The hardwood flooring is installed, but I am so not ready to show you the finished product!
Yes, I still have crap everywhere!
Totally not like it used to be….
The bedrooms have been put back together ….. except for the small final touches!
I still have a queen bed frame laying in my dining room waiting to be sold!
Or if I get the nerve…. it will be “cut” so that it is no longer a canopy bed but simply a headboard and footboard. IF I get up the nerve then it will end up in the guest room, as we are on the hunt for a King size mattress for our bedroom. I also imagine that I could use the detailing and molding at the top for the future built in bookcases around the fireplace. What are your thoughts?
Let me know if you would like to buy this Queen bed soon!! Isn’t she gorgeous?
Add that to the pile of items that are being donated and waiting to be picked up.
Added on top of this……..is the artwork and photos leaning up against the dining room walls waiting to be hung. The foyer and upstairs hallway was painted before the flooring was installed and now I am doubting the placement of all the artwork! One of these days I will figure out if I want the same art in the same location!! In the meantime, I am kind of enjoying the stark naked “fresh” walls in the hallway.
Too bad the dining room is the first room off the front door! 😉
Making the decision on these floors was so HARD for me!! I went back and forth, back and forth on what to do, literally making myself bonkers! If you follow me on Pinterest then you know the styles that I was craving!
This was a BIG decision!
I hate making decisions like this!
This isn’t like choosing paint where you can get another can for $30 and swap it out if you don’t like the look!
Now you know why it took me sooooo long to “get off the pot”!! LOL!
Here is my original inspiration for our floors….
I love these dark, wide planks!! Everything looks so fresh and CRISP! I also love the hand scraped look of these boards. Think these would be perfect in my house, as they could mask any scratches Rudy’s nails may cause, or if I am being honest…..the scratches that I may make!
If you remember, I wanted to do the upstairs hallway and possibly K’s bedroom as it is the first room you see when you walk up the stairs. Not only would it look nice as you walk up the stairs, but with his countless allergies and asthma it would be an improvement for his health versus the carpet that was in there.
Cost was a factor, so I had every intention of doing it myself with the help of a co-worker. At that time, I figured I would do the engineered hardwood and had high hopes of buying it for under $4 a square foot.
I also thought I might try my hand at just buying 1×4 white pine boards, cutting them at various lengths and installing them with old fashioned nails. I did ALOT of research on this method and was feeling totally comfortable with giving it a go. I love how the pine looks here, here and here…..I figured I would love them as our flooring option also! Problem was, I waited too long……and doubt started to creep in.
I am telling you…… all it takes is one “what-if” to derail the entire project.
If you think you want to use pine for your flooring, check out Mother Earth News and The Shabby Creek Cottage. Both of these sites give awesome directions to make it happen.
I tend to gravitate towards darker floors; they are so “rich” looking! I know that just like a black shirt or sweater, that the darker the floor the more dust and dirt it will show. Bummer, as I am not the person to be vacuuming the floors everyday!
I already showed you the photo above in my foyer inspiration post, but thought I would share it again, as this is truly the look that I am striving for in our home. Although I am infatuated with the hand scraped planks, I do worry that I will get tired of the look down the road. You know how fads are, totally come and go! This flooring looks as smooth as a baby’s bottom!
I can’t say what the final push was ……..might have been my Mom telling me she was sick and tired of my indecisiveness …… might have been the countless stores I visited, each one having a different opinion on what was the best product out there for our situation. Every store I left had me switching from the engineered, to actual hardwood, to vinyl planks and back again to the engineered. I was sold on the engineered for the cost, as well as the zero swelling and shrinkage that plagues hardwood floors with the climate/season change.
I love all the movement and texture in this wood, and could easily see this color in our home!
We finally bit the bullet in the middle of September and ordered the hardwood floors. We decided that the “wear value” on the particular engineered flooring that I was looking at would not benefit us in the long run. Let’s get real…….10-15 years down the road, I might just want to sand them down and stain them a different color! To get the greater “wear value” we would have had to spend more than what these floors actually cost us. Might as well go with the real deal, right?
We also decided (okay, I decided….PT had a number of hesitations) to take the plunge and do the entire second floor. Folks….that is not just the hallway, but 3 bedrooms and a bonus room above the garage! Oh yeah, throw in a teeny tiny hall closet too! What the HELL was I thinking??? At least I was smart enough not to do the 2 bathrooms!
After the fact, I am glad we did it all at once. If we had just done the hallway and K’s room, the other areas would probably still have the same dirty carpet 20 years from now! It was A LOT of work getting ready for the installers.
As I am not quite ready to show you the “after” …..then again, I might not have that many “before” pictures for you to see……. I thought I would share some of the other pictures that inspired me in our my choice in flooring: 
Traditional Hall by Roswell Home Builders Ashton Woods
Doesn’t this look warm and inviting?
So warm and inviting!!! Wait a minute, I think I already said that about another picture. Oh well….. I LOVE it!!!!!
Pingback: 35+ Gorgeous Ideas of Dark Wood Floors That Look Amazing
Wow, I had no idea that engineered, hardwood floors could be resistant to swelling and shrinkage. My husband and I are thinking about purchasing hardwood floors because we love how they look. I love the dark wood floors that you shared. Those would look amazing in my living room!
I spent a lot of time researching hardwood floors, as we live in Ohio with very cold/hot weather. We just did our downstairs in this same wood, and LOVE them! Have fun with your floor purchase/remodel. Time consuming with all the decisions the market throws our way, but so worth it in the end!
Hey Shaunna,
I’m glad that I have landed here to your blogs. All the photos really inspiring and stunning! I wonder how much cost for this beautiful hardwood flooring.
Cheers,
Oliver
All of the example photos are stunning! Flooring is a big project but so worth the end results. It’s great you took the plunge and just knocked it all out at once.
My pocketbook didn’t thank me, BUT my sanity certainly did Kaitlyn!
It’s true that deciding to put hardwood floors throughout your entire house is a big decision. I can’t believe how good it turned out! I’m in love with the warmth and the rustic appeal of the wood floors! I think that I’ll consult my mom like you did and perhaps make the Big decision as well! Thanks for the inspiration!
Thank you Abelia, we still love them…..and are looking to do the same on our first floor this Fall! Good luck on your flooring project!
Hey Shaunna, Its a good thing that you didn’t order pine flooring. While pine looks great, it isn’t an ideal choice of flooring for high traffic rooms. Also I am curious to know how much did you end up spending and how are the floors holding up now?
Stephen Saugnier recently posted…Eastern White Pine Flooring Pros and Cons
Thank you for the advice! If memory serves me correctly, the maple flooring cost $6 – $7 per square foot. It is holding up great, and we still love it!
I’m glad to read your blog and it’s useful too. In this blog you discussed a good info and the photos that you shared in this blog are really awesome. Thanks for sharing this with us. Keep up blogging.
I really enjoy your post. You shared a good information which is related to hardwood flooring. After reading your post I changed my opinion on wood flooring’s. Thank you & keep up blogging.
The picture of the hallway what colors did you do it like the dark floors with the light walls. Color for both please
Tina- My walls in the second story hallway are Perfect Greige from Sherwin Williams. My floors are maple hardwood from Mullican and the color is Cappuccino. As for all of my inspiration pictures, I am sorry…..I do not know what their colors are.
Where can I order the flooring?
I ordered mine at Lowe’s.
I love your third photo of the upstairs hallway. The dark wood floor is complemented really well by the light brown walls. It is so fun when homes can combine the elegance of two different colors and textures of different surfaces.
Thank you so much Bryan….I totally agree!
How much are you selling the canopy bed for
So sorry, I decided to take the plunge and cut the canopy off of the bed. Although I loved that bed….it looks so good and does not take up as much “visual landscape” in the small room.
You are extremely evil! I cannot believe you did not post the “after” photos!! Cruel and unusual punishment! ; )
LOL! I love tormenting you……
What color stain or finish did you go with? Did you go super dark or more medium (just in case dust is a topic at a house where people [me] prefer to regard dust as novelty glitter)?
I actually went with a medium dark tone. We went with a prefinished because of Kyle’s health issues, plus it cut down on the length of installation. The wood is Maple and the stain is called “Cappuccino”. It reminds me of a sable mink coat!! The dust has not overwhelmed me…..YET!
We are going through the same thing, Shaunna! My dining room is sporting bedroom miscellaneous while I add finishing touches to the new room based on plank flooring. We had a total bedroom gutting; right down to the foundation and dirt. Then started over. I finally added ceiling molding and baseboard last week. It’s getting there!
You are brave to tackle every floor at once. That is a tremendous amount of work… a lot like moving and settling again. It’s going to be worth it. Your entire home will be beautiful and I can’t wait to see it!
Robin @ Redo It Yourself Inspirations recently posted…Pine Plank Floor
You are living out my original plan…..I am so jealous! I can’t wait to head on over and see the progress that you are making. I think I would rather go thru a move and only pack up the stuff once versus shuffling it from room to room and back again. I know that you feel this pain as you are living it yourself. Wow…..still so cool that you are doing the pine planks!! AWESOME!