Woot woot the kitchen flooring is going and will soon be gone. There were layers of ceramic tile, cement board, and linoleum that had to be removed so that when we lace in the new wood flooring the kitchen will be the same level as the dining room. So, no more tripping my way into the kitchen (well, I guess there is no guarantee that my clumsiness won’t still find a way to trip up, but at least the odds will be better).

kitchen floor progress kitchen progressMore progress after the jump…

We also busted all the way through the two walls in the living room and the house instantly became drenched in sunlight.

living room progressYou can see bundles of the new flooring laying in the middle of the room. As soon as the carpet is out of the family room and the kitchen floor is completely cleared out we get to start laying it down. To save time (and our backs) we hired a floor guy that a friend of a friend recommended. He picked up the flooring for us which are oak boards to match the existing hardwoods.

floors-progress-sandingTo get the flooring to really blend well together we are sanding down the original hardwoods so that he can stain the new and the old the same color. He already started in the bedroom with this big old fancy sander.

Renovator’s journal day 17: all of our possessions are still in the garage and I am finding it increasingly harder to find anything, convinced that maybe we lost everything in our 1/4 of a mile move (we really should have labeled our boxes).

To see all of the home progress take a look here.

  • Thanks for all the info on the floors 🙂 It looks so beautiful!!

  • Wow, looks like things are really moving along! Can’t wait to see everything finished.

  • You have amazing patience to live day to day with your things in the garage, but I can already tell it’ll be so worth the wait. I’m curious: Do you think anyone can tackle home renovations, or do you need a knack for it, like you obviously do? I’d love to spruce up a home I (hope to) buy in a few years, but I’ve never attempted anything like this — and I’m sort of an awful DIYer.

    • Hey Archana, I am not sure if it is for absolutely everyone but I do think that even if you are an awful DIYer you can still tackle a renovation. Especially if you are good at delegating or managing people. You could then save money by not having to work with a general contractor by serving as that yourself and then hire sub-contractors for projects that you don’t feel comfortable with.
      Hope that helps!

  • This is going to look so amazing when it’s finished! I’m so excited to sell up and move in the spring, your renovations have been so inspirational especially that they are smaller properties as houses in the uk are so tiny. Can’t wait to see it finished 🙂 xx

  • So fun! Seems like such hard work demoing a house, but so rewarding! Excited to see how it looks when you guys are done!

  • Hello Sarah,
    I must say I’m simply inlove with your blog! I came across your blog on pinterest, and for the past 3hs I did nothing but browse your posts! I loooove your style. It’s a breath of fresh air to find inspiration on decor that finally “speaks to my soul”.
    I’m brazilian, living in Spain, married to a french guy and planning our new home in Paris. 🙂 I have trouble choosing the colour of the wooden floor for our new flat, coz I’m too monocromatic, and I have trouble mixing woods… I was wondering how you choose your floor… Thank you for your time and work! Keep it up 🙂 xoxo

    • sarah

      Hi Emilia,
      Thanks for the kind words! Since I like to keep things neutral, I wanted a wood floor that doesn’t have a lot of red or yellow tones. I picked the darkest stain our floor guy had so that it reads almost black. If I was to do completely new flooring I would either choose the same OR go really light. I feel like the lighter or the darker you go, you have more room for the furniture to either match or be in contrast with it. Does that makes sense? ha I hope that helps. x

    • Hi Sarah, Do you happen to remember what color of stain you chose for your floors? I’m about to have ours redone and I love your color! Thanks. – jen

  • […] the kitchen was a tiny space, completely closed off to the rest of the house. We gutted it, opened it up, expanded it, and added on a separate laundry room so that we could move the washer and dryer out […]

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