Our Elegant New Floor

 Here is what our floor looked like before, after we tore up the carpet and T.J. painted the floors white:

I knew we wouldn't keep it that way for long, but it was a nice substitute until we had the time/money to put in the real stuff (and by real stuff I still mean fake - we bought snap together laminate). We were way sick of the carpet that was in there when we moved in. Now we have something much more beautiful and "elegant" as I like to call it. Here T.J. is putting in the first couple boards.

 

We decided to purchase the flooring from the Habitat for Humanity ReStore - we had found some at a similar price at Menards, but ultimately went with the ReStore after one of my students gave a speech about the great things the ReStore does with the money they make. I was sold (needless to say he got an A :-)).

T.J. was totally convinced this dark wood color would make our house look like a museum.  I knew dark was what I wanted though so I stuck to my guns. I think he has warmed up to it now.

By the end of the first long day we were 1/2 way done (below) - before we could even start though I spent 2 days painting all the trim white. It was worth all the work. I love the way the white trim pops against the dark floor.

I think T.J. would tell you it was a pretty easy job, just time consuming. We watched a couple videos before he started to figure out how this whole thing should go down. This Old House has a good one, but really just getting in there and figuring it out on your own seemed to work best for T.J.

 Almost done! It was quite a messy process.

And then... after 2 long days, it was done! Only one more long Monday night of installing the quarter round and we were able to move our furniture back in and enjoy.

New curtains too!

Lola likes showing it off too. The dogs have struggled a little with how slick it is - but they are getting used to it. The floor makes me smile every time I go into the bedroom now and especially when I get up in the morning. Definitely worth the cost and the money!