We took out a non-functioning wood stove and had a big gaping rectangular hole down at the far end for over a year.
We debated about carpet options.
And finally decided to go with carpet tiles.
I will admit that I had some fears it might end up looking like a hospital foyer or an airport hallway...
But in all honesty...I am so SO pleased.
Just thought I'd throw out the idea in case anyone else is in the process of looking into options.
Negatives:
--not quite as many options/colors/choices.
--not all that much cheaper than regular carpet.
--you are tempted to install it yourselves (which we did) to save money.
--it took us (er..um...Jason) two weekends to install because "we" had to take off the trim and paint.
--you can see the seams (but Jason convinced me that is very "in" now in the construction industry)...and really...I'm much more about "function" than "in".
Positives:
--you can install it yourselves (and can save money).
--if you have heavy pieces of furniture you can leave them in place and install in small sections.
--carpet tiles in homes have been popular in Europe for about a decade now...so this may just be the most "trendy" thing about us.
--if you get spills or stains, you can pull up one of the squares and replace it (we have 30-50 people come through our house on a weekly basis--not counting our own crew--so that is a huge plus).
--when "someone" spills peach pie on the carpet within 15 min. of finished installation it is no big deal.
I guess that is actually the main selling point for me.
I don't want to be worried about our carpet.
I don't want to get weird about asking people to take their shoes off (in Oregon that is very common because we basically live in MUD for 70% of the year).
