Once it was decided that we had to finish the upstairs, the electrical, drywall, trim, and paint went up pretty quick. (Remember all the rooms were already framed.) A huge downside to finishing the space is we knew we’d have to compromise on flooring. Thus history was made…
The Wills went shopping for carpet. (Dramatic much?) We’ve had 2 previous houses (2.5 if you count our downstairs since it’s technically finished), and we’ve replaced all the flooring in both houses even still shopping for carpet was a first for us. We’ve never bought/shopping for carpet ever in the history of Wills casas if you’re wondering that’s like 9 years almost a third of our life and basically all of our adult lives. Uncharted territory for sure.
I was immediately drawn to this patterned carpet. It reads diamonds in the picture, but it was more of a scallop pattern. It took me all of one day to get tired of it. It was $2.84 a square foot without pad or installation.
This square pattern carpet was a pretty good option. It was $2.73 per square foot (again without pad or installation as all these prices will be). It wasn’t that soft, but I liked the pattern.
For comparison sake, we found another carpet that had a square pattern. It was only $1.94 per square foot. I didn’t care for this option. It felt busy and the color options weren’t that great either.
I found 2 basic carpets sans pattern to take to the house as well. They were both around $1.60 per square foot. We weren’t thrilled with our choices in the warehouse, but all the samples looked much better in the house. Amazing what natural light and white walls can do for a carpet sample.
We knew we couldn’t go to light on the color because of the playroom and general shenanigans that will happen upstairs with our kids and my crafting. We also didn’t want to go too dark since dark carpet shows every piece of dirt even if it hides stains.
We went with the middle sample. It’s a basic one color carpet that’s not too light or dark. It’s soft and reasonably priced. It didn’t make sense to buy the patterned carpet. Neither of us were thrilled enough to spend over a $1 more per square foot (there’s like 1400 square feet up here – playroom, office, media room, guest bedroom + a bathroom that is not carpeted but still up here.).
Here’s my office. It’s got a little nook to the right and 4 (!!!) windows. Blogging headquarters y’all. I’m really excited to have my own space to craft and what not.
One good thing about having carpet up here is it helps with the noise. It muffles all the bouncing, screaming, and playing that the kids will do up here, so Nick can get work done downstairs in his office. Once it was installed there was a significant difference in the noise level which will only get better once we have rugs, furniture, and things throughout the house.
Nearly there folks…as if we haven’t been saying that for months.
FYI we were nominated for Apartment Therapy’s Homies Award for Best Home Project & DIY Blog. It would be so amazing if you could stop by and vote for us!! We would so appreciate it!
I am with you on preferring hardwood over carpet. But when it has to be, it has to be and I think you chose a great option! It looks so uhm finished now
Did you secretly move in yet? Can’t be long now…
I am curious to see what Little Green Notebook does with her upstairs. I bet it’s going to make me want to pull up the carpet. I think when we move in there will be no way we can do it secretly. There will be an endless party and lots of instagramming.
We too put in carpeting (actually just replaced some old carpet when we moved into our house) on our stairs and bedroom instead of refinishing the hardwood underneath. One day we will fix up the wood floors, but it was just easier/faster for now to do carpeting. I like the neutral color you chose!
Easier and cheaper for sure! I am all out of creative solutions at this point. Also I had zero time to make any decisions since the upstairs was kinda sprung on us. I’m happy with the carpet though. It makes sense up there and looks good.
Ack–almost there! Love that room up there–so much light! Our only carpet (now that it’s finally out of our bathroom!) is in the bedrooms upstairs. I look forward to getting rid of it all someday, but it’s already SO NOISY with kids trampling overhead that I worry…..
How about you replace your flooring first and tell me how it goes…
I need someone to test run hard surfaces upstairs!
i think it’s perfect! i love the cooler tone to it as well.
Ah thanks Cassie. It’s definitely a great base. I have no idea what I’m going to do up here yet as far as decorating. I have too much to focus on downstairs first!!
This looks so great! I think the carpet upstairs is definitely a great choice for sound. Our hardwoods upstairs are noisy. But, they are so pretty.
But I think your new flooring is lovely, too. Great pick!
So you’re saying it’s a give a take. Pretty means noise. I might be able to justify that eventually or never. Either way.
Ahhhh, I do love it even though I hate my upstairs carpet but that’s because of my kids and cats 😉
I chose a beautiful carpet!
I can see how cats and carpet don’t mix…and kids too. I figure my dogs are way too lazy to make it up the stairs. They might check it out once, but that will be it. I fear any type of flooring with my kids though. So messy!!
That office nook is so sunny and happy! Yay!!! xo Kristin
Now to get furniture up there…well actually I should just focus on finishing and closing on the house!!
I know a second floor loft is different than your set up, but I have carpet upstairs and the pros have outweighed the cons (with one exception being the very HUGE con that it’s ugly and ugly things make me sad and angry). It is a surprisingly good noise buffer (guess I didn’t realize how important that was right away) and was cheaper (in our case, we don’t even have a decent subfloor so putting down wood is truly more trouble than it’s worth.)
That said, I’ve been pleasantly surprised by how much it fades into the background once furniture is in. I scored a beautiful oriental rug on Craiglist which has gone OVER the carpet to add color and class. It’s not a perfect solution but it makes the carpet even less noticeable.
Interesting. It still seems super loud around the house, but I think that’s just because it’s still so empty. I’m sure there will be a significant difference once things are actually in the house to absorb the sound of Ramona screaming and jumping around. I know carpet is probably the best solution for up there. Beckett will have some soft space to crawl around. Lord help me when that happens.
OK, totally from left field…are your doors wooden or fiberglass? Paint color of the walls and paint color for the doors again (I think this is my third time asking…forgive me…deleted text message debacle…). It looks fabulous. I love that the carpet is not to peanut buttery…just the right amount of brown/taupe so it is not an eyesore but a nice true neutral.
I am considering not approving your comments anymore!
The door are wood. The downstairs are solid core, but the upstairs aren’t. They look exactly the same. The walls are Pure White and the doors are Tricorn (I think). The trim is 6 inches.
P.S. what size trim is that…5 inch or 6 inch?
Yay! It looks alot like the carpet we picked, which has done really well at hiding junk and is more than sufficient (for carpet).
With my 2 I think hiding junk should probably be priority #1 for flooring, so good to know!
I’d roll around on that carpet so good. I think you made an excellent selection!
When you say “I”, you really mean Evelyn right? Because that’s what I just told Beckett!