When my husband and I bought our house nearly 12 years ago, we did a complete renovation. Walls were torn down, floors were torn up and every single room got a fresh coat of paint…or three.

We were in a hurry to get things done because we hated living with the mess and about four months into the renovation, I got pregnant. That really caused us to speed up the process. As a matter of fact, the last bit of carpet was installed the day before my daughter was born.

Because we felt rushed, we made some mistakes along the way. I chose wallpaper because they had enough rolls in stock, not because I actually liked the pattern and I picked white grout for our kitchen and back entrance, because I didn’t consider how quickly a dog and future children would muddy it.

But, by far, the biggest mistake we made was in choosing our flooring. We made bad decisions on the color of carpet, we bought cheap vinyl for our bathrooms and we used contract installers from out of town. If I could rip up those floors and start from scratch I would.

This is one reason that I am so thrilled with the new carpeting in our mudroom. It looks good, it was installed perfectly and the color and texture are just what we needed. You know why? Because it was researched by a trusted Rite Rug employee who steered us in the right direction every step of the process. We also bought an area rug from Rite Rug years ago and it is the only other flooring purchase I’m truly happy with.

And now someone else has the chance for some flooring happy! Rite Rug has generously offered a $199.00 gift certificate to one of my lucky readers! You can use it for the purchase of an area rug, or new bathroom floor, or put it toward new wall-to-wall carpet. The choice is yours!

To enter, first make sure you live near a Rite Rug location. If your home is within the vicinity of a Rite Rug store, just leave a comment here before Friday, November 6th at noon EST. Please leave me a valid e-mail address so I can contact you if you’re the lucky winner!

Good luck, everyone!

**UPDATE**

Congratulations to Shelly…AGAIN! Last time, my daughter picked your name out of a hat and this time my son did.

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I would like to introduce you to the latest thing to make my heart go pitter-patter. My mudroom. One sure way to make a woman happy is to give her family a place to declutter before entering the house.

This room at the back of our home has gone through a few transformations. When we moved in almost 12 years ago, it held the debris from the complete home renovations we did. If these walls could talk they would probably say they heard a lot of cussing back then.

After that, it contained hand-me-down furniture from my mom. It was lovely, but way too over sized for our small porch. You could barely walk through the room let alone sit in it.

Last summer we decided to make a change and finally start using this space the way we’ve always intended. We bought a table and chairs off of Craigslist which makes a great place for the kids to sort through their backpacks after school. We also purchased a storage ottoman that not only holds our patio cushions, but is also where the kids can sit down to take off wet or muddy shoes.

Yet, we made those changes and the room still looked horrible. Why? Because the flooring was astroturf. There is nothing, and I mean NOTHING you can do to make a room look better when the floor is covered in astroturf.

Then like an angel swooping down with carpet-covered wings, I got an e-mail from Rite Rug asking if I would like to be part of their 75th anniversary celebration. They wanted to know if I had a mudroom that needed a makeover. Did I ever! I was thrilled with the idea of walking out the back door without feeling like I needed to suit up first!

Now there’s no more astroturf. In its place is this gorgeous, green carpet that was covered in mud the day it was installed. And, you know what? I never even knew. My husband waited for the mud to dry, then vacuumed it right up. It’s pretty carpet that cleans up nicely and you don’t even need cleats to walk on it!

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