is going to looks incredible! ps. we currently live in nephi, but we’re thinking about moving further north (i wasn’t cut out for small town life!) and i’m curious how you like good ole’ spanish fork?? we are seriously considering that area…

  11. We build up a lot of momentum before we start projects, so we can knock them out quickly before we lose steam. We haven’t done a big project since our basement and that one we finished at the beginning of December, so we were ready to get our hands dirty again.

    We really do love Spanish Fork. It feels small town (although nothing compared to Nephi, I’m sure!), but close enough to anything we need. We like being close to lots of restaurants and shopping 10 minutes away in Provo, as well as a Home Depot. And Walmart is just an exit up. We couldn’t be happier with where we ended up. Great schools. Lots of parks. And quiet streets.

  12. The window is happening….FRIDAY!!!! We are definitely keeping all of our receipts and plan on doing a full budget breakdown post when it’s all done.

  13. meaganbriggs3 says:

    Don’t even tease me!!! The window is happening!???? That is incredible. I think you should show the budget at the end of the Reno and show where you cut corners in prices and where you splurged. I can’t wait to see that carpet!!!

    Oh, and our stairs are not Hollywood style. Just the plain old straight down kind!

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