Before we go with the ball pit option

[mrissa]

Help! Where in the Twin Cities would you go to buy carpet?

Please assume:
1) I can ask Auntie Google if I just want to know a couple of stores that sell such a thing. What I want to know is where you would go, or possibly where you have gone and how it went.

2) If you would not buy carpet, your inclination against carpet is fine but not immediately practical for the question I am asking. We are considering other options as well, with parameters that are not completely standard, but what I am asking about right now is carpet.

3) Where you would not go, out of otherwise plausible-looking Twin Cities carpet-selling options, is useful information, especially if you give a reason.

4) I am asking about wall-to-wall carpet for installation, not individual rugs to be set out on other flooring.

In somewhat related news, they are staining trim in my basement, and oh the smell. I want to put my paws over my nose and howl. Hands don't seem to work quite the same way, alas.

Comments

[hypatia-j.livejournal.com]

I would ask Rachel for her mom's contact info.

[mrissa.livejournal.com]

Hmm. That's a lovely thought, but as I understand it Rachel's mom is a good hike from here towards St. Cloud, and I'm not sure I'm steady enough to deal with that drive.

[guppiecat]

Yay! A problem I can help solve!

;)

[mrissa.livejournal.com]

When I clicked the link, I had some hope that you were either going to tell me where to buy carpet or else recommend something that helps with the smell of varnish. Sigh. Ever-helpful, and yet.

[pezwitch.livejournal.com]

We purchased our wall-to-wall (and -to-stairs, and -down-the-stairs) carpet from Carpet One in Bloomington. I believe the price was reasonable, and installation went very well considering it was for the whole 2nd floor and thus had to be split over two days so that furniture could be moved from one side to the other. I'm not jumping for joy over them, because it's just carpet, but as far as carpet goes they were wholly satisfactory.

[guppiecat]

Yes. Well. :)

(I didn't have any useful advice on the others, and thought this might be a bit amusing at least... they same company has them in plain brown or grey, in case you wanted to be something other than a leopard.)

[mrissa.livejournal.com]

Oh, very useful, thanks! Now that you say it, I can picture it there in Bloomington. Bloomington is entirely within our grasp. Erm. Not in a supervillain way. At least not that I'm willing to admit here.

[miz-hatbox.livejournal.com]

That made me laugh. Thank you.

[miz-hatbox.livejournal.com]

The only thing I can think of that would "help" with the smell of varnish would be something that smells even more strongly--e.g. Vicks Vaporub under the nose. or else maybe a face mask with air filters.

[mrissa.livejournal.com]

The dog and I have been sticking our noses up against each other off and on since I got home. The smell of other housemammals is much better than the smell of varnish, and Ista isn't trying to get any work done.

[genevra.livejournal.com]

I use Angies List http://www.angieslist.com/angieslist/?cid=seo404 for finding service-people. If you'd rather not join it, feel free to contact me with the companies you're considering, and I'll look them up for you.

[txanne.livejournal.com]

Can I vote for the ball pit? No? ah well.

Seriously, I saw some bamboo flooring once, and ooh pretty. Not carpet, admittedly, but also not as many outgassings.

[hypatia-j.livejournal.com]

There is that yes.

[mrissa.livejournal.com]

I have stayed in hotel rooms with bamboo flooring, and it was indeed pretty. Our aesthetic preference would probably be wood or bamboo. However, we're trying to figure out whether we could make that sufficiently safe for me at this point, and that's why we're thoroughly investigating carpet with a good pad underneath it. Sometimes the difference between a painful fall and a debilitating fall is important. We'll see what we get figured out.

[txanne.livejournal.com]

Mai non-vertiginous privilege, let me show you it. Sorry about that.

[akirlu.livejournal.com]

Probably not actually helpful at all because you probably know all this, but just in case: whoever you go to, if you decide to go with carpet, check out the wool options. We had a wool berber in a rented house in Altadena, and it must have been 20 or 30 years old at the time and still looked like it had been redone just before we moved in, despite being a fairly light gray/neutral color. It looked way better than any of the much more recent carpeting in the house, and was the best wearing, easiest cleaning wall-to-wall I've ever lived with. Also, minimal outgassing, depending on the padding material.

On the other paw, it'll be hella expensive up front (though probably comparable figured over the life of the carpet).

[pmrabble.livejournal.com]

Every so often cork flooring goes on sale (just not in the rare times I can afford it!); we grew up with this in our homes in Richfield and Bloomington when my Mom had some issues similar to yours.

Empire Carpet is OK but not great - we only used them to put in a saleable quality carpet since we're putting the townhouse up for sale this month.

[carbonel]

I went with Empire to do my basement, and it was painless and reasonably priced. (I did price comparisons with a couple of other places.)

There wasn't a huge selection of colors, but the rep comes to your house with samples, which might be useful for vertiginous-type people. Also, the carpet has been holding up well after a year or so of use.

On the other hand, they're a huge national concern, so if you prefer to use local vendors, they're very much not it.

[mrissa.livejournal.com]

The problem with cork is that it keeps smelling like cork the whole time it's there. Alas.

[jenett]

Are you sure?

Bloomington might be improved by the right sort of supervillain. (Ones with style and the sense not to overmonologue. You and yours are the sort who would avoid the obvious pitfalls, as you have all clearly reviewed the "When I am the evil overlord, I will not..." lists.)

[mamapduck.livejournal.com]

In the "soft if you wobble" category for non-carpet consideration if you're still wistful about such things are tatami mats. They have a fair bit of give to them and while they require people taking of their shoes in the house, they might balance your vertigo with your aesthetics. My brothers flung each other to the ground on them for years and nobody ever even broke a bone.

I am not at all useful in the "where to go" category and part of me is still going, "but a ball pit would cushion your fall..."

[guppiecat]

They should totally make cork out of cedar.

:)

[rmnilsson.livejournal.com]

Yes, my mom's work is about 2 hours from your place. But she and her coworkers have experience with working with customers at a distance, since they do vacation homes for people out of state.

The benefit of working with my mom is that she's an experienced interior designer, good at asking questions about what you want and helping you to narrow the list of options to those suiting your needs. Since you've already painted, the wall colors would also enter into that process. You'd probably spend some time on the phone with her and then she'd send you samples to spend a little time with and choose between.

If that's not your interest, if you'd rather do the research and design yourself or you want to look at dozens of options until you find one that speaks to you, then her services may be less useful. But her boss has built a business undercutting bigger stores from the Cities, so you could always call for a bid once you know what you want.

Hennen's Floor Covering, Freeport MN, 1-800-472-9876. My mom's name is Cyrilla. She and my dad are returning from FL this evening, so I don't know whether she'll be working tomorrow or Saturday (they're open until noon Saturdays), but she'll be in Monday.

And I will absolutely not be insulted if I never hear from my mom that you called.

[rmnilsson.livejournal.com]

http://www.hennenfloor.com/

[mrissa.livejournal.com]

Useful. Thank you.

Also, was your mom named after the guy who standardized the Russian alphabet? Because that would be an awesome thing to name your child after. I like alphabets.

[rmnilsson.livejournal.com]

I think her parents just liked the name "Cyril" and decided to feminize it. I'm not 100% certain, because she is so clearly baffled and disgusted by her parents' choice that she can't really explain the rationale clearly.