Floored...

First off, hope you all had a wonderful holiday, spending time with your loved ones, etc! 

This is what my house looks like right now: I need to get the new toys upstairs- plenty time for that tomorrow!!

We made it!!!!

Refinishing hardwood floors?? Why! It's a piece of cake!!

For fun, here is the living/dining room on move-in day:

Here is the antsy-hubby less than ten minutes after we got our keys:

After carpet was ripped up we were left with this:

Scared yet?? Nah, I wasn't.

We got our paint on:

Things were looking a little better.

That gorgeous wood panelling wall? Eight coats later is this:

Then the floor was sanded:

Then the floor was stained with Minwax Jacobean.... and sealed with a water-based poly/low odor/fast drying sealer... 4 times!!!

We followed this tutorial.... {LOVED HER FLOORS!}

Totally got her simple instructions. 

Here is the floor, sans sealer-

{notice the front door?? Different color! Will cover that in a later post}

AND- after 4 coats of the sealer (before the quarter round was up & before the baseboard touchups)-

We are in-love!!!

Here is the written version of what we hubby did-after research!:

1) Prepped the floor (pulled staples, more staples and more staples)

2) Filled all holes with stainable wood filler (there was ALOT)

3) Taped off doorways with plastic 

4) Sanded around the edges with a palm sander-the big floor sander can't go to the edges

5) went to home depot and rented their floor sander- and bought several sheets of sanding paper- over buy and save what you don't end up using- they will take unused product back! We only wanted to have the sander for 24 hours (so we didn't have to pay for additional days)

6) Sanded and sanded the floor- along the grain with the big sander

7) Cleaned and returned the sander

8) Cleaned, vacuumed, swept the dust (!) out of the room

9) Applied Minwax pre-stain conditioner.

 10)Stained the floor.... as I read from the blog I used as my guide, don't apply then wipe off. It became very blotchy. We globbed it on very thick with a 3" paint brush- then let it dry (it was still pretty tacky after 2.5 days)

11) Sealant-We were in a huge time crunch- I knew I was working tons the following week, then it was Christmas- so I remember reading my inspiration, and she said she applied the sealer and the stain dried almost instantly. With the stain we used, it did! We were shocked. I was able to apply each coat directly  right after each other. Starting in one corner of the room, and finishing each layer on the other side. Letting myself rest for a couple minutes per coat. All with a 3" paint brush!! (I felt like I had done 2,500 squats the next few days!)

I took the photo above on a Sunday afternoon- which I finished sealing the night before at about 12:30am.

The very next day (Monday) My mom and I spent a few hours painting the newly installed quarter round trim and baseboard. We tried taping off around the floor (NOT A GOOD IDEA!!) My hard work came off in small sections where we had pressed the tape a little too hard. So needless to say, I broke out the sealer again, and had to go over my work.

After the taping/sealing/painting misshap, we decided to let the floor cure until this last weekend (about 5 days) before we put any furniture on it.

I decided to move the piano (!!!) a smidge and sure enough a little piece of sealer came up... So needless to say it must've needed a few more days than five to cure.  

If I ever do this type of floor work again, I would use the same products again in a heartbeat. Just wouldn't give myself a week and a half to have the room ready so we can throw a party!!!

Cost breakdown-

We figured after the rental of the equipment, initially purchasing supplies (the pre-stain conditioner, stain, wood filler, sealant...we exchanged extra stain and the conditioner for one more bottle of sealer), sand paper... we have about $250 invested in the floor.

Time?? About 30!

Our space square footage- 378 

Undecorated/Finished product-

This photo was taken this past Saturday afternoon {please excuse my slippers in the middle of the floor!}. On Sunday my mom came over and we hung stuff up on the walls and made the room a little more 'festive' for Christmas Eve! I will share those photos later- I need to take better photos than with my iPhone!

What's left in here? 

-window treatments of some kind...still thinking about it

-new hardware for the front door

-a hanging light/lamp...have a funky idea for above one of the side tables

Other than some minor tweaking, I am pretty happy with how the room turned out, and can't wait to get started on another space (after we decide what to tackle next!)

Prayers

Even though I am on the complete opposite side of the continent, as a mom to two beautiful little girls, you can still say I am shaken (like all of us) about the tragedy last Friday.

It could've easily been my 6 year old's first grade class.

Newtown, CT is sure getting many prayers from this household!

Came across a beautiful article here from someone that lives there in Newtown.


May God continue to heal and comfort those affected by this wretched act of violence.

Getting There...

Almost done!! As I type, hubby is vacuuming, so I can get down and start putting the 'pre-stain conditioner' on them floorboards!!

Progress:

its getting there!

Christmastide

Incase you haven't read, I'm having our family over on Christmas Eve this year.

