A day long awaited

We have owned our house for a little over 4 years. And since the moment we first walked in the door, I have known the carpet and linoleum on the first floor MUST be replaced.

The flooring on the entire first floor needed to be replaced so we knew it was going to be a huge (and expensive) project. We went back and forth over our options - carpet/linoleum, carpet/ceramic tile, real hardwood, laminate hardwood, light or dark. We originally settled on new carpet in the living room and ceramic tile in the kitchen. Then we remembered we had a toddler who was just learning to walk. Tile + a toddling 1 year old = many trips to the ER. So we went back to the drawing board. We have 2 dogs and a cat who shed ALL. THE. TIME. The more I thought about putting down new carpet, the more I realized it was a bad idea. Carpet gets dirty and full of pet hair and odors...all things I was trying to avoid.

After spending an entire afternoon in the flooring department of Home Depot, we settled on laminate hardwood - specifically Pergo. The man helping us really talked it up and how durable it is. And with two dogs, a cat, and a toddler...we need durable!

Choosing the color literally came down to the wire. We had decided to keep the existing trim throughout and were trying to choose a color to some what match it. We landed on a honey oak color. When we headed back to Home Depot to set up the measure appointment, the woman helping us explained that it's helpful for the installers if we have a brand/color selected at the time of the measure because it's quicker to place the order when we set up the install date. My first thought upon hearing that was "YIKES!". I was wavering back and forth between the honey oak and a darker spiced walnut color. Literally at the.very.last.moment I slid her the spiced walnut sample and hoped for the best. I have always loved the look of dark floors. It's so timeless and classic.

Old, out-of-date linoleum

After demo of the carpet and linoleum.

Another before of the kitchen.

Install in progress!

After the floors were installed, I was giddy! It looks so, so, so amazing! I did start to regret the dark color once I realized every single piece of dirt, dust, and pet hair shows. My OCD tendencies were full throttle the first few days. I felt like I must VACUUM.ALL.THE.THINGS! every second. I may have even attempted to shave the dogs. Thankfully, as time has gone on my OCD-ness has gotten a little better. I try to vacuum every night after the dogs are in their kennels but more realistically, it's every two days.

The new floors make the house feel brand new. To go with it, we got a new rug (on super-sale at Pier 1!), a new chair, new ottoman and new art for the wall.

It's taken a while, but slowly we are making this house our own.