About 9 months ago, when my partner and I decided to make the big move from Southern California to the Bay Area, we had no idea how difficult the apartment hunting process would be. In my mind, there were two deal breakers ... and, let's just say, they broke a lot of deals.
One -- The place had to allow pets (two fur balls were in tow).
And, two -- The place had to have hard flooring. No carpet, I insisted. Absolutely no carpet ...
I have a thing against carpet. I grew up in a small suburban home with wall to wall carpeting in every room, and it never bothered me (although, when I daydreamed of living on my own, the place in my head always had dark hardwood floor and exposed brick).
My issues with carpet are ingrained and probably stem from an apartment I lived in about three years ago. It had thick, berber-like carpet. One morning, I discovered a whole family of baby spiders living along the edge of the carpet, in a corner of the main room. Visions of mini-spiders infesting every inch of the carpet haunted my dreams. I never flopped down on the floor to watch a movie again.
Now, I pretty much refuse to consider apartments with carpet. And, as I've tuned into the world of green living and indoor air quality, I see it's not such a bad thing to do. Your everyday carpet, especially if it's new, off-gasses toxic chemicals. Carpet also traps all types of dirt, dust, and allergens.
Not too long ago, Jonathan wrote a great post on how to get rid of carpet. I'm tagging it in case I'm ever in a situation where a carpeted home is my only choice.
Of course, there are green carpeting options like Flor, Nature's Carpet and Earth Weave. I imagine these would be great alternatives if you're someone who enjoys the warmth and softness of carpet.
What are your thoughts on carpet?
image via flor
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I hate wall to wall carpeting. But if you live in an apartment over someone else, you owe it to your neighbors to have a large padded rug. It may not be your aesthetic, but it's vital to the well being of others. My upstairs neighbors do not have a rug that I can tell - do not remove their shoes - and move furniture at all hours of the night. Well past midnight. And my quality of life is greatly compromised.
view jblue's profile
I hate it. We finally tore up our rug when we had a small child and a cat. I didn't want to use chemicals to get rid of the cat's flees and the rug got so inundated with them you couldn't walk around in bare feet because the flees would jump out and bite you.
We tore up the rug and spackled and painted the subflooring. It's been far less than perfect, but our landlord wouldn't pay for anything and we knew we'd be leaving in a couple of years. I still think it looks and feels a million times better than carpet. Much healthier too. Rugs need constant vacuuming too, which is a total waste of our precious hours on earth if you ask me.
view SFGail's profile
Any ideas for an inexpensive eco-friendly floor surface for my finished basement?
view Rachel Abrams's profile