Floors

As I've mentioned before, the previous owners of our house were not interested in maintenance or updating the house before selling it (and they wondered why it was on the market for almost 2 years!). The carpets were bad. Very bad. Expecially down the hall and around the fireplace. Because we were covering the overwhelming wood panelling in both of these areas, we thought that hardwood floors would be a nice addition. As I mentioned in my last post, this is one of the few projects that Matt and I did not do ourselves. A family friend of Matt's parents knew a professional who could buy and completely install the hardwood floors for cheaper than the materials alone would cost us. Though we were up to the challenge of flooring, it made more sense to us to hire this guy since he came highly recommended and was cheap.

We chose a Red Oak for the floor. Our flooring guy recommended it when we told him that we were interested in a durable floor that had a lot of detail. The floor is stained Sherwim Williams' Burnished Walnut. It is a beautiful color and the grain of the wood really makes this floor impressive.

Here's my brother helping us remove the last remnants of the carpet that was down the hallway and in the front room. We seriously could not have bought this house without knowing our families would be very willing to help us renovate. They are wonderful.
Installed, sanded, and stained hardwood. This picture was taken the day before the polyurethane went on.
Our very first step onto our new floors. They literally took my breath away when I first saw them after the polyurethane was put on.