There hasn't been much time to think about how I'm going to decorate the tables {who am I kidding? I don't even have anything decorated yet!}

Here is some ideas I found while browsing Pinterest...

{via}

{via}

{via}

{via}

{via}

We'll see what happens! We are almost done prepping the floors to refinish them. Sounds like either Wednesday or Friday.

Happy Week :)

~*J

*During* Photos

We are knee deep in our little construction! Only 18 more days to go before our deadline (Christmas Eve).

Our wonderful old/vintage wood panelling has now 8 coats of primer & paint...2 of those is Kilz!

We think hope the 8th time was the trick!

So before:

{{Please excuse & overlook the mess...especially the last shot into the kitchen....like the pee colored walls?? Don't worry that will soon be gone too!!}}

Now:

The date for refinishing the floors is set!

What is left to do in here-not necessarily in this order:

1) refinishing the floor

2) trim out & paint the doorways into the hall & kitchen

3) put the baseboard up & paint on the wood panelling wall

4) paint the ceiling & top moulding

5) paint the front door

6) put quarter round along the floor/baseboards

7) some electrical work (having two outlets installed & one fixed)

7) DECORATE!!

It's getting closer!!! Whoop Whoop :)

More Living & Dining Room Love...

Okay, so last post I showed you some pretty rough before shots of our living room/dining room area.

We've been painting the walls and trim...

Even though it needs more paint (we definitely under-estimated), the walls are such a prettier shade of warm white (before it was a nasty ding-y cream color).

I was really contemplated which direction to go in these two rooms. I've been wanting to go a little funky for quite sometime.

I've always loved a little fun in my home, and it's been seeming to agree with the flow of the house and the girls are actually into the house decor now too!!!

Here is a few pictures to kinda show you what we are going towards in this space.

We already have a brown tufted leather sofa- similar to a chesterfield...it has beautiful nailhead trim and those deep tufts...I may or may not have petted this thing!

{we scored an AWESOME deal on Craigslist over the summer time!!}

{taken at our old house}

And I have this rug on the way {should be here any day now!}

Some blogs that I've really been into lately {love the decor, etc}

www.inthefunlane.com

www.thenester.com

www.housetweaking.com

www.younghouselove.com

www.dearlillieblog.blogspot.com

www.mysweetsavannah.blogspot.com

I am able to reuse much of furniture and decor I already had, so hopefully there won't be much to purchase once the floors and walls are done!!

{via}

{via}

{via}

{via}

Can't wait to keep you updated.

Hope all is well with you my friends :)

~*J

Welcome Home, Living & Dining Room 'BEFORE' shots!!!

We've moved in! {Well as of the first of the month}.

Within about 30 seconds of homeownership..... my dear hubby had already started ripping the carpet up in the dining/living room!

We knew there was the original hardwood underneath, just didn't know how original the condition was!!

Wellllll, we do have to refinish them, and it needs to be soon, might I add! {like before christmas eve}

Paint splatters, missing wood, and just being 90+ years old in general, calls for a spiffing up!

The other night we went to home depot and this is the stain we picked out:

Here it is in real life (on a door) for some reason, it looks much different in person...so hopefully it turns out okay!!:

{via}

We've made a list of updates room by room, and the first room to be graced by our 'makeover' touches is the dining/living room. 

Here is my list so far:

1)Floors refinished

2)Adding trim around the two doorways-dining room into kitchen & living room into hallway

3)Painting (already started priming wood paneled wall, will show pictures in a later post)

4)Window treatments

5)Rugs for entryway/under dining room table/living area

6)Adding more outlets...{{sure sign of an old house :) }}

We've  My hubby has done so much already!

Love being a homeowner. I do appreciate the opportunities and relationships we made while living in our previous homes. Makenzie told me today that she loved her new house, but missed her old friends. Things that make mommy's hearts sad!!

We Are Moving!!!!!

We are sooo excited to annouce, we bought a house!! {Well, we close on the 25th}

I didn't realize this day would finally arrive. We are beside ourselves in excitement.

I know I haven't blogged much at all...but now that we are moving into our own place, I can't wait to keep you all updated on the changes we have in mind!

It is move in ready, needs paint and of course our own personal touches, but for the most part, we were so blessed to be able to find a house about a mile from where we are living now, bringing us a little closer to our church, my mom, and both of our jobs! A nice bonus, I still am able to keep the girls in their same schools.

Here is some pictures borrowed from the real estate listing:

{Dining Room}

{Living Room}

{Downstairs bathroom}

Meanwhile our house looks something like this:

{packing, packing, packing!!}

So relieving after pretty much two years of looking for a house.. and several offers placed, we found one that worked out!!

Will keep you posted :)

~*Jessica