Doggies

In lieu of actual content, please enjoy this photo of our mutts.

That's the basement, which is currently being (slowly) redeveloped into a family room.  In the background, you can sort of see the patio that was last fall's project.  Provided you can see past the dog-snot-encrusted sliding doors, that is.

Comments

[Anne]

Hey! The dog on the right looks to me to be part Norwegian Elkhound! Cool!

(My mom raised them and I used to show them, in the long long ago.)

[Joe]

Captions.

Smithers: Yo, yo. You best not be messin' wit our basement crib. Turnin' into no room fo that kid.

Kelsey: Word.

[Julie]

You can also make out at least two pieces of big plastic kids furniture on the patio. We swore we were not going to have big plastic things in our house, however, our friends had other ideas. I think it is some kind of payback in their minds.

Here's a summary of the different personalities of our mutts:

Smithers - "Give it to me, NOW!!"
Kelsey (part Norwegian Elkhound) - "May I have it please, pretty please?"

[My Brilliant Mistakes]

For your family room carpet, you really need to take a look at InterfaceFLOR, despite -- or perhaps because of -- its crazy euro-name, which seems to be pure affectation as the company is based in Chicago ... but I digress. Here's the website:
http://www.interfaceflor.com/service/flor/index.html

Most of the styles are on the high end of moderate, but the price is so, so, so worth it. I'm sure of this every time one of my cats throws up in the middle of the living room, which is at least every week. I can pick up the soiled square (or squares, as is so often the case), walk to the sink, wash it off, prop it somewhere to dry, then put it back in place. Easy peasy.

I would think with kids and dogs and easy access to the muddy outdoors, your rec room would be well-served by modular flooring. Plus it's so 1960s suburban -- the house of the future!