New Hardwood Floors - Preparation

I'm sending a big high-five out to everyone because we all made it to March! For me this has been a hard winter because it was unusually cloudy here. I'm one of those people who needs the sunlight to keep my brain from turning to mush, so I've had a bad case of brain fog the past few weeks. I know the arrival of March and more sunshine means I'll be feeling more like my old self soon. 

I know many of you are sick of winter too, so 

HIGH-FIVE!

We made it to March and spring is just around the corner!

Our new floor project is progressing right along. The first weekend we packed up all our small stuff, and my husband lugged the boxes upstairs to store in the loft.

 Last weekend he moved the furniture and rugs out.

 You know how your hair always looks great the day before your haircut, and you start to rethink your appointment with your stylist? 

 We're going through that with our old maple floors. They're looking pretty good to us all of a sudden, and we experienced a little floor replacer's remorse over the weekend. I think that's only natural, since we've lived with these pretty floors for almost twenty-five years and have many good memories of fun family times on them. The reality is they're worn to the nub and can't be refinished again, and it's time to move-on.

Probably because the sun is shining into these rooms again after a long dark winter, I'm loving our wide open empty living room without the furniture. I'm feeling inspired to rearrange the furniture when we put it back in. 

Ah-Ha! I feel a twinge of excitement and motivation breaking through my fog!

You can see here in the dining room how the floor darkened around the rug over time, but not under it. I'm not sure how or if this can be avoided with the new floors. Any ideas?

 The wood for the new floor is coming on Tuesday to acclimate for a week before installation. Meanwhile, we're living back here in the family room. Do you like the new Manchester Tan walls my husband painted over the weekend? And can you believe we fit all this furniture in here? Our leather sectional is so huge, we sometimes forget how large this room really is, but we were still able to fit the living room sofa and big reading chair and second ottoman in here. Tucker's memory foam bed (usually over in the corner) takes up a pretty big chunk of real estate, too. That's his favorite blue toy with him, and his blankie. I can't believe my big old tough black lab has a blankie, but he does! He loves it!

 Here's where the rest of our furniture is, in the master bedroom, which is off the dining room. It was way easier to move it all in here instead of to the back of the house or upstairs to the loft. The coffee tables are stacked in the closet, and we have even pressed the master bathroom into service. We can close and tape off this bedroom door and tape off the opening to the kitchen so the dust will be contained to the rooms getting new floors. Meanwhile, we're sleeping in the guest room. It's working out great so far, so it wasn't necessary for me to be such a cry baby about it. I'm feeling rather sheepish about that because the anticipation was far worse than the reality. 

Thanks for coming by to check out the floor update. Demo on the old floors starts later this week, so I hope you come on back to see the mess (and fun).

I'm sharing the floor fun over at

Between Naps On The Porch
Mod Vintage Life
Our Home Away From Home
Cozy Little House
The Scoop
A Stroll Thru Life
Elizabeth & Co.
Savvy Southern Style

My Hero

I mentioned how nice it would be to have the family room painted before the new hardwood floors are installed next week...

...and my husband surprised me by taking the day off on Friday to paint.

My hero!

Getting New Hardwood Floors And This And That

Last month I said I wanted to spend more time moving my bod and eating healthier. I'm happy to say I've been doing pretty well. 

(Superbowl Sunday and Valentine's Day don't count, of course.)

Tucker and I have been walking a lot. We love the snow, and it never slows us down. This photo was taken earlier this winter at our favorite park on a sunny day after it snowed. 

Here's how it looked in the same park yesterday. You can just barely see the snow on the mountains.

I've been cooking a lot of healthy food, too. I like to freeze individual servings of soup for my lunches, and one day I decided to make double batches of three different kinds of soup. Check out all these veggies I diced!

I've also been enjoying the calm and serenity of our remodeled home. I have loved strolling from room to room, luxuriating in the contentment that everything is done for now.

But then, you know what they say: "Ignorance is bliss."

Little did I know the chaos would all be starting again so soon.

We thought we wouldn't be tearing up the house again until this summer, but we just found out that our favorite contractor (who did our kitchen) has a small window open between his big remodel jobs when he can install our new floors. Of course, we had to grab the opportunity to get him.

So, this weekend my peace and quiet and serenity ends again for a bit. I'll be packing up the living room with its huge armoire full of baskets, vases, books, faux flowers, vase filler, nick knacks, trays, frames...

...and the hutch full of dishes and pottery...

...and the dresser full of linens...

...and this cupboard full of crystal, serving bowls, platters, silver, candles, and candle holders...

...and let's not forget the corner cabinet full of stoneware and wine glasses. 

Did you hear that little sob? Yup, it was me.

But packing everything up again for the third time and lugging all the furniture to the other side of the house will be worth it to have new floors. Our poor old maple floors are on their last legs.

Squeaking loudly, full of gaps and cracks and scratches, nails popping up, and too thin to refinish again, it's time to say adios to our old floors. They'll be torn up, the subfloor will be screwed down tighter to stop the squeaking, and new 3 1/2" rift and quarter sawn white oak boards will be installed then sanded, stained, and sealed.  

As we did with the kitchen and master suite remodels, we'll be living in the back of the house while the front is done, then we'll pack up the back of the house and move back into the front while it's done. Whew! 

So don't be alarmed if you don't hear from me for a bit while we tackle the packing and lugging. But when the floor demo gets going, I'll be sure to share some photos.

I'm excited!

(Sob...)

Check out the fun new party on the block!

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Valentine's Day In Our Family Room

This week is rushing by and Valentine's Day is this Saturday! 

So I sprinkled some l-o-v-e around our family room to entice cupid to stop by.

For my Valentine's Day photo clip boards (tutorial here) I purchased an instant download of a pretty flowered paper design for $1 (here) and downloaded a free font to install on my laptop (here). Then I put them together in photoshop and printed them out on card stock. My little red hearts are cut from felt and sewed onto some thread. 

For the ottoman I shopped the house for my yard sale birdcage and ceramic love birds and added my craft store tulips to an Anthropology glass that I use for a vase.

I repainted a little dollar store plaque with gold letters to add some more l-o-v-e to my family room Valentine's Day vignette.

I think we're all ready for cupid here at our house!

I hope you all have a wonderful and very 

Happy Valentine's Day!

I'm feeling festive! C'mon along to a party!

Rooted In Thyme

From My Front Porch To Yours

The Charm Of Home
Craftberry Bush