Our first night in the new house...

Okay, so that title is a little cheeky. We haven't moved in yet. However, we did spend the night there. Why, you ask? Well, I will tell the story...

We'd been trying to decide about carpet for quite a while. We got a great deal on expensive padding on craigslist, but because we weren't buying the pad at full price from Home Depot, we couldn't get the carpet from them. We'd looked a few other places and weren't very impressed. We really needed to make a decision, because the carpet was the step that would unlock the puzzle piece of the gridlock downstairs, (how's that for mixing metaphors?) and we were running out of time. 

We get Clipper Magazine, where local businesses advertise themselves and their specials. There was a little flooring place in Rockville which was running a great-looking special, and they were Angie's List winners, which looked promising. We went to visit and ended up placing the order then and there. They're called Rockville Carpet & Floor Express, and we highly recommend them. We went with a fairly high-end carpet, with a 20 year warranty, because we plan to eventually rent this house and we wanted something that would last. We had thought from looking at other prices that we would have to settle for a cheaper carpet, because the high end was so much, but this place was having a half off summer sale! And they even knocked the price down because we already had padding, but they still installed the padding for us! We got the whole shebang for $2.35 a square foot, and all the installation was free! Praise God. 

The little glitch, however, was the installation date. When we ordered we chose a date which we thought would be perfect. As we got closer, though, we realized we just weren't going to be able to finish all the painting and all the trim in time. So we called to reschedule the installation date. Well, they could change it -- to two weeks from now. That wouldn't work at all. We were going to have to keep the date, which at this point was tomorrow morning. Well, okay then! Pray, and call in the troops. Christine, Daniela, Kevin, and Li'l J all heeded the call and performed amazingly. We made tremendous progress in a day. But... not enough. There was still a ton to be finished at 6:30 (when we had to end for our church's small group meeting), and the carpet was coming at 10 am the next morning. What to do? You college students out there know the answer... pull an all-nighter! :) And because Kevin and Li'l J are pretty much the best friends ever, they stayed with us! We worked until 6 am the next morning, and we made it. There is still a bit of touch up to be done, but we can do that with dropcloths. All the stuff that had to be in before the carpet made it in, and we were all cleaned up in time. It was actually kind of fun! Kind of crazy too, and exhausting, but thanks to great friends (and a few McDonald's runs to keep up the energy) it all worked out. Kevin and Li'l J, your crowns in heaven just got bigger. :)

Priming: 

Caulking trim:

Painting:

Painted:

Some of Jack's handiwork:

The new window sills:

The base for the built-in bookshelf that will go in the guest room, behind the washer/dryer (we still have to soundproof and build the bookshelf, which can come later, but the base had to be built to carpet around):

Tired, but done! 

And the next morning... they're coming!

Padding:

And, carpet! Yay! 

Cost:

Painting rollers: $5.50 (paint was free, Christine let us use her other supplies)

Casing and baseboard:  $120 (Home Depot pro packs, with coupon)

Carpet Padding: $85 (craigslist)

Carpet: $1644