Once upon a time, there was a girl who wanted new carpet…
Her carpet was old, and brown, and boring, and old.
Did I mention it was old?
Back in July, we finally got new carpet installed throughout the house, which meant moving EVERYTHING out. It was a good time to paint, deep clean, and do all those things I generally put off and avoid.
This is my living room with the old carpet.
I thought it might be fun to share some before and after photos.
This piano has been in Captain Cavedweller’s family for several generations. The story we were told is that it came across the Oregon Trail and fell out of a wagon (taking a chunk out of the back corner). We since discovered the piano was manufactured in 1906, and I’m not sure how something that weighs approximately a jillion pounds could fall out of a wagon, but it’s a good story, anyway!
This couch used to have an obnoxious orange / brown / gold floral motif, courtesy of the 1960s. When CC and I wed, my parents gave us the couch and Mom helped me recover it.
As we were moving out furniture to get ready for carpet installation, I decided it was perhaps time for an update. After getting estimates on what it would cost to recover the couch, I abandoned that idea due to the ridiculous expense. So, I started looking for a new couch. Only I couldn’t find anything I liked.
What I really wanted was something new that looked really old. Then I happened upon an eBay listing that made me giddy with joy. It took all of three seconds for me to buy the couch and start making arrangements for shipping.
This couch is exactly what I wanted, and it has a fabulous story.
According to the seller, the couch was purchased in the 1920s, stored in an attic in its original crate and forgotten about until the family cleaned out the attic and the couch ended up at the seller’s antique store. She listed it on ebay and I bought it. So I got my “new” couch that is almost 100 years old that has never been used.
What you see in the photo is the original upholstery (which is pristine!) and the original woodwork!
With the new couch, I needed a new chair. I just happened to find one with matching woodwork on Etsy! Unlike my lovely couch, the chair has been used a lot and will be heading off to the upholstery shop for an update soon. But I’m super-excited to have found one that matched the couch.
You know how I mentioned the piano weighed a jillion pounds? Well, after nearly doing major injury to ourselves moving it out of the house into the garage while the carpet was being installed, we just couldn’t make ourselves move it back in. The piano has been basically nothing but ornamental for years since the inside of it needs gutted and and restored. The estimate for that came in close to what you would spend to purchase a new car (I’m still trying to recover from that shock!). So, we found a used piano that I loved and can actually play. It’s so fun to be able to make music again!
Our little “get new carpet” project (which I love!) turned into something bigger, but I’m so happy with the results.
Do you ever start what seems like a simple project and have it snowball into something more?
