Hello everyone!  Wow, we got a ton done this past weekend!  We got all of the wood floor laid and it looks awesome!

originally we were only going to do the wood in the small entryway portion of the house. The plan was to  carry the wood through the walkways and the kitchen/laundry area in a few more years once we recover from the expense of this remodel, but after our friend (who also lays flooring for a living) came to measure for our carpet install, we agreed that it made more sense to lay the flooring in the traffic areas right now instead of messing with carpet that we would pull up at a later date.  The wood was just a little more than the carpet anyways, so it just made sense.

The wood follows the traffic pattern in the house and stops where the kitchen starts.  Someday we will carry it through the kitchen, but that is waaaaayyyy down the road!

My hubs had to cut perfect angles for the area that the new carpet will be.  We still love the coziness and comfort of carpet, so we will have carpet in the TV area and also to the left of the entryway.

It was back-breaking work, but well worth it!  I can’t believe how nice it looks.  We went with a natural acacia hardwood.  I love that it integrates so many colors!  It has dark, light, and even some reddish tones and it’s hand scraped.  If my hubs wouldn’t have installed it himself we never could have afforded it!

So here’s how it started:

 First we removed all of that hideous carpet:

Then we had to remove a bajillion staples and tack strips.  I didn’t take any pictures of this part, but trust me, it was not a good time.

This makes me happy:

YUCK!!!!

Here is the cutting station:

Keystone light always makes a big project a little more enjoyable

Here is my hubs stopping to draw a hopscotch for the kids:

 They loved it!

Another major project done!  All that is left is the stairs, then the carpet install, then we are finished!!!  I can’t wait!

Here is my project for the day:

Those are my new stairs.  I am sanding down the treads and staining them, then painting the risers white.  Of course I won’t get it all done today ,but it is supposed to be in the 80′s again today, so I’ll hang out with kids outside and sand away.  By the way, I enjoy this.  Really.  It’s my thing.

So the end is in sight and I’m thrilled.  Here it is one more time:

 I think it was a good choice!  What do you think?  Thanks for coming by!

Hello everyone!  I haven’t been blogging as much as I want because I’m too busy working on the things I want to be blogging about!  I’m at an in-between point where I’m not quite ready to show off the remodel yet, so before I start caulking/sanding/painting for today, I decided to talk about something that has been on my mind for a while that has nothing to do with the remodel.

Many of you know that we moved in to our house about this time last year. Although we have made several changes, one thing I love are the exterior colors.  I love the house color with the black shutters and black door.

What the photos don’t show is the problems with the front door.  The way our house is positioned on the lot, it bakes in the afternoon sun, and the heat has taken its toll on the door.  Here is a closer look at what is going on with it:

The molding around the window is completely warped from high heat.

It is completely cracked and pulling away from the door.  It looks terrible.

 It’s difficult to see in this pic, but there is glue that has melted from behind that molding and dripped down the door.

My husband even tried to add a couple of screws to keep it in place at one point.

So where do we go from here?  It is actually an easy fix.  We can remove the warped molding from around the window and purchase new.  We need to sand it way down and repaint it after applying the new molding.  Easy fix, right?  Not exactly.  The problem is that it will happen again as soon as the temperatures get high enough.

Sooooooo…….the only real fix is to paint the door a lighter color.  I’m really not happy about that.  I love the black!  I’ve been brainstorming colors that may work, and I’m not very happy with anything.  The only other color I think I would even consider is red.  I do love red doors.  Here is a pic of my last house:

But will red work with the colors of my current house?  Will red be just as hot as black?  I also considered painting it white and doing some black decorative scrolls or something, but I’ve never even seen something like that, so I’m just not sure.

What do you think?  It’s not a major pressing issue right at the moment, but something I’ve had a year to think about.  Replacing the door is not an option.  After the splurge of this remodel I’m cutting way back on putting money into the house, so I have to get creative.  I would love your input!

Thanks for coming by!  We are going to be completing the last of the major remodel stuff this weekend, so stay tuned for some big updates!