i apparently have no taste
For some reason many otherwise sane and sensible people (Hannah, for instance) claim to prefer hardwood floors to carpet in their living areas.
As far as a "classy" look goes, I concede that a nicely polished hardwood floor has its merits. And in a kitchen, it's definitely better looking than vinyl. But other than that -- when we're talking about living room, family room, bedroom, etc -- hardwood is from Satan.
Hardwood is cold -- both physically and visually -- not cozy. It makes a room feel inhospitable. The dust it collects is clearly visible and gets on your socks. You can't lie down on it. One of my favorite things is lying on the floor in a cozy carpeted house. You can play games with your kids or read a book or wrestle or nap or whatever. If I had a TV, which I don't, I would want to lie on the floor to watch it. Why in the world would you limit yourself to only sitting on chairs/sofas if you don't have to?
"Oh, just put down area rugs," you say, because you are stupid. As if that makes any sense to anyone except a crazy person. Let's see, I want hardwood floor, but I'm going to cover it up with carpet, but not the part around the edges of the room, so what I get is essentially a carpeted floor just like wall-to-wall carpet only not as padded and the surface area is smaller. Yeah, that's a winner for sure.
If you're allergic to dust mites or some other weak crap like that, then fine -- dont' have carpet. But for the rest of us, carpet is what distinguishes us from Piltdown Man. (How about your bed -- do you sleep on a big rock? Instead of blankets, why don't you just cover yourself with dry branches? Or bury yourself in gravel? That would be good, and it's the equivalent of having floors made of wood when you can have them made out of soft warm carpet.)
Okay, I think my position is clear.
posted by Rob @ 12:43:00 AM
9 comments
9 Comments:
oh, my friend, where does one start??? hahahaha :) That was great. I don't necessarily AGREE with you on all points, but I understand your points. I've heard this sad tired commentary many times from a certain male member of my own household. FINE! Have dumb carpets that are always spotty-looking and you have to be so careful about ever eating or drinking on. Have carpets so you can wrestle and rough-house in the living room and break the few nice things I own. (We just can't have nice things.)
But I do agree on many of the points, I grudgingly admit. I might pass on the dry branches. You experiment and let me know.
(my word verification keeps cussing: fkznt)
I'd have to agree with you, Bryan. I am a carpet lover, however there are areas of the house where it is a necessity to have tiles or vinyl, or whatever (ie. the kitchen, bathroom, toilet, laundry). I love going around barefoot, so the feel of carpet underfoot is wonderful. Nothing worse than on a cold winter's morning, stepping onto a cold hard floor. In summer I don't mind it either. I tend to get sweatier feet(yuk !) on hard floors, than I do on carpet floors. Carpets can be harder to clean, but if you mop up spills as they occur, you don't need to have yucky marks. That's my opinion, anyway !! It is a personal choice, in the end. Each to his own.
YES! Thank you. You and I are one on this topic. It thrills my soul to hear you so eloquently express the deepest passions of my, um, soul.
It's a gender thing. My theory is that women are so accustomed to trading comfort and convenience for aesthetics, they come to expect it in every corner of their lives. Thru the ages, after all, they've tolerated bustles, corsets, girdles, nylons, high heels and makeup. And over the centuries, natural selection has heavily flavored the gene pool in favor of those with the highest tolerance for discomfort-in-the-name-of-beauty, so the women we live with today think this exchange is normal and good.
Which is great, yeah. And we thank them. But then then they start to expect the same of us, and that's just wrong.
I didn't say it was a good theory.
Great, I see Meow has snuck in on the correct side of the carpet question, which-- some might argue-- leaves aspects of my gender-link theory somewhat compromised...
until the day i get rid of my dog (by the way, anyone want a dog in like 6 months?) i need hardwood, tile, and wood-like laminate floors. no matter how much you brush him, he sheds an entire new dog every other day.
seriously, that doesn't make you want him?
Sorry, Bryan -- I like hardwood floors with rugs on them. You can change rugs without calling in professional carpet layers, it looks nicer, and you can mop up spills, etc. etc. It disturbs me that you have a point of view different from mine. What's wrong with you, anyway? I'm also wondering about the gender link for this preference. Do you think this means I'm.. you know? (Not that there's anything wrong with that!)
I love carpet in my living room....although I currently do not have anything more than a throw rug.
I also love my hardwood floors. My floors are much better than the carpet that was in the house when we moved in. There are definatly pros and cons to each.
Nice carpets on a cold night with a fire in the fire place - now that is cozy!
Cold hardwood floor on a cold night with a fire is elegant...yet cold.
Getting knocked out by your 5 year old on a nice carpet...ok not so bad...
Getting knocked out by your 5 year old on a hardwood floor = headace
Carpets = constant carpet cleaning, vacuuming, spot checking
Hardwood floor = constant sweeping and more sweeping oh yeah and more sweeping.
This post is well timed. My wife is trying to wean me off carpet one room at a time.
We put hardwood in the dining room soon after we moved into the house. Now she is working on the spare bedroom, the hallway and possibly the living room. There are food, coffee and pee stains (from our dog) but I have been combating this with one of those Hoover carpet cleaners. This has helped me hang on to the remaining carpet in the house. Well just the other day the dog was obsessed with a smell coming from under the house and pawed and scratched a big hole in the spare bedroom carpet. This is just the ammunition my wife was looking for. I think I will loose this battle soon. Hey, maybe a throw rug on top of the carpet “Yea that’s the ticket”
By the way: unca, don’t be such a carpetbagger. Be a carpet “Man”
Also: Cal, I liked your trading comfort for convenience survival of the fittest theory. This could be why women live longer than men. Women convince men to have hard floors in their homes. Men can’t take this because they aren’t used to being uncomfortable and die.
Thank you for all your comments. For those who disagree with me, you are wrong and I am right.
In the 17 yrs of my marriage, there were only a couple of times I took a non-compromising position on something (ie, "Absolutely not. That's going to happen only over my dead body.")
The replacing-the-family-room-carpet-wth-hardwood idea was one of them.
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