I'm Back AND with Hardwood Floors!

I can't believe how time has flown by!!  I am sorry it has been SO LONG since I last posted.  The whole process of buying and closing on our new house was EXTREMELY LONG and PAINFUL--with many unexpected twists and turns.  But we did finally close on and move into our new home and have been spending EVERY WAKING MOMENT since--fixing it up and making it ours!

Remember what it looked like? 

It has been such an adventure!  We have already tackled so many projects in this house and yet still have SO MANY more to tackle.  Many of the projects we knew we wanted to do when we bought the house--and then there have been some that were unexpected--like having to replace carpets that we thought were in great condition--but actually were SATURATED in EVERY SINGLE CORNER WITH CAT PEE!!!  And having to replace LOTS of sets of window blinds because they weren't functional.  And having to paint EVERY SQUARE INCH of the ENTIRE HOUSE because the previous home owners had a love affair with sponge painting and the rooms that weren't sponge painted were painted super poorly with what looked like 1/2 a coat of coverage (AND they were the sloppiest and messiest painters EVER!!!  There were drips and dribbles of paint all over all the trim work and everything!!)  Oh well. 

So I have TONS of projects to show you!  Some are finished and some are in the in-between stages.  So in no particular order--I am just going to start posting about all the random things we have done and are doing in our new house.  YIPPEE!!!

So today we will start in the kitchen, dining and family room. 

This is what we started with:

Then came the DEMO. 

Out with the Lino.

Out with the carpet.

And can I just ask--has anyone else out there ever ripped out lino before?  Are ALL THOSE BILLIONS OF LITTLE STAPLES REALLY NECESSARY?!!  It took me HOURS to pound all those suckers down!!

Here is the front room full of our new HARDWOOD FLOORS!!!  And minus the carpet that we thought would be staying.  But SURPRISE--the previous owners used these two rooms as their cat rooms.  Enough said.  Out with this carpet too.

Aren't these hardwoods beautiful even when its just sitting there in a pile?

Then our great friend and neighbor laid the flooring for us--and he managed to escape without me taking a picture of this momentous occasion!  Darn it!

But don't they look great?

Next we started experimenting with the stain color--behind the fridge so we could cover it up if necessary.

And we got the color we were looking for.  A warm brownish red tone.  Not too dark but not too light.

Then we started painting before he finished off the floor because once he started finishing them we couldn't be on them for several days and then it was move in time.  So here we are painting until the wee hours of night.

This next picture is just to document the AWESOME paint roller that our painter let us borrow.  We hired out the job of painting our two story entry way and the painter ended up being the nicest guy in the world and let us borrow his MAMMOTH roller and tray.  THIS BABY WAS THE BEST!!!  It is twice the size of a regular roller and cut our painting time in half--which was wonderful since we were painting most of our house with the same color--we were able to use it for the whole house!  Love that thing.

And then the floors were finished and we moved in.  And I didn't take a picture of them in all of their naked glory.  But here they are with all our stuff moved in... and toys on the floor (apparently).

And can I just say how much I LOVE HARDWOOD FLOORS!!  They were worth all of the hassle!  I think they will even look better when we finish off the kitchen and all the trim in WHITE.  But one thing at a time!

 

I will be back with more very soon!  Thanks for sticking around!