I never liked carpet much. But when we bought our house, we had to remove the old carpet from several rooms and replace it with something. And we were not in the market (nor did we have the time, before moving our stuff in) to have wood floors installed.

So we accepted that it was gonna be carpet again, and we agonized over color and price. I ended up caving for a color/style my wife liked but it was really expensive (to me, anyway).

But now, almost two years later, this stuff still looks and feels brand new. We had the house appraised for a re-fi recently and the appraiser marked us down for new carpet, just assuming it had to be new based on the feel and look.

And when we visit family members’ houses, i am absolutely grossed out by how flat and matted their (often newer) carpet already looks.

Anyway, this is just a cautionary tale for anyone who thinks they hate carpet: you may just hate cheap carpet.