Nipefully she will see how bad the old carpet will look when everything else is shiny and new.
OTOH I have relatives who own a expensive oceanfront property in Ca who kept the old shag carpet when they bought the place 25 years ago. It is wool and was expensive carpet when it was new. They just keep shampooing it. They still have the carpet even though they have renovated a lot of the house. I leave my shoes on when I go there. The weird thing is their primary residence is ultra modern.
Shag and oceanfront are not compatible. You would not believe the amount of sand and dirt that came pouring out of the shag in my cape house as I was ripping it out. Literally pounds of it.
Re the lace valance, CB said in the photos, " We are probably going to close the window up to get a better layout". That’s why I’ve been trying to think of ways to re-purpose the valance! Maybe if Grandma can have it as some kind of accent piece, she won’t miss it on the window. Apron? Shelf trim? Table runner?
LOL, I have lace valances in my living room-dining room. I love them. They are great for our style house (post and beam).
Lace valance is in the dumpster. It was polyester, not high quality. And it did not belong to the new Grandma moving in, belonged to Grandma moving out ,so no sentimental value.
Maybe working with the husband is the way to go. If he wants Toto toilets, who knows what else he’ll go for!
Glad it went into the trash!!
Ah. I knew it was the old owner’s but thought it was one of the things the buyer liked. It kind of looked pretty in the one picture. I can’t imagine how lace hanging in a kitchen wouldn’t always get grimy and greasy.
I’m sure you would all make fun of the carpet in our master bedroom. But we liked it because we’re used to carpeted bedrooms (warmer on feet in the Midwest; not really needed out here in California but still) and also because it was an unusual muted shade of blue that went perfectly with our bedroom decor - bedspreads and picture frames particularly. There are a few minor ragged spots near doors but otherwise it’s been just fine. Not that it was a selling point for us at all; just not something we sneered at.
" It kind of looked pretty in the one picture."
My dad used to say that even a dilapidated outhouse can look charming in a photo. Which is true! 
No, I would not laugh at your choice of keeping the carpets. I would have saved some $$ and kept ours if they were not the industrial/office looking kind and if they did not have too many very suspicious stains on them.
I don’t have a problem with carpet, heck we like carpet and have it in our house. But 30 yo carpet that will have God knows what tracked through it during renovations?
But the wife seems to have a crazy way of looking at things. Renovations galore but keeping a few items that are going to look dingy when everything else is new. Some people have a very frugal way of looking at things that I’m sure stem from how they grew up. I’m guessing the H puts up with his wife’s quirkiness.
My mil has plenty of money but she buys foil and other cleaning items from estate sales. She’ll reuse that foil, but she grew up on a farm during the depression.
Totally agree…start asking the husband. My guess is he will say that the carpet should GO.
Maybe when you’re working on an adjacent spot, lift the edge of the carpeting up and show the husband the accumulated dirt under the carpet and the nasty, ancient underpad. He will be horrified!
I am currently at the project. The next door neighbor came over. She asked about the carpet in the bedrooms and I told her owners were keeping the carpet.
She was horrified and told me the elderly husband had been very sick with bladder control problems and had a big fall with paramedics and a lot of blood in the master bedroom. OMG…how gross!!!
Trying to decide whether it is my place to tell the new owners or not. Never a dull moment:)
Yikes! That isn’t something I would ever have thought would be part of your job.
Can you tell their daughter and let he handle how to share that news? I would want that carpet GONE!
Yes definitely tell the new owners about the issues with the carpet. If she still wants to keep it, then you know your answer as I like to say.
But blood and bodily fluids and you found out? Yes definitely disclose it.
I would want to know that info. Just sayin’. Are there any obvious stains or odors?
I think you absolutely have to mention that to the husband or the daughter. The pathogens in those fluids are probably long-gone, but some things form spores and can linger in the environment. Absolutely harmless for healthy you and me, but could be deadly for elderly. Why take any chances?
You might suggest to the H that you peel back the carpet and take a look at the state of the pad, just to see what condition everything is in…if there are a lot of dramatic stains, the point is made.
This says it all: