This post is sponsored by Lowe’s.

Friday, Chris and I spent the day up at the cabin working on the kitchen and the loft. It was the first time in months that we were there working with no contractors present. It was rejuvenating and motivating and the fact that we’re seeing so much progress is making our big goal of spending Christmas here feel attainable. And for the first time, after over a year of ownership, it felt like home. It’s a significant moment in any renovation, and for me it tends to happen far before you’re “done.” But definitely after a corner is turned. When you look around, you start seeing more of yourself and your influence around instead of all the things that feel foreign. And the new cabinets going in the kitchen (more on that tomorrow!) and the new carpet in the loft definitely pushed us into the this is ours territory.

The loft at our cabin has been getting a lot of attention the last few weeks and I am loving the progress and direction. We imagine it as the landing zone for the girls and cousins and friends to hang out and sleep and for that reason, it’s the only spot in the whole cabin that we carpeted. But before we get into that, here’s a shot of what it looked like for the better part of the past year:

The door on the left is a small powder bathroom (so nice to have on this level!) and the door on the right is a closet. We decided we’d rather maximize the space for beds than have a closet up here, so we tore it out, clad the walls with pine that was around the closet (it’s amazing how that worked out!) and we were ready for the carpet installers to come!

We love the carpet in our home so much, we knew we wanted to go with a two-toned Stainmaster carpet again. This time, we chose their Secret Dream line in the color Canvas (the sample in the top right in the photo below). It’s warm, but dark enough to hide traffic. Super soft and extremely kid and pet friendly–aka, cleans up like a dream.

We love low-pile carpet, especially this two tone kind, because the pattern is made with the thread color so it’s never going away. To ensure it’s still just as comfortable to roll around on (we expect there to be a lot of that with the kids up here), we decided on the same pad that we used in our home, this high-performance memory foam Stainmaster carpet pad. It adds an extremely comfortable underlay to the carpet that we’d feel good about laying extra sleeping bags down on if need be. The carpet pad also promises to keep the carpet looking newer, reduces noise, insulates and extends the warranty.

We left the installation to the pros. (They had to take off the railing for the fireplace stone and carpet install, but it’s going back on ASAP!). Wall-to-wall carpet sometimes gets a bad rap, but there’s nothing negative about this carpet. It’s beautiful, soft, fresh, modern and adds such a cozy layer to the loft.

When choosing the color, we knew we wanted to go warm and neutral, but we also pulled tones from the stone in the fireplace and they coordinate so well.

Above, you can see the closet gone! It feels so much more spacious and I’m so excited to share with you the sleeping situation for up here next week. I put together the beds on Friday and am so excited to start adding some cozy, cabin touches, too!

There’s one seam that will gradually disappear as the carpet gets walked on. You can see it faintly at the front, left corner of the photo above, or below on the right third. I’m so impressed with how they matched the pattern there–it’s undetectable in person.

The process from choosing a carpet to install was FAST! Stop by Lowe’s and pick up some carpet samples –we were able to take the sample board with us for free and I always recommend choosing the color of your carpet in the space that you’ll be laying it. Can’t wait to show you how this room comes together in the next few weeks!

Installation services available thru independent contractors, licensed, & registered where applicable.  License numbers & certifications held on or behalf of Lowe’s Home Centers, LLC.  See Lowes.com/licensing for current license numbers.