Remember the other day when I was about to bust with excitement? Well, this is why.
Bye bye nasty carpet–you will not be missed. So yes, we are getting our wood floors!!! And no, this is not a cruel April fools joke. :). They did the leveling yesterday, and today they are actually installing the floors.
We are doing it in the family room above, in the office:
And in this little hallway near the entry:
And sorry about the photos not being up to par. The contractors weren’t supposed to get here until 10:00 a.m. yesterday, but then our doorbell rings at about 6:50 a.m. (this is where you cue the barking dog and crying baby who always sleeps till 8:30 or 9), so needless to say I was sleepwalking with my camera in hand trying to snap some pics so I could show y’all. I’ve never seen anyone rip up carpet and move furniture so fast. It was exhilarating.
So even though the house looks like this right now and dust is on absolutely everything,
I know it’s going to be worth it in the end with these beauties laying down.
Isn’t it going to look great with new lighter and brighter colors in the house? I can’t wait to put everything together.
And remember the wood vs. laminate post? Well, we decided to go with a hand-scraped engineered hardwood floor. The engineered floors have a real wood top layer, and several other layers below it of other materials. That helps with (and pretty much eliminates) the contracting and expanding of wood floors. They are also the best to have in humid climates which is what we live in. And this one is hand-scraped so there are already imperfections in the wood. That is great because whenever the floor gets a new scratch, all you have to do is take a staining pen and fill it in and it looks like it’s supposed to be there. And the floors are still very valuable like solid hardwood. Perfect!
So stay tuned to see the new floors! I can’t wait!!
xxoo,
Decorchick!
I love the new floor! Can’t wait to see it in place!
Coming over from Ten June. You have a beautiful home. I am a new follower and just wanted to say hi : )
Aww thank you so much!!
I love the hand scraped! I think it gives it so much character and interest. We have been looking at it for a while. Where did you find yours? And what is the color/species of it?
From a friend of a friend (who did the job for a great deal after having 3 other estimates done) who was getting a good deal on this particular wood. It is Birch, and it was already pre-finished so it was stained. I don’t know the exact color of the stain. It is Castlewood flooring though.
So exciting!!!! I remember how giddy I was to get rid of all the carpet!!! Can’t wait to see everything come together!!!!
I love hardwood and it feels so much cleaner than carpet…you’ll love them!
What a huge project with what will be fabulous results!
I bet you are so excited. Love the new paint too :-)
Thank you Jessica!!
Your new floors will be beautiful!!
I’m so happy you went with the engineered hardwood! I just know you’re going to love it. Can’t wait to see it all installed.
I hate you. Okay, I don’t. I’m just extremely jealous!
Can’t wait to see the after pics, you lucky girl!
Hahaha!
That looks exactly like the flooring we got! I did the snoopy happy dance when they came & ripped up our carpet! We got the engineered hardwood hand-scraped in wide plank. LOVE it!! and your so right -when you get a scratch you just fill it in the a stain-pen. I love the feel of them underfoot and love that they dont have that hollow -sound when you walk on them-like laminate does. Enjoy!!!!
Here’s my blog post where I posted a picture of ours:
http://theecklife.blogspot.com/2010/07/my-dream-has-come-true.html
Congrats! I know you have to be thrilled! We are going through the same thing right now. Having bamboo floors installed in our living areas; and I know exactly what you mean about the dust being everywhere! It’ll be worth when it’s finally done though ;)
Oh I love me some hardwood. Can’t wait to see it all layed out on the floor!
Have a great weekend :)
lovely!
I just order samples of hardwoods for my house. I am sooo looking forward to getting rid of the carpet!
Cherie
You are going to love them!! Can’t wait to see it come together!!
I would have been mighty impressed if you’d ripped out your carpets to pull off an April Fool’s Day prank! The flooring looks beautiful and will be gorgeous in your new palette.
How exciting. I can’t wait to see the finished photos!!!
Oh my goodness I love that floor. I am so jealous I am turning purple. After looking for more than a year, this are exactly what I would love to have. Hopefully sSomeday my wish will come true.I really like the fact that a scratch can be filled in and look like it is part of the hand scraped.
Can’t wait to see the finished project. This is my first post, but I have been following your ideas. As I told you in an e-mail, I have the gray paint, even before you mentioned it, and I have molding for the house. So, keep those ideas flowing. You have been an inspiration to me.
I read your blog everyday and really enjoy watching your house evolve. 2 years ago I also had my renovation dream come true when we installed the same handscraped engineered flooring you are putting in. I love it so much, it’s warm to walk on and with 2 kids and one giant dog it has really stood the test of time. Everyone who comes in our house compliments it’s beauty. And you are right the more scratches and dings it gets the better it looks!! Enjoy you new floors.
You are gonna loooove it! Also, I pulled out my wood-colored marker and applied it to the scratches on our wood floor today and it looks so much better now:) You’re home is going to feel like new with the fresh paint and wood floors!!
Oh, you are really going to enjoy your new flooring. Love that look! I’m also really liking your new house color. It makes everything else pop.
CAS
I can’t wait to see the final progress. I was looking at your photos posted today and I was hoping to get a closer look at your bookshelves that are peeking out in one of your shots. Would those happen to be from IKEA? We just purchased the Hemnes collection in black/brown and I was wondering if it was the same. Even so, if you could post a photo of that whole wall/bookshelf, I would really appreciate it. Thanks and have a great/busy weekend!
I can’t wait to see the result! We have a hand scraped engineered hardwood and love it. You guys will too. Ours is oak and is very durable.
Wow, we have similarly laid out living room. Weird. We too are ripping our carpet out and installing hardwood. Can’t wait to see the final product.
Yay! I am so excited for you!! We laid hardwoods in our living room and dining room and we love them. They really change the look of the rooms. We’re getting carpet in our family room though lol. Can’t wait to see how your floors turn out!!
OH wow! it all looks so cool. I cant wait to see the finished product. You always do such amazing work.
WOW!!! I can’t wait to see!!! AND……Emma sleeps till 8:30 or 9!! I. Am. JEALOUS!!! Alie likes to wake up around 6!!
I think we have the same floors! I love my mine. I got mine from lumber liquidators, not sure what the name was…but it’s a birch hand scraped engineered too. I had the downstairs done last year and just had the stairs done this past month…LOVE THEM!!!! Beautiful. I can’t even imagine having carpet anymore!!! Congrats.
We just got some engineered hardwood put in our home office and great room, and I love it!!!! My eating area, kitchen, entry and laundry room were already laminate, so now no carpet on the entire first floor….YAY. I am a tiny bit nervous about how the engineered hardwood will hold up over time, but right now I just love it. Ours is a handscraped hickory and looks very similar to what you got.