Obviously I should have taken a Before picture instead of just throwing out the old carpet and putting in the new one, but I couldn’t wait even TWO MORE SECONDS. So what I’ve got is this photo of a post-bath kitten, in which you can see enough of the old carpet to get an idea of what it was like: it was an 8×10 bound piece of the kind of carpet found in classrooms and offices, in an assortment of blues. The main impression was of medium-dark blue, darker than it looks with the camera’s flash but not much.
We’ve had it for years and years, and it just looked TERRIBLE, and there were crumbs so embedded in it that the vacuum cleaner couldn’t get them up, and bits of play-doh mashed in, and various stains, and ACK, anyway, when I found a 7×10 carpet 75% off at Target today, I had that sucker out to the car within 5 minutes, even though it involved lugging a 7-foot carpet roll down the elevator and through the store and checkout and then folding down half the backseat so that the carpet could stretch from the trunk all the way to between the two front seats.
Then at home I had to move three large chairs, six stools, and a coffee table. THEN I had to roll up the old carpet, including somehow getting it out from beneath a heavy pine cabinet with a 115-pound fish tank on top of it. THEN William and I had to sweep up years worth of dust and crumbs and bits of carpet backing that were under the carpet, THEN we vacuumed, THEN we wiped the floor with wet cloths, THEN we lugged the new carpet into the house and put all the furniture back, including lifting the edge of the fish-tank-topped table again. That’s when I thought, “…Wait. Doesn’t this kind of carpet need some kind of non-slip mat under it?” Well. Let’s just put that out of our minds for now, shall we?
The recliners are pulled forward on it more than they will be: with our house rearranging, we’ve stowed bureaus in the living room behind the recliners. The carpet is more….what’s it called, Early American? than is our usual style, but I wouldn’t call our style Office/Industrial either so this is an improvement. And I think the dark turquoise leather chair keeps it from looking as if we MEAN it to be Early American. And the yellows and reds are the EXACT yellows and reds of our recliners and couch. And don’t we get pretty light in the living room in the afternoon? And could I not have troubled myself to pick that handkerchief off the recliner before taking this photo?
I also found this striped throw at 75% off—$2.49 down from $9.99. I think clearance Valentine’s stuff is excellent for a girly little girl’s room: lots of pink and hearts. In a previous year I bought Elizabeth a large heart-shaped pillow.
Both Valentine’s Day and Easter tend to have good clearance year-round paper plates. I can’t really use a Christmas tree plate in February, but I can give someone a heart-plate of brownies in May.
Pretty and impractical 75%-off dish towels! They’ll look grubby and stained within minutes! Nevertheless I love them!
Elizabeth’s class is doing Weather Week, and on one of the days they’re supposed to wear yellow clothes and sunglasses. And what did I find at Target? Yellow sunglasses, 75% off.
The problem with target clearance is that I’ve developed some sort of addiction/hoarder tendancies to throw blankets. At $2.50 I cannot resist them. That being said, I *heart* buying a calphalon pan set and knife block at 75% off each.
Dear Swistle – did you say you have an elevator in your Target? ….There are two story Targets? Be still my heart.
(And I think I must really get out more in the world.)
K- Yes! And furthermore, it has an escalator of the sort that a cart can ride on too! But it’s the same size as a regular Target, just divided into two floors: it’s in a mall and they moved into a space vacated by another store.
That is awesome. I love the colors on the towels you got – sometimes prettiness trumps practicality.
wow you have a 2 story Target? hunh no wonder ours feels like a neutered crappy k-mart
I succumbed to Target’s 75% off Vday clearance and ALSO bought a fleece blanket. It’s HUGE and has two sweet love birds on it! Totally worth the price.
I love Target clearance. It’s like Kohl’s clearance sales except I don’t have to wear everything.
You have wonderful finds!
I love getting new things for the house. Also, sometimes HAVING to move furniture to put new stuff away is the only way the floors underneath that furniture get cleaned. Heh. I have enough trouble trying to keep the floors I CAN see clean.
