There’s yet another new addition at the farm, and this one is soft and fuzzy and warm and brings me much joy.

These are happy feet, in case you can’t tell. The novelty of going down to the basement without first putting on shoes still hasn’t worn off.

Our new carpet was installed on Friday, and the difference it makes in the basement is amazing.

After the nasty, stained, old carpet that came with the house and the bare concrete that we’ve been looking at for the past 8 months, even just the sight of the underpad going down was an incredible transformation.

Our installers likely thought I was slightly odd given how I cooed over the underpad as soon as it was installed

Between the underpad and the carpet, the basement floor is extremely cushy on our tootsies–and our tushies, which is handy given that we currently don’t have any furniture.

Matt and I have both spent time sitting on our imaginary couch across from our imaginary TV. The shelf standing in for a TV stand is real, for anyone who’s wondering if they’re seeing things.

When it comes to selecting carpet, the array of choices is somewhat befuddling, in my opinion. Matt and I made our decision very quickly, mostly because we wanted the carpet installed as soon as possible so that this renovation could be finished as soon as possible.

Here’s the details:

Who: Alexanian in Burlington, Ontario. They have a good local reputation and had been used by a few people we know, including Matt’s Dad.

What: Spillguard underpad, the thickest offered by Alexanian, topped with a nylon cut loop carpet in a light beige colour

Why: For the coziness. I know carpet isn’t a lot of people’s first choice for flooring, but for a basement, it’s at the top of my list. In terms of the specifics of what we chose, I probably would have gone with a Berber or loop carpet. However, Matt prefers the plusher feel of the cut loop carpets, so I deferred to him on the texture while I chose the colour. I may regret going with such a light colour someday, but I really wanted something neutral.

Where: The whole basement, about 1100 square feet, including 11 stairs.

All of the stairs, including risers, stringers and treads, got carpet.

Carpet installation is a major milestone in the basement renovation. We still have some paint touch-ups to do, light fixtures to install, (don’t talk to me about the bathroom that needs to be tiled), and a few other finishing touches, but overall the basement is now livable and useable. And it looks fabulous.

As much as I disliked that concrete floor, it did have one nice element.

A secret message commemorating our renovation

Is it too harsh to say I’m hoping that we never see this message again?