HOUSE CHANGES

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Been doing some work around the house the last couple of months.



Looking into the kitchen and out onto the porch

 

Kitchen chandelier, art, plates and quilt (in hallway)

  

Looking into my pretty guest bathroom, which looks
more "blue" than the grayish blue it really is.

My kitchen is painted a cheery yellow and my guest bathroom is painted a grayish blue.  Both have pictures hung and are completed.  I am extremely pleased with how both turned out.  And, neither would look so well if it weren't for the help of my brother-in-law, Marlon.  In my kitchen I also hung a mini-chandelier which picks up the black in my appliances and the crystal prisms from the dining room chandelier.  I love the way it looks.

Here's how it looked carpeted

But the main thing I did this winter is tear out the carpet in every area but the bedrooms and replace it with hardwood flooring - well, engineered hardwood since the house is on a concrete slab. Since I had hardwood in my little foyer area and the kitchen, that all had to be removed so that all the flooring would match.  I purchased the flooring at Home Depot, finding the wood I liked and then waiting until it went on sale. I also hired and contractor to install the flooring. Tom and his son, Evan, did an excellent job!

Concrete slab, which I must have swept a dozen times

First, we (Marlon, Suzanne, Paul and myself) pulled out the carpeting and tack strips.  Susanne and Marlon will reuse the carpet and padding in the bonus room Marlon built above their garage.  Hardly any carpet was or will be wasted, which is a good feeling.  Once that was done I lived on the concrete slab for 5 days.  Talk about a mess.  We had picked up the flooring and it has to sit for at least 72 hours in the house before it could be installed.  During this time I also painted the new quarter rounds that would be installed after the flooring went in.



Top is the old flooring and bottom is the new flooring.  I am so
glad I picked out wide planks

 

New flooring goes down, starting at the front door foyer area
and moving into the living room



Beautiful end result



Oliver and Sam (who is ready to play) enjoy the new flooring, too

 

Another view of the floor, including the tip of Sam's tail!

 It took almost 3 days of work to install the floors.  Poor Evan really had a hard time removing the old wood floors from the kitchen.   My house was a mess (it took 5 days to clean afterwards), but the end result is beautiful.  I could not be happier!

Now, on to the master bedroom and bath.  That's another whole story!