this is happening

OH BOY. The hardwood has arrived! We have to let it sit in the house for a few days to acclimate, and then we'll seriously get this ball rolling! I had to pull out a few pieces to make sure we got the right product. It looks so. good. I am thrilled.

We got a quote on having a professional install it... and it was very expensive. We are still going to go ahead with it ourselves (and hopefully some friends' help!). We will be buying some equipment for the process, and then looking to sell it after the project is complete. If you know anyone in the triangle NC area looking to add wood floors in the near future, let them know they can get some gently used tools & stuff from us.

the final countdown

Yesterday, we ordered all of the wood for the floors. Oh. My. Goodness. I am nervous and excited. The house is going to be a wreck for a while, and I am trying to mentally prepare for this. We had not moved much of anything back into the living room since the ceiling project, so the room is clear. Now we have to rip up the carpet and padding. Ew. I am not looking forward to this part. It is going to look SO good though. And I am ordering FLOR samples today. We are going to put a big rug in the main space to denote "living room" from the "kitchen and dining" area.

Who wants to help us??

stay tuned for project progress photos...

progress report

Projects #1 and #2 COMPLETE!!

It only took 5 men and 3.5 days to get this done. SO worth hiring people for this project. Was it expensive? Yes. I cannot even imagine how we could have done this on our own though. The pictures don't really do it justice. The kitchen ceiling seriously feels a whole foot higher. Even the 17 foot ceilings in the living room somehow feel more open and airy.

Aaahhhhh! So fresh and so clean. On to the next project... wood floors! We peeked under the carpet, and it doesn't look too bad. We will pick out our wood this weekend and let it acclimate in the house next week. We decided to go ahead with this next step while all of the furniture is out of the way. Here goes nothing!

Spring 2012 House Project Extravaganza!

1. Scrape the popcorn ceilings - in progress as of RIGHT NOW. We are hiring folks to do this for us as we cannot reach our 17 foot ceiling, and its popcorn. We are just doing the living room and kitchen... the main awake-time living areas. We will have to save up for a while in order to get more of the house done.

2. Paint the great room - again, hiring folks to do this. We do not have a ladder that big. Since the room is clear, and they are already here, the drywall/popcorn peeps will take care of this for us.

3. David's desk - we sold the big ol' metal desk that was in the office. He is MAKING a new one! More on that in another post...

4. Wood Floors - I have to say, I am most excited about this one. I hate our dingy, dust-collecting, old carpeted floors. We chose a bamboo wood flooring, and will put it down in the next few weeks as the living room and kitchen are already cleared out.

5. Kitchen Makeover - we LOVE our green kitchen, but after the ceiling project it will need touching up. We may change the color slightly, but it will still be something bright and fun. I can reach everything in the kitchen, so we will do that ourselves!

6. Guest Room Makeover - we cleared out this room in order to store things from the living room for the ceiling project. Once the living room and kitchen are put back together, this room will be a blank slate! We want to make it into an office/movie room. David's new desk will go in here, and we will try to find a smallish couch or love seat.

from the top of the stairs

The living room projects begin. I will try my best to take progress pictures, but I need to stay out of the way. I packed my snacks and have most things I need up in the bedroom and craft room. They assure me that I WILL be able to get in and out of the house after they tape off everything and bubble me in.