I consider us pretty fortunate to have found our rental in the middle of the winter. It's a brand-new twin home that has never been lived in. How often does that happen for rentals? Our place was one of two listings that I found that didn't have taupe/tan/off-white walls. It has warm grey paint with white plain moulding, loads of south-facing windows, a large kitchen with a very open floorplan and a gigantic unfinished walk-out basement for my studio. Really, this place is just about perfect. Except for the carpet (and linoleum flooring, but that's a totally different issue). I can't stand carpet. It's nice in bedrooms, but I don't find carpet has a place in high-traffic areas. At least not cheap rental carpet that will likely go threadbare in a few short years. We're fortunate enough to have a "tiled" entryway by the front door, but there's nothing to protect the carpet from the door leading to the garage. We have two rugs on either side of the door, but the one on the inside of the door always gets crumpled up, and bunches beneath the door. As I was fixing it for the millionth time the other day, I had a little brainwave to tack down the rug with upholstery tacks. The subfloor is wood, but not gorgeous hardwood that's waiting to be revealed. It took me about two seconds to secure the rug and it looks WORLDS better. It'll also make vacuuming it a breeze. I'll let you know how it holds up. So tell me, if you could build your dream home, would it have carpet in it? Mine surely wouldn't!!