When Myles and Lois Lopatin moved into their condo, everything was just right. There was plenty of room, there was a patio off one room looking over the street from the seventh floor, and there were two bathrooms, always an asset.
Everything was just right - except one thing: a somewhat bedraggled Berber wall-to-wall carpet, which not only did not look so hot but also raised the very dickens with Myles' allergies.He called his allergist, who said, in no uncertain terms, get rid of that carpeting.
That said, the Lopatins wondered what to use instead on the bare concrete floor. Wood, of course, they agreed, and had an oak floor installed. They called Father & Son Floorcraft of Boston, the people who say they did Bob Vila's floors.
Father & Son installed a plywood subfloor, gunning it in with one of those cartidge-fired nailers. Brother, are they noisy, Myles said.
The quarter-sawn oak boards were set down as a floating floor, nailed together board by board but not into the plywood subfloor. The boards, slightly pickled and finished with five coats of water-based polyurethane varnish, not only look good but wear like iron. The Lopatins were pleased.
One more problem remained. In the large, open-plan condo, there is a great expanse of bare floors. A rug, even an area rug, would not do to break up that ocean of floor.
Ah, what about painting a carpet on the floor, specifically in the dining area, under the dining table? The painted carpet would delineate the space and be a conservation piece to boot, Myles believed.
Great idea, but where does one find a carpet painter? "I looked everywhere," Myles said, "but I didn't know what to look for." There was nothing in the Yellow Pages on rug painting, but finally he found the right place: Murals, even if "murals" has nothing to do with floor painting. Actually, the companies listed under this category are specialty painters, whether on walls, floors or anywhere.
There are only 13 in the book, so the Lopatins had their pick. They chose Arteriors of Watertown, Mass.
Then they had to choose a design. "I know what I wanted," Myles said: "The 12 Tribes of Israel, according to my heritage."
Myles chose the symbols for the border of the carpet, taking them from the Hag-gada, the story of Passover, a book with an elegant silver cover embossed with the symbols.
Arteriors put down a base coat, 108 by 82 inches, then painted the symbols in the border, each separated by a pomegranate. A fig tree in a diamond shield is the carpet's center.
A series of chevrons and the fringe were painted from templates, but knots were treated separately.
A clear finish protects the painting.
With the carpet done, there was no wish to obscure it, so the Lopatins bought a large glass table from Lexington Furniture. Not only can you see through it, it is so heavy that it will not move, so there will be no chance of scratching. The chairs have been fitted with smooth, no-scratch gliders on their feet.