A project I LOVE!

I'm so excited about what's been going on in our house over the last week or so. After talking about it for a long time, we bit the bullet and picked out flooring. We'd said all along that we wanted to go light with some dark streaks in it to give it some character. Of course it's never as easy as that and, wow, once we started looking the darker woods were gorgeous. But logic prevailed, and for several reasons we stuck with the original plan.

Neither one was our final choice

We've shampooed the carpet at least once a year since we moved in, but between dogs and grand babies there were some spots that kept coming back. Yucky and embarrassing both.

Before

This was a HUGE source of stress but couldn't be avoided. The living room crammed into the kitchen and dining area. 

We had to do all the "demo" on Sunday since there would be no time at all during the week.

Annie is a blur because she was a nervous mess. She ran and back and forth like a tennis ball at Wimbledon

The carpet and pad portion of the program went so fast. Fast as in about a 1/2 hour!

Not so the tile though. OH EM GEE! What a stinkin mess. Thankfully it was a really nice day so we could open the front door.

Clouds of dust

It was kinda fun smashing the tile out, but we did have to be pretty careful. Tile EXPLODES when you smash it, and since we didn't want to add "Replace drywall & paint" to the to do list, we went the slow and steady route. I love this picture for a few reasons.  1. I didn't even put shoes on. What a dummy. I had shards in my slippers and it's just like breaking a plate- the pieces are really sharp. 2. Yep, I'm wearing safety goggles. Hot, right?! But again,it just explodes, so necessary. 3. This makes it look like I did TONS all by myself. Um, no. I'm pretty sure the ratio was like 3 to 1, maybe even 4 to 1. And even then my hands hurt like crazy. Gripping a baby sledge hammer and a heavy chisel made them pretty sore. Yes, I'm a wuss.

So pathetic. But at least she found a spot out of the way where she could see us. We kept joking that she was plotting revenge of some sort.

This is how our week went by. Our Tommy Bahama beach chairs on a concrete slab. This part didn't bother me in the least.

The flooring was delivered on Wednesday. It needed to acclimate to the house for a few days before installation. She is just the best little photo bomber ever, isn't she?? 

Saturday 8am couldn't get here soon enough. I was so excited to hear the installers pull into the drive way. They did prepare me for the possibility that they wouldn't get done in one day, mostly because each job is different, and rooms are not always square, etc. Lucky for us he said everything was great in that department, even the coat closet. Makes me feel good about the way our house was built!

A relatively thin pad with a reflective backing went down first. Moisture barrier and some insulation too. 

I really tried to stay upstairs and out of the way. But I had to come down for coffee a "couple" times. The progress in this picture took me by surprise. This was taken at 12:40 pm when they stopped to get something to eat. 

I can't even tell you how happy I am with the results. Sure, we could have done the install ourselves. But there's a lot to be said for knowing what you're doing. I wouldn't hesitate to recommend these guys to others, and I asked for some cards to take to work or give out myself. 

Everything was all cleaned up when they finished. Not even any sawdust on the porch. They left the box of left over wood on the floor at our request but didn't want to. He wanted to wrap it and put it away for us. 

Do you love it too?

xoxo

Lissa