It All Started with a Snag

It started with a single snag.

An innocent, tiny tuft of carpet, sticking up among the uniform beige Berber blanketing the living room. For years that little blemish sat ignored and unbothered, like the only fan doing the wave in a stadium full of bored spectators.

And then one day, our newest pup Darcy discovered it. That day, she learned a whole lot about Berber carpet. Like that a single tuft of fibers, a mere quarter inch in size, could grow to a pile of fuzz bigger than she was merely by yanking on it.

And that was exactly how I found her one day in early November when I came home: surrounded by an enormous pile of freshly pulled carpet, looking very pleased with herself. Unfortunately, it was far too much fun to simply quit cold turkey. Since then, she has created many more matching bare spots around the living room carpet and into the hallway.

Remarkably, she’s still living.

And that’s when an idea took root.

You see, when we moved into this house four and a half years ago, we already knew that we hated the carpet and wanted hardwood floors. Unfortunately, we had what could possibly be the world’s worst kitchen – both in layout and design – and didn’t want to redo the floors when we knew we were going to be changing the kitchen layout someday.

Well, once our carpet began to resemble swiss cheese, that small idea that had taken root began to grow. With interest rates what they are, perhaps we should refinance and fix both the floors and the kitchen.

Just think! No more dingy, holey carpet. No more worn indentions from the *previous* owner’s furniture, or permanently stained pathways from the dogs continual journey from the lake to the living room. No more struggling with RugDoctors, only to have the stains reappear a month later, bigger and badder than before.

And the kitchen – oh to have a new kitchen. Kitchen cabinets that actually close (or open, depending on the cabinet) and shelves that wouldn’t collapse under the weight of cereal boxes. Drawers that are wider than 10” and don’t require opening the dishwasher in order to access. A sink that doesn’t face a blank wall and the stove in a place where it can have a vent. And, joy of joys, no more ugly melamine cabinets sold exclusively for garage use sitting in my kitchen, yellowed and peeling. Oh, the bliss *sigh*

Well, guess what …We are totally doing it! Tomorrow morning, we are set to close, and soon I will be hard at work ripping out the old and putting in the new. *putting on my renovation queen tiara* The crazy thing is that, despite nearly murdering my husband the last time we installed hardwood floors, I am totally stoked to roll up my sleeves and get started.

And no, that doesn’t give you permission to remind me of this statement when I start grumbling about how much it sucks to be in the middle of a renovation. ;)

So there you have it, the story of how one little loose piece of carpet and one bored puppy combined to create a full house renovation. And here I thought a shelter dog would be cheaper…

Any advice from you renovation veterans out there? And have any of your pets/kids ever done something that snowballed into something MUCH bigger?? Are we crazy for undertaking this project??

So what’s my recipe for the week?

Takeout. Lots and lots of takeout ;)