The Floor Project - Part I

After two years in our house we finally decided to get our floors refinished.  When we moved into the house the living room had carpet and the dining room had hardwood.  The dining room was in okay shape, although it did have a rug line around the perimeter.  When we pulled up the living room carpet we found the floors in decent shape, but there were a few stains here and there and plywood patch where a radiator once was.

Then last year we took the small bedroom behind the living room and next to the dining room and split it in half.  One half became a much needed large half bathroom, as there was only a teeny tiny unfunctional water closet on the first floor.  Then, and I know this is hard to follow, we halved the other half of the room.  We moved the wall in about two feet, so it is now a hallway with the bathroom on one side and space for a nice big closet on the other (hopefully one day we can move the washer/dryer here).  So, now the living room has an extra two feet of space in it where we want to put a built-in media center with bookshelves and lots of storage.

Only problem....the floors in the small bedroom were maple, but the living room and dining room floors were oak.  So, here is what we started with.  Note the new paint colors.  All the trim is now white.  The living room went from peacock blue to a soft aqua, and the dining room went from a burnt orange to a celery green.

West view of the living room.

East view of the living room.

Looking through the living room French doors into the dining room.

Dining room looking into hallway/closet and living room.

Here are a few close-ups of the the areas that needed to be replaced or patched.

Living room where we pushed the wall back.

Plywood patch in living room where probably an old radiator was.

We decided to pull out this box patch, and have it feathered in instead.

Maple hallway meets oak dining room.

We decided to go with a company that uses eco-friendly water based finishes, dustless refinishing system, and applies three coats of finish instead of the standard two.  We liked that we would be able to stay in the house while it was being done, and the extra coat of finish is ideal for pet owners.

That's the before...stay tuned for the during and after!!