[FamilyFriendlyLife]

We will be moving soon into our new old house - interior has lead paint but all in good condition; i.e. no chipping, renovation disturbance, etc. All of the floors are either carpet or tile/linoleum, with the exception of one bedroom, which has a (lead)painted floor. We are not carpet people, and will eventually have new hardwood installed when budget permits. In the interim, we want to cover the painted floor in one large bedroom as inexpensively as possible; aesthetics are not a top priority. Thinking some sort of carpet might be least expensive option? Any alternate suggestions or source recommendations?

Thanks in advance for your input!

Kim

 

[UberMama]

Try looking on CraigsList for carpet. A lot of people put theirs up for cheap or free on there.

There's a tiny closet in one bedroom we're covering with cheap tiles from the dollar store. It's a very cheap and temporary option.

 

[Crunchy*VT*Mom]

The most inexpensive way would be to re-paint it with safe paint.

But carpet can also be extremely cheap.

 

[yeahwhat]

Commercial carpet is about the cheapest and easiest. You can buy it at home depot, etc.

Repainting it runs the risk of the paint chipping/scratching as furniture gets moved around.

 

[serenetabbie]

I do not like carpet either. However, until we can get our floors sanded (which is taking us much longer to do that I ever imagined)... I bought berber area rugs. I got one at Boscov's on sale for $60 for DD's room (9 X 12) and one the same size at Ollie's Bargan Outlet for DD's room for $45. They both fit into my hyundai station wagon with the seat down, so I did not pay shipping or anything

. Our rooms are fairly large, so they do not cover the whole floor, but most of it. For the hallway I bought three small matching rugs... one runner and two 3 X 5's for the landings. They were more $$ than I wanted to spend, but I really like them and plan to take them with us if we move, unlike the big rugs. In the bathroom I put down those peel and stick tiles. It is a small room, so I only needed one box of tiles. They were on clearance at Home Depot, so I got them for about $20. It was easy, I did it in an afternoon and it was a HUGE improvement. I suggest you do something like that in the summer though, the vinyl smell was horrible. I used to have an awesome cotton rag rug from Ikea until the dog ate it... that thing was great. It was small, 5 X 8, but you could put it in the washer/dryer. I forget what I paid for it 15 years ago, but whatever it was it was very little since I was just out of college. It was certainly worth the money!

 

[Alkenny]

Go behind your local carpet installation place and dumpster dive! Seriously! We carpeted our living room at our mobile home (we just moved from) that way. You would be surprised with what people get yanked up for new and what good condition some of it's in!