Friday, March 13, 2009

Carpet, pets and kids: some solutions

You may have noticed that my KITV appearances have been slightly off recently. This is because we’ll be introducing our Grand Prize winners live on the air next Wednesday.

So for my segment just yesterday, realizing that a lot of people who entered our contest have been wanting to learn about flooring options, I decided to talk about one of our second-place winners.

The George family of Mililani was our sixth weekly winner, receiving $1,500 in carpeting generously provided by Marc Haine and The Floor Store. Their living room photo shows sadly soiled carpeting from their big old dog and their cute little girl. It definitely needed to be changed!

So here comes Marc to the rescue, and it was my job yesterday to show some of the options available to the Georges. Check out the video on our home page to see the three options that I showed—the Pirate’s Cove line (their “bullet-proof” carpet that’s soil- and stain-resistant), another one with pattern, and the new Precious Metals collection.

Now here’s what I didn’t have time to go into. The Georges are a second place winner, so they get the carpet but not the entire living room. They have to work with what’s already there. So what do they have?
They’re starting with what looks like a microfiber sofa. Good choice: neutral, easy to work with.

The Pirate’s Cove option would definitely help, given their big dog/small child situation—they may want to pick a complementary color or go with a deeper brown so it doesn’t blend in with the sofa. Better yet, a carpeting option that has a slight texture or pattern would add a little bit of interest to the room.

The Precious Metals collection also has a really good stain warranty, but with a higher price point, it might not be in the budget for their second-place prize (maybe they could upgrade?). Here’s a picture of a Precious Metals carpet with a candlestick to show how nicely it works with accessories and accents that have a metallic sheen.

Definitely throw color on the wall!

What seems to be the Georges’ focal point right now? The Bowflex exercise equipment! How about artwork? Even one of their daughter’s paintings, nicely framed, would add color and character.

Finally, I wrapped up with tips on underlayment. Even if you select a more inexpensive, thinner carpet, you can make it feel a bit more plush and expensive with the right underlayment, and it doesn’t have to break the bank.

A really good choice for those of us who have kids or big pets is the underlayment I showed. Because the moisture barrier is on the top as well as the bottom, you won’t retain any odor from doggie no-nos that otherwise get soaked into your pad.


Hope these tips have helped you. Congratulations again to the George family and thanks to The Floor Store for coming to the aid of a family that is serving our country.

And by the way, don’t forget, my KITV schedule is still slightly off—next week I’ll be on again, this time with the Grand Prize winners of our $30,000 Style My Room contest. Tune in at 6:45 a.m. to meet them!

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