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!