Maybe, just maybe, a decision on the carpet

As you know if you have been following this blog, I've had a hard time making the flooring decisions for the addition. I must have been to a half dozen carpet stores, and some of those on 3-4 occasions. I didn't think we had exotic tastes, but it still turned out to be very difficult to find a carpet that met all of Jonathan's and my criteria.

Jonathan's needs were simple: He wanted something thick and plush. Easy peasy. There are roughly 43,617 thick and plush carpet styles.

My needs are rather simple, too. Recall that my main criterion for choosing a shower tile was something mottled and containing the color of soap scum, so as better to hide dirt. I used a similar rationale for choosing a carpet color. I had noticed that, with our current carpet (which is a very plain beige colored plush), the slightest spot (such as when I spill coffee bringing it to Jon) or stain (such as when Isaac throws up) stands out like a sore thumb.

To me, it makes a lot more sense to have a carpet that contains a mixture of colors in an irregular pattern rather than a sheer expanse of unblemished and pristine sameness, which in my household is going to last a day, maybe two, at the most. Finding such a carpet shouldn't be a problem, as there are roughly 38,992 mottled color pattern carpet styles.

Putting those two sets of requirements together, it meant that all we needed to do was find a thick plush carpet with a mottled color scheme, preferably a color scheme including shades of coffee and vomit. Just joking (mostly) on that last bit. ;-)

You would think that would be an easy carpet to find. The reality is the intersection of those two sets is scarily close to zero. (Who'd've ever thunk that New Math I learned in grade school would actually be relevant???) There are lots of plush carpets, but they're almost all just one pure color. There are lots of mottled color carpets, but they're almost all shag or frisee/twist style carpets. And because neither Jon nor I were willing to budge on our criteria, I spent an awful long time looking at carpet samples. (Note to any carpet manufacturing executives who may be reading this: There is a real and potentially quite lucrative niche here that needs to be filled. We can't be the ONLY family in the world who wants a plush multi-colored carpet.)

Wagner had long given up on his gentle hints ("You really need to pick your carpet soon so I can order it") and moved on to more desperate tactics of escorting me to carpet stores, showing me various samples, and asking with a hopeful tone his voice, "how about something like this?", only to be crestfallen when I would say, "no... it's not mixed enough" or "no, it's too shaggy."

But we finally found something we liked. It's beige with speckled flecks of browns, greys, and blacks sprinkled throughout it. And it's a nice thick plush. I tried to find a sample on the web so I could post a photo of it, but I couldn't find one. But trust me, it's a lot prettier in person than how I described it.

The only snag, of course, is that it is more expensive than most carpets. *Sigh.*