Carpet Standoff

Just about the only item left on the list for finishing our basement is installing carpet down the stairs and through the hallway. The rest of the basement is hard floor. Yesterday we were looking at carpet options and a brilliant thought came into my mind. Since we're carpeting anyway, we may as well replace the bottom-of-the-line, poorly installed, {pretty sure} not-padded, "stain attractant resistant" carpet in the living room of the main floor. It's a small enough area and wouldn't add much cost, all things considered.

Steve of course is not a fan of the idea. Afterall, we just moved in 10.5 months ago and are the first to live in this house. I get it, I get it. Of course, it's silly right? OH, but look again:

Exhibit A: Just tonight I used a yard stick to knock a toy out from under the couch, and when I upset the carpet under the couch, a small cloud of dust erupted in front of my face. Yes, you read that correctly. Completely disgusting. So I immediately asked Steve to hold the couch up so I could vacuum every square inch underneath "at least five times, so bring your A-Game." I then spent over 20 minutes vacuuming one room. I stayed in one stationery spot, pushing the vacuum forward and back six times, then moved one vacuum width to the left, and so on. Even after all that, I can't get the carpet to fluff back up. It's all nappy and matted down.

Exhibit B: We moved into this brand new house 3 days after last Christmas, but before that, it sat empty, collecting dust for seven months. Must be how the dust cloud formed, and only vacuuming once before moving in and putting the couch over that spot just wasn't enough. Apparently. What else could be hiding between those cheap, baron threads?

Exhibit C (featuring Comic Sans, just for Meisha): Too bad this photo can't quite show you how dark this stain is. It was cleaned up less than one minute after happening, but that stain attractant just held on toooo tightly.

Exhibit D: The carpet installers sucked at their job. Every time I crossover from the living room to the kitchen, I play a little game called Don't Step On The Crack Or You'll Cut Your Foot.
And.... Carter's already old enough to shove his head into the corner of the couch to have a nap when he gets tired of playing.
This means we're WEEKS away from crawling, sports fans. Don't Crawl On The Crack Or You'll Slice Your Knees Open And Blood Will Gush Everywhere And Your Mom Will Completely. Freak. Out.

All I'm saying is, it's just a small amount of carpet... just a small living room and an eensie hallway. And I don't think it will look bad from the standpoint of the entry way if the crappy carpet going up the stairs doesn't perfectly match the upgraded carpet heading off to the living room...DO YOU???