The new addition

I have a lot of updating to do, since the last post we've moved out of our horrible slum apartment in the Madison Punk neighborhood, and moved everything into our new house. We started unpacking, and as of this posting, the house is pretty functional...especially if you don't look in the garage and notice all of the unpacked boxes stacked out there. I'm especially happy to report that the kitchen was unpacked, set up, and produce a full curry dinner by the third night after moving in. However, a week after we moved in, we drove across the state to Spokane, spent a romantic night at the Fairfield Inn (including dinner at the Old Spaghetti Factory), and came back with a new addition to the family...

Introducing ARDBEG!

Here he is, all 3.3 pounds of wiener adorableness.

 Just to make this post house-related, note the cork flooring in the kitchen and den! It was installed by the previous owners, it's no original, but it's still consistent with the mid-century period. I love it, it's warm and sort of soft. Perfect for standing on for hours while simmering a curry, or sitting on while you're playing with a puppy.

Ted isn't quite sure what to think of him yet, but he seems pretty enamored with him.

Covering up the floor

Matt is piecing together the living room carpet. For the living and dining room we chose a "felt" carpet called "House Pet."

So we spent lots of money having the lovely white oak floors refinished, and the next logical step is to cover them up! Well, not really. But we knew we definitely wanted area rugs in the living and dining rooms. The dilemma was that we wanted nice-looking rugs but were unwilling to spend a lot because one episode of giardia (Ted, I'm looking at you) or a dish of lamb vindaloo too close to the edge of the table...and the rug is ruined. Solution? FLOR carpet tiles! Disclaimer: In no way do I benefit from extolling the virtues of FLOR or providing a link to their site, I just love the product that much. We designed and ordered our rugs online, even ordering the tiles from our apartment in Paris.

Always the critic, Tessa weighs in with her opinion.

 They were inexpensive, compared to area rugs of the same size. My favorite thing is that if a tile gets dirty, you just pick it up and wash it in the sink with water and dish soap. If it's really really dirty (again, Ted, I'm looking at you) you simply toss it and order a replacement...for $10 to $20 per tile, a lot easier on peace of mind and the pocketbook than a whole area rug getting ruined. Plus the variety of styles and colors seems endless and it's really fun to get creative and mix and match.

The wieners agree that carpet tiles are more comfortable than slick, cold hardwoods. And if wieners know anything, it's comfort.

Oh, and if you care (or pretend to care) about being green, many of their styles are apparently eco-friendly. The "house pet" style is made of 80% recycled materials. That was a nice benefit, and I could pretend to be smug and say that was important to us, but to be honest, my biggest concern is ease of stain removal. Or failing removal, camouflage of said stain. I have dogs, and I'm clumsy.

The felted appearance and the simplicity of the design seemed to fit in with our mid-century modern theme, and I think it's neutral without being boring. Thoughts?

Dining room.

Carpet in the den, "Morning Late."

Finished living room carpet. Note the awesome lamp Barb found at an estate sale and fixed up for us.