Monday, October 30

Home Remodel, Stardate -317828.44

(Yeah, that really is the stardate - cool, huh?)

Well, we have a floor. It's currently five feet high, piled in the foyer and the guest room. But it's ours, baby! And having it here, taking up space, is much like getting a Vitamin B12 shot - we're ready to roll! The energy and motivation those boxes have spread throughout the house is nothing short of amazing. Even my beloved caffeine can no longer give me this boost.

And so, today we'll finish lessons early, head to Lowe's for more primer (because, evidently you kind of need that to paint a door -pfft- details, details), some screen and spline (because there's that whole pesky issue of storm windows and the desire to see through them, open them. whatever.) then home again to finish our work.

The flooring we purchased from iFloor.com - wonderful people to work with. We arrived right at closing time, thanks to our unfamiliarity with time zones and the fact that we'd be crossing one. But if Darlene and Jonathan from the Dalton store were quietly wishing us a slow and painful death from veering off the Interstate on the way home, they never let on. We appreciate that. They were most helpful, interactive, and thoughtful. I know that, for them, flooring is a daily thing. They probably have nightmares about wood floors battling it out with laminates. Everybody they meet is putting in a new floor, and soooo excited about it, and thinks they're the only people in the world who have ever done so. We get that. But they also treated us as if they cared that we're putting in a new floor, they were enthused by our excitement of it, and they never once felt the need to inform us that - hello! - it's an entire industry and no, we're not the only people in the world who have ever done this. That's salesmanship. Plus, they complimented the boys and thought Miss Emily was too cute. ;-)

We left with something completely different than what we'd intended to pick up. We got there, and it didn't say "buy me" the way it did on the computer. After an hour, Zorak clicked on what wasn't quite right about the kind we'd originally chosen. It looked great online, but in person, it was... mmm... well, he leaned over and whispered, "Doesn't that look just like the paneling we pulled out?" I snatched Baby Girl up off that sample and tried very hard not to let my flashbacks show. We went with something else. (Consider this a warning - shopping online can be a lot like internet dating. The hunk in the dark oak you met online could turn out to be nothing but a drunk in a dark paneling wife beater!)

We went with this. It's a little bold, but so was the Adobe Ghetto in the kitchen, and we love that. This goes with the cream, the green, and the adobe colors. I think we're going to love it. And if we don't, that's okay, too, because with four children, I doubt it'll be visible most of the time, anyway.

Sooo, between now and Wednesday, with lessons and Halloween thrown in there for good measure, I've got to get this house Floor Ready (you didn't actually think our plan worked last weekend, did you?) The goal today is to ship out boxes: boxes of clothes, boxes of borrowed things, boxes of gifts. There will not be anything left in our house that is not ours, or should not be ours. This is my dream, er, goal.

And now I've got to go actually be productive, rather than just writing about it.

Kiss those babies!
~Dy

7 comments:

Anonymous said...

Hey! A floor! Good luck with the clean-up, but...what about that trim?!

Anonymous said...

YAY!!! Now I can take that off my prayer list, because you REALLY deserve nice floors! ANd WOW! That is absolutely gorgeous!! I think that you did an amazing job in choosing. Everything will look so spacious. Just beautiful.

Melora said...

You shame me utterly with your ambitious plans. Here I sit, reading blogs, while boxes of my very own china sit, unpacked, in the dining room. I do have a good excuse for not working on our kitchen & bathroom flooring, since it is currently in boxes performing the essential function of weighing down the formica on the kitchen counters so that the formica Might someday stick to the wood.

I Love that wood sample! What a lovely color! Is it a laminate? I know exactly how you feel about that dark paneling -- horrors!

Brandie said...

Yeah for new flooring!! Good luck with all that you plan to accomplish ... your list makes mine look like nothing! LOL! =)

also wanted to add, loved the pictures from the party - but I can't comment on that post for some reason.

Amber said...

Oooh, that looks really nice! I have a serious case of floor envy now - or, well, I will once it is no longer in 5 foot high stacks. :-)

Thanks for posting the pictures from the party! It looks like the pirate costume really turned out well.

J-Lynn said...

Ah but it's SO much easier to WRITE about our goals isn't it? lol

I'm getting ambitious myself now, inspired by you. I'm going to do an accent wall in deep blue suede! I'm excited. But first I better clean up the house for the Halloween party..oh yeah...TOMORROW! ACK!

HUGS

Meliss said...

Love the flooring! Looks so fresh and clean!