Monday, June 22, 2009

Introducing Porter...Public Enemy #1 to floors and a fur-free existance

I forgot to mention yesterday that my husband and I have an 110 pound Bernese Mountain Dog named Porter. He is such a love and I really can't imagine life without him. That being said...he poses a major design challenge to anything that we might want to do to our house. 

In addition to the ungodly amount of fur he sheds, the 11o pounds of dog carried on four huge paws with a total of 20 claws can do some serious damage to gorgeous old pine floors.

The house has a nice entryway with a curved stairway going to the second floor. The stairs are in beautiful condition. How in the world will we keep them that way with Porter's travel up and down? While I'd love to keep the stairs free of any carpet, I think it will be absolutely necessary if we are to protect the wood from our monster dog. 

I've started researching carpet runners for the stairs, but I'm really not a fan of the normal, run of the mill, oriental-looking runners that you see on most stairs. Because the stairs in our new house have such a gorgeous curve, we'll need something that brings out the architecture, but allows for the curve. (And conceals dirt...)

After scouring Apartment Therapy for stair runners I found a comment listing Thomas Paul as a resource. Some of the patterns are too contemporary, but I love the colors. Here's one that I love:
 rugs
Unfortunately I don't think it comes in the colors I would need, i.e. dark enough to hide black fur. Also, it's most likely way out of my price range. The search continues. 

3 comments:

  1. perhaps you can look into collecting the dog fur, having it converted into dog yarn, and knitting a runner? i know a resource if you need one . . .

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  2. Umm...hilarious. Porter could admire his handiwork while going up and down. We'd probably have enough to wall to wall the whole house within a year. gross.

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  3. It's truly sick that I actually have a resource for dog fur yarn . . . and that it's my relative. Housewarming gift! Love this blog!

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