The Carpeteria Blog

Have you seen any of the shows on television that encourage families to part with family heirlooms or collections only to spend the money on some desired purchase such as a hot tub? It seems strange to discard your heritage in exchange for a temporary luxury item.

On the other hand, having your heirlooms packed away in boxes isn’t much better. Would you like to bring your family’s past into your present? You can do it by building a vignette that tells a story about one or more of your ancestors.

This family decided to celebrate a great grandfather who studied butterflies. Some of his reference books and personal notebooks provide the background to the left on this table, topped with the magnifying glass he used in the field. One of his loveliest specimen boxes leans against a panel and his microscope is in the focal position on the table. Add a few photographs and some of his sketches and you have more than a display of older items; you have a story of part of your family’s past.

Maybe for you, a favorite story may involve some recipes and old kitchen tools from Great Aunt Violet, known as the baker in the family, complete with photos of her around the picnic table behind her house. Or a collection of old tools may be displayed in Uncle Michael’s toolbox, joined with a shot of him working, sitting on one of the bookshelves he made that you inherited.

Why not make your family’s past an integral part of your present, by taking a little time to create a vignette that represents a favorite relative or two from your past and sharing the heritage they gave you with yourself and others.

Imagine sitting at that beautiful piano to play on a nice afternoon. If you are a pianist, you will discover a problem immediately. This piano faces toward the window, leaving the sheet music in shadow rather than having the outside light fall on it.

Would you rather play at night? None of the lamps are close enough to give enough light to read music. Reading music requires as much light or more than what’s needed to read a book. While lovely, it’s clear that no one in this home plays.

Part two of what’s wrong with this picture comes from the window treatments. At the left, the window covering is a simple drape of fabric with some trim. The bow window, however, seems to have inspired someone to overdo. The same fabric and trim is overwhelmed by the rosettes at the window frames and the doubtful display of fabric in the middle of the window. You get the feeling that someone picked up one of those 101 window treatments books and lost their head.

If you clean up the windows, possibly eliminate that ruffled throw pillow on the sofa to the left and replace the flowered rug with one big enough to encompass the conversation area, you have a lovely room – as long as you don’t expect anyone to play that piano.

Sometimes a book can make you take a second look at an everyday idea or product. This is certainly the case with At Home, a new book by Bill Bryson. It focuses on things we take for granted in our homes and discusses how they developed over time.

This month all the newest in flooring will be shown at Surfaces, the largest flooring event in the U.S., so now is a good time to consider the start of flooring and the progress we’ve made.

Initially, homes were constructed to protect people from the elements. Not only were style and design unimportant, so was something as basic as comfort. Floors were simply the dirt a home was built upon, generally packed down.

Over time, wealthier people in England and other parts of Europe added layers of rushes over the dirt to keep down the dust and make the ground softer and warmer to walk on. These rushes were replenished about twice a year generally. However, don’t picture nice clean green grass or dry hay underfoot. People generally didn’t remove the old rushes; simply placing new rushes on top. This meant that floors were deep, natural havens for insects as well as worse options such as mice and rats.

Eventually wood, stone and tile replaced this practice, but choices were limited to what was available locally. Carpets, which often came from far away or were woven at home, were so valuable that they were hung on the walls or placed on tables. Certainly no one expected to walk on one.

It’s worthwhile to think of the challenges homeowners had in the past the next time you come into our showroom. You have an amazing selection of a variety of flooring materials gathered from across the world. Instead of picking up rushes, you can pick from our samples, and we will remove the old flooring before installing your new choice. And our rugs are meant for your feet, and are priced accordingly.

Common decorating mistakes are made time and time again. This post will point out common mistakes so you can avoid making them and rendering the ones already made in your home.

If you don’t love it, Leave it!: Do not use something that you don’t love. Just because something has been inherited or gifted and you feel it needs to be used, doesn’t mean you have to use it. If you don’t love something, donate it to Goodwill.

Define your own personal style: Don’t decorate according to the latest trend. Decorate around your personal style. You will enjoy your décor much longer than you would if you used a trendy style. Decorating around your personal style gives unique character to your interior.  If you’re sick of the white tile in the kitchen, replace it with a bright warming color.

Clear the clutter, Go chunky: Small accessories tend to make a space look cluttered and unorganized; not to mention the dust they collect. Simplify your accessories by replacing many small items with a few chunkier pieces. Chunky accessories make a space look clean because few are needed to replace many small items.

Research Color: Avoid making the wrong choice with color. Different colors spark different moods on a subconscious level. People associate color with. Research what colors you are considering for carpet, tile, paint, etc. in order to ensure the right color choice for the appropriate room and it’s use.

The most important advice we can give you is “Done is beautiful”. Incomplete spaces look uninviting and affect the people that live there as well as guests. Try not to get caught up in deciding the perfect look for a particular space. Find a way to complete spaces; they can always be modified down the road.