Front Porch: Home update offers dizzying array of choices

No matter how well you care for your carpets and home decor in general, a time comes when things need change. Protruding carpet tack strips, delamination of countertops and all the ravages of time necessitate replacement eventually. Either that or live among the tatters.

I know there are many people – including most of my friends – who relish picking wallpaper, coordinating drawer pulls with granite patterns and the whole process of interior decorating. I wish I had that gene. Not that home decor revision doesn’t produce lovely results, but it’s a stressful thing for me. Besides, I am so decidedly not good at it.

Thirty years of living in our home has brought me to this point. Ours is a 1970s house, and the interior design reflects it. I still like the appointments; it’s just that they’re getting a bit threadbare. The fact that things in my home are clearly dated doesn’t bother me. Today’s trends become tomorrow’s passé decor, so I may as well stick with what I like.

But I do want things to be in decent shape and function well (repairing scratches on cupboards versus replacing them, for example). But when living room carpet is fraying and wallpaper is separating vertically and rolling off a bathroom wall in sheets, well, it’s time to put on my big girl pants and dive into decorative repair.

This acceptance coincided with my discovery of HGTV. Not long ago I was in a doctor’s waiting room where a TV program was on, one in which a decorator was redoing the home of a family and a real estate agent was looking for a new home for them, at the end of which the family would choose whether to stay or buy a new place. The pseudo-drama was kind of cheesy, yet I was embarrassingly mesmerized.

I investigated further and found that Home and Garden TV has myriad such shows, and I have gotten acquainted with Ben and Erin, Chip and Joanna, Deron and Page and a few others who tear into homes on reality TV in efforts to improve them. I am both aghast and compelled. Trashing with glee perfectly good kitchen cabinets, sinks and other items that could surely be donated or reused elsewhere seems outrageous to me. Yet there are some interesting ideas out there, and I need all the help I can get.

What I have learned from my viewing is that if an appliance isn’t stainless steel, it must be replaced. Also, everyone must have an open concept design, a soaking tub, dangly light fixtures, an apron sink, French doors, hardwood floors (carpeting is passé apparently), a pot filler above a gas range, a fireplace (even in hot and humid Mississippi) and fluffy pillows on every horizontal surface outside of the kitchen. And when homeowners and buyers see the transformation, they find everything amazing.

Happily, I want none of those things, so I haven’t consumed the Kool-Aid (yes, I’m being a condescending reverse snob here while I continue to judgmentally watch) … but I’ve been inspired to do more than I had originally intended, though I will be doing it over the course of time, as budget, disposition, tolerance and patience only go so far.

Living and dining room carpeting plus carpeting for the stairs came first. I wanted to get something as close as possible to what I was replacing. Ha. That kind of sculpted carpet no longer exists, nor does the color. With the help of a consultant, I narrowed choices, then I had some women friends who do have the gene come over to offer opinions. I photographed the samples and sent them to others whose opinions I valued.

I should point out that my lovely (but officially color blind) husband – who was happy to live with what we have and put some throw rugs over the carpet rough spots – was relieved to just take a back seat role and voluntarily stayed out of the way. Still, it does, apparently, take a village to decorate a house, at least my house.

At the same time, since the walls in our hall bathroom look like they’re melting, I pored through wallpaper books. Who knew there were so many? Plus there’s a small countertop in the bathroom that has deteriorated. I’m good to go with a laminate again, so I need to coordinate wallpaper with countertop. With temples throbbing, selections have been made after new visits by advice-giving friends and photos emailed to those out of town – plus the reality of learning that the chosen laminate is no longer available, nor is the second or third choice. And I’ve decided to just do touch-up work on my solid but no-longer-in-style bathroom vanity. No sledge-hammer demolishing in my house!

There are other projects to come (thank you for that, HGTV), but here’s where we are now. The bathroom upgrade takes place this week. Carpets were laid earlier this month. And the marriage is still intact.

And as for those carpets, I am not embarrassed to say they really do look amazing!