Carpet Tile Samples (sitting in our Dining Room)
I hope everyone had a good weekend! We were in birthday party mode, which is great for the kids but not so good for getting much done. We did manage to put up a little bit more insulation in the basement. We realized where we were storing the extra rigid insulation (2′x’8′ pieces) is in an area that is about to be very difficult to access (at least for giant pieces of foam), due to the shower location. We carefully feed the 10 pieces through the studs of the shower and out to the large room in the basement. We also went ahead and put up every last bit that we could except for the final wall where we still need to wait on the pvc waste pipe to go in. So for the time being the large pieces are being stored in that area. We have also scheduled our trusty plumber to come by on Wednesday for the rough-ins for the bathroom, which we are almost ready for (a few small things need to go in first).
So anyway, back to my Carpet Tile Story. I decided to order carpet tile from an online store called Carpet USA after scouring the internet and a few local places for a good deal on carpet tile. They offer some INCREDIBLE deals on inexpensive carpet tile. I got to be my own guinea pig in this case and gave them a try. After spending a couple of hours sorting through their selections of $.69 sf carpet tile I decided on the one above. Of course I only had a picture to look at, not a nice sample to check the actual color. So the verdict? It is slightly different hue than the photo online, but definitely close enough that we are okay with it. In person I think the blue-green is a little more green and the gray has a slight hint of purple. The texture is nice (although quite thin since it is designed for office space) and the backing is nice and thick. So I think it is a winner! The most interesting part besides talking to the very nice southern guy from the store was going to pick it up!
Part of the good deal on shipping ($99) is due to having it either delivered to a work address or picking it up at the shipping terminal/warehouse. Since we live only a few miles from the shipping warehouse I went that route. The warehouse is in a strange area filled with lots of truck bays, semis and unmarked doors (right near the Philly airport)! I was over in the same area a long time ago picking something up. You definitely feel out of place. The first trouble I had was the address. The address covers 2 giant buildings. I had the name of what I thought was the shipping company so I drove slowly past all of the doors 3 times looking for it (while trying to stay out of the way of a bunch of trucks). I was driving our old Explorer which the kids have affectionately named “The Mommy Truck”, so at least I didn’t feel extremely tiny. After that I called the 800 number, which forwarded me to the local company. They assured me that I was at the right address and they were “in the middle”. So I drove around again without luck. I called again. This time she told me that the name on the door was a different name then the one I had been previously given. hmmm…isn’t that something that would be important to mention earlier? So I finally found the right door and parked. I walk in and they stared at me. The lady I talked to on the phone was confused because she assumed I was coming in a commercial truck. Interesting! Fortunately after I stood there for a minute another guy came out and said that he had my slip and to pull around to the loading dock. So me in my “little” explorer backed up into the semi sized loading dock and a guy with a fork lift brought out my tiles. It was a pretty funny sight! Fortunately when I had ordered the tile I had asked the guy about getting it into my car. He said that the carpet tile would be on a palette wrapped in plastic wrap and to just ask them to remove the plastic wrap and load it in (part of the deal is that they won’t help you put it in your vehicle). Fortunately the guy with the forklift gladly cut the plastic wrap for me and even helped me load it into the back of the truck. I had brought my work gloves and worn my old coat and in the end it took about 2 minutes once I backed up. I think next time I will opt for the business delivery!
Now I have to store the carpet tiles until we need them (probably about a month). For now they are still in the back of the mommy truck, but they may need to move into the garage depending on how everything goes in the next month.
Kolja Mirror from Ikea, $14.99
In other exciting basement news, I ordered the sconces for the bathroom. They should arrive today (stay tuned for pictures)! I am also rethinking the mirror above the sink. I realized that the old mirror may not fit comfortably with the sconces (and I don’t want it to look like I squeezed them in just for the sake of reusing the mirror). I am thinking of using a round mirror. I found this one at Ikea for $14.99 and the sconces should fit comfortably and it is even designed for wet spaces! I would also like to put a small glass shelf below, but I haven’t picked one out yet. I have also been looking at storage options for above the toilet, but haven’t found a clear winner yet. I think I might see what is at Ikea next week. I might go with a simple shelf and some metal wire locker baskets, which are quite popular right now.
Adjustable Glass Shower Door from Overstock, $584.50
We are also still unsure about what we are going to go about the shower door. I would like a pivoting glass door, but given the cost we may go with a shower curtain for now (since it would be easy enough to add later). My mom did find this one, the Dreamline Allure Adjustable 36-43″ shower door at Overstock. I also looked at some standard ones at Home Depot. The standard ones at Home Depot are all quite short, which I don’t like. I think we will need to see where the budget is when we get a little further along.
Anyone have any good leads on glass shower doors?
* To see all of the posts about our basement click here.
