Up & Out with the Old

The demolition process begins!

During the holiday season, my husband took some time off of work to spend it with our boys.  As any good parent would do, we decided the perfect way to celebrate working so hard during the school year was to have the kids tear up the flooring in our home.

They were so excited.

First we had to remove all the trim around the floors and doorways.  You can see the standard-1990s-builder-oak-trim in some of the pictures below.  Ick.


What appears to be white moulding is really the sheet rock behind the removed trim.  For 12 years I longed for the big thick white moulding to frame my floors and doors.  Finally, I was seeing this become a reality.

This is the carpet coming up in the living and dining rooms. 

To the right is our front entry hall.  More oak. 

Lucky us.

When our home was built in 1999 the really cool snap & lock floating floors weren't designed yet.  These laminate wood planks were stapled into place with the biggest staples ever.  Each staple was then stapled along the edge of each plank about an 1 1/2 to 2 inches apart. 

My oldest boy thought tearing out those staples was just awesome.
(Insert sarcasm font).

The only way to get each of those ginormous staples out of the sub flooring was to wedge a screwdriver underneath the top of the staple and then whack it with a hammer. 

The first 276 times were fun, then...not so much.

With the carpet removed from the family room, the boys still had the bedroom hallway carpet to pull up.

Look at all that oak.  OOOO baby.

As soon as I got off of work, I would put on the work clothes and help my Master Demolition Dudes pull up all the carpet staples. 
So.  Many.  Staples. 
A long and tedious project, but extremely important to get them out before laying the new floors.

 

One of our very first home updates came when we covered up the builder basic (read : cheap) linoleum in the kitchen.  These were commercial grade laminate tile designed to last 20 years.  Or 5, if you have boys. 
This was quite the chore as we had to pull up the tile, linoleum and the linoleum sub flooring. 

The pain of difficulty was eased when we had to purchase a new power tool.

I love a good do-it-yourself project and very rarely become upset during the in between stages.  Before starting any project I can clearly see the end result and it always helps keep me calm during the mayhem.  With all that being said, when all the floors were pulled up and our boys were walking around in pajamas with their shoes on because it was unsafe to be barefoot, I felt like the worst mother in the world.  I had removed the safe environment from my children.

As the new floors went down, their beauty erased those bad parenting feelings. Whew. 

Next time, I will show you our laying down of the new floors dreams coming true.

Element of WOW!

You know when you find the PERFECT piece of furniture and you just HAVE TO HAVE it?  That happened to me when I was pouring over websites looking for the perfect chandelier.

With such straight lines and modern elements we introduced to our home, I tried to convince my husband we could go with a crystal hanging chandelier for our family room, the main room in our home.  A perfect touch of feminine, I thought.

That didn't go over so well.

Then I found THE one.  I found the perfect light until I saw the not so perfect price tag.  $900.  Really?  For a chandelier?

Determined to find another retailer, I kept looking.  Diligence paid off and I found it for less than half the price including delivery!  Before I could triple guess myself (which I often do and then regret my indecision later), I bought it.  1 week later it was hanging in my family room.  We have nick-named it "The Exploding Light Bulb". 

Friends, I give you my Element of Wow, my Pièce de Résistance - my new chandelier.

My biggest, boldest design move I've ever done for myself!

Picking out Paint Colors

When my husband and I made the decision to spend the time, energy, and money to update our home little did we know how much time and energy it would take us.  The projects are taking up most of my time leaving me little time to keep everyone updated.  I wish I could, but I can't.

Sometimes I just can't find my Super Woman cape.

The walls and ceilings are painted.  The floors are down and as of last night I finished cutting and painting all the baseboards.  What a huge feeling of accomplishment that was!

When choosing the colors I kept the main color light to offset the rich dark of the floors.  The walls are painted this fabulous color called "Stone" from Maratha Stewart. 

What this swatch does not show you is how fantastically grey it is!  It is a very warm grey and looks incredible against the floors.

The trim I knew also had to be a warm hue.  We chose "Betsy's Linen" by Valspar.  This will also be the color I am going to paint our kitchen cabinets.

When chosing colors for your home, it is important to look at all the colors together.  I laid many, many paint chips on pieces of the flooring near different windows and doors to help me decide what looks best together.

These two colors look great together and balance each other well.  With the kitchen next on my project list I am going to be introducing a grey to the mix in hopes to bring an 'old and weathered' feel to a very modern edge our house has taken.

One of the many fun things that has come out of this remodel is the look of amazement on the face of our children.  Suddenly Mom and Dad have a cool side they've never seen before.

Wait until they see the chandelier we bought.