When it comes to lifestyles Americans are uniquely consistent in one area. Pet ownership! And this phenomenon is consistent across all socio-economic levels. How much so you ask? Last year we the people spent 56 billion dollars. That's BILLION, with a B, on all pet related expenses. That's 50% more than we spent on air travel. We spent more on dog food than we did on chocolate. Yikes! Maybe it's just me but I'd rather have a Hershey bar than either a kibble or a bit, but I appear to be in the minority. Anyway, with this as a backdrop, we feel the folks at STAINMASTER have really got a hit on their hands with their new PetProtect brand. It's solution-dyed so the color is an integral part of the fiber itself. You'd pretty much have to take a belt sander to it to get the color to go away. Its treated with the typical soil and stain protectors and is an incredibly durable fiber so it can withstand both the rigorous and ghastly behavior pets can and do engage in. We at Unique feel affluent folks love their pets as much as the next guy. I mean you've got to be committed to be able to afford a Free-Range Rastafarian Hairless Pug. Hey! They're not cheap. So, for those folks, we've designed an upscale line of PetProtect carpets that wear STAINMASTER'S Premier label and are as beautiful as they are durable. They're in the final stages of sample manufacture and will be available soon. But even if you don't have a pet, it's nice to know you too can have one of the best engineered, most uncompromising high-performance products on the planet. Although you will be expected at some point to at least buy a kitten.

One of my very favorite clients had a dilemma. She had sold her Dana Point vacation home and had purchased a new one in Coronado and was trying to tie some of furniture from the old house in with the new, more beachy style of the new house. In particular she  had a distressed china cabinet that seemed a bit drab for the new house, and wondered how to tie it all together.

Martin from Unique Carpets came to the rescue and we met at a Starbucks in Escondido to hatch our plan. He brought a giant string of pom poms with all the colors of the rainbow (the lady at the next table was excited as she thought it was new yarn colors for knitting) and he showed me how to create a custom colored rug. We used the browns and greens from the china cabinet, added in a few shades of blue to transition towards the aqua rug in the living room and a few strands of white yarns to add some pop and freshness.