I really like the rug and the general color scheme, btw.
This pretty much makes me want to go to Target RIGHT THIS SECOND.
Love the rug and the sunglasses are perfect. Still, nothing ever seems to make me want to go shopping–just makes me want to go sit in your living room with a cat in my lap!
Some day I am going to take a trip to see you just to go to your Target with you.
Love the new rug! I bet it makes the whole room look brand new.
The new rug makes your little living area look so inviting, not to mention Pulled-Together, and I mean that in the nicest way possible.
This post made me smile from the first paragraph.
Then I got to the end, to Elizabeth’s picture, and now? I’m grinning.
I aspire to find as good of deals at Target as you do….
You are like Master Shifu…
Oooh – I love those towels! I skimmed right past the Valentine clearance the other day, which was clearly a mistake.
I have been in two story Targets in Chicago and St. Louis and cannot get enough of the cartalator thing. Our Target is the single floor variety.
Completely agree about the rug/chair combo. I love all your Target scores! Well done.
I LOVE that rug. Reds and yellows make my heart pitter-patter. Good find!
What is your secret, oh Great One? I can NEVER find anything good on clearance at Target. I have been contemplating that rug (actually the oval one but only because I’ve never seen the rectangular one) for MONTHS now. Was it something someone returned? Or were there others marked down? Regardless, I know what *I’m* doing tomorrow morning.
meanliving- There was another identical one marked down, and then there were two equally large ones but totally different types: plush, in brown and a blue that would have gone very nicely with the dark turquoise chair. BUT, I was at a different Target a few days ago looking for a rug and they had nothing. I think the secret is going embarrassingly often (with many trips yielding no good finds), and having three Targets within reasonable driving distance.
PRETTY.
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I also came to say that while the things you got were so awesome, I am more in awe of the 2 story Target.
Lu and I went yesterday and I didn’t even get a cart because I needed to be in and out. I was so proud of myself!!
Ok, we have a 2-story Target in my city and now I’m wondering if you and I are in the same place! I have never heard of such a wonder before I moved here. I’ve actually never even been to the fabled wonder-Target, but every time my husband goes there, there are cougars trying to pick him up. :)
Instead of BlogHer, there should be a Camp Swistle in which she shows us how to get more out of trips to Target.
We will help her move furniture and sweep, and we will take turns making our favorite cookies.
Oh, I was thinking when I saw your picture how much I really love your living room set up. With lots of big chairs? And how they match the carpet perfectly with the accent aqua color? I really like it.
And now I want to leave the office and dash to Target to see if they have Valentine’s stuff on sale still.
I love the bright springy colors! Yay!
And, as always, your bargain hunting skillz wow me.
I am in love with your rug! Sigh. If the people really come through today and buy our couches, I’m going to have to make a trip to target ASAP.
I’m sorry, but I cannot get over the idea of a escalator in a TARGET. Also, I love the new rug, I really do. I like the Early American look (as you say) mixed with your other stuff. Also, I love that all your kids have little stools. We have some too (our are plastic and came from IKEA, but basically the same size/shape) and we LOVE THEM. They are easy to carry and all of our kids use them everyday. They go up to all of our coffee tables AND kid-sized tables (we have 2 coffee tables and 2 kids sized tables). So versatile. And since I’ve been sick and wanting to eat lunch with Marin, she sits on her stool in the family room and eats her lunch while watching tv. I’m not sure why I’m waxing poetic about them, because you already have them and obviously use them and love them too (or you wouldn’t have 5). I’ll stop now…
My husband is off to Target anyway today, so I told him your rug story. He winked at me and said he’d check the clearance section. Our rug is so old that our new vaccuum cleaner is vaccuuming up its pile.
An ELEVATOR? In TARGET? Curiouser and curiouser! The rug is so bright and cheerful, very nice find. Also, I’m filing away the stools around the coffee table idea, that is very clever!
I love the rug! Plus, bonus Swistle in the last picture!