This is a project that I have been excited about since we bought the house. What a difference it makes!! After we took down the picture wall dividing the living room and the kitchen, it really helped to open up the living space. But it was a bit awkward of a transition from the origonal hardwood to the carpet. The carpet is origonal to the house, so 20+ years old. So between being difficult to keep clean, it’s age, and it now flowing right, it had to go!
I’ve never understood when you see carpet in an eating area or bathrooms. There are just some places it doesn’t make sense. For me personally, I would rather have no carpet and just area rugs in each room that I can change as they wear out over the years. But for now, I will be content with the main floor being amazing. LOL
So after all of the carpet was torn out (which based on it’s appearance, only confirmed it was the right choice), it was time to start cutting and staggering the boards. It was awesome to watch how all of this came together like a giant puzzle.
It was unfortuante that the boards were so small, because it made for a lot more work, but it almost perfectly matches with the origonal hardwood which I feel like it’s pretty impressive!
So after all the floors were laid and the transitional pieces were put in, it was time to stain and seal everything. The main floor is actually just sealed without stain. The lighter color has really worked well for our family. I always imagined I would like dark floors, but with the dog hair and dirt that I am constantly hiding, the lighter color hides this so much better! And saved us from having to stain the origonal floors or trimwork.
The sealant was done three times, sanding after the first two, to give it a nice smooth finish. This took about 3-4 hours to dry each day, for me to feel comfortable enough to walk on it. The stairs we actually did a stain and sealed to match the railings and so this took longer to dry. It was about 8 hours before we could walk on them. So that was fun, but it was only for 3 days.
If I ever save enough to do the upstairs floors, I will most likely opt for prestained to take away some of the chaos. Especially becuase at that point I will have two kids I’m trying to keep safe and busy! But considering there is a 20+ year difference between the floors that we were matching, they look really good toegther!!
I wanted to show some before and after’s of these spaces. I still have one or two projects I want to do to the main floor, but I’m getting VERY close to calling it finished. I can’t beleive how far we have come on renovating this home to make it ours, and am so grateful it’s where we call home!
