I've never head anyone say - "We have too much garage space". Garage space is relatively inexpensive compared to sq/ft costs of a home. You don't have to heat it or carpet it or furnish it. The extra cost will be for the extended slab, walls, roof and door. Be careful you don't shrink your garage too much. A Miata is what you have now, but what if you want to buy something else down the road? Remember, too, to allow space to get in, out and walk around your vehicles. It's amazing how big a car becomes once it is in an enclosed space. Especially trucks or SUVs with oversized mirrors. A too small garage can become a daily source of irritation - not to mention the possibility of damaging your cars if you can't open the doors without hitting the wall or another car. If you plan to have a yard, you'll need someplace to store tools and mowers and such as well. Be sure and engineer the trusses/joists above the garage to support the extra weight of your bonus room floor and the storage space.

Kathy, Let's get the terms straight. A carpet shampooer is just that. It has brushes, water, and shampoo. A steam cleaner/carpet extractor is another machine and the process is differant. I would just go out and buy a Hoover Platinum Carpet Steamer. It's going to B more than U want 2 spend, but U get what U pay 4. My old Hoover is 17 years old and starting to leak. I think it was $279, all those years ago. Go and buy it at Sears so if you don't like it U can get your $ back. I am going to go buy 1 as this old Hoover is on it's last legs. Do not use that powdered cleaner on shag! It works as I have used it 4 years, between the shampoo and steam extraction, and my carpet is white. It's just very dense and the powder just stays on the top of the pile. I also spend $ on vacs and they not Kmart junk. I just use my Rainbow, as it just uses water and I dump it in the toilet. If had to use my Kirby, Electrolux, or Tri-Star would be changing the bag after 4 passes. I use them all after the Rainbow but do not go through all of the bags. You will have that in that shag and it will be like drywall dust with the vac U have. U will hate yourself. Listen to GE Guy as I think I know who he is. He knows his stuff.

There are probably many different reasons why a dog will vomit yellow bile. My dog used to do that occasionally in the morning if I waited too long to feed him. Now I make sure he eats when he wakes up and no more vomit. My son's dog/puppy starting vomiting in the morning - before she ate breakfast. I suggested to my son to feed her a little food before she went to bed each night - and that stopped the vomiting the next morning. If it's frequent, it's best to consult a vet of course. For the stains - I just used a tablespoon of Dawn (has to be Dawn - it works on grease but it's gentle) dish washing soap right on the stain, then swirl with a soft brush. Soak with water on a sponge - really mesh it down and then blot with paper towels. Very sudsy but it worked :)

Your floormats look way to small to me too. Mine go all the way up under the pedals, curve up the sides, they are quite heavy but pliable, nothing gets on the carpet in the car. The mats in my car were expensive, but this is the second SUV I've used them in, they are probably 12 (?) years old. This isn't so much snow country although we have snow today, it's rain and mud country. DH keeps similar mats in his truck, and two grown men in boots and raingear can hike in the woods all day, slog through creeks and beaver ponds, nothing wet or dirty on the truck carpets either. Truck is cleaned at the end of every work week, mats are taken out and scrubbed, hosed, on the weekends I can get in wearing either black, or white, and not have to worry about getting anything on my clothes.