Over the last week this “little project” of ours has become quite the Pandora’s Box. What started out as one home improvement has turned into a list a mile long. We now need to raise our kitchen cabinets, but before we can do that we have to replace the countertops, which means we’re going to have to do a new back splash. We have to replace the baseboards with new ones, which means we have to buy them and paint them first. Then all the wall paint needs to be touched up, and the curtains re-hung (or hell, just replaced at this point).
There were MANY bumps in the road, and I can pretty much say I don’t ever recommend Lumber Liquidators to anyone. Customer Service FAIL. Unfortunately, though, I think they are the only place you can get utility grade hardwoods. We worked through it all (and by we, I totally don’t mean me) with the help of Scott’s amazingly talented and generous brother who helped out.
The floor install, as of 8 pm last night, is finally done.
The view from a week ago.
TA-DA!!
Now we just have to fill all the knots and cracks in the wood with wood putty, sand them (which we are hiring a professional to do), finish them, and CLEAN UP. I feel like we are living like refugees. As I type this, I have 5 loads of laundry placed in piles randomly throughout the house. Why I keep washing it, I don’t know. Our bedroom is just as bad as it appears in that video. No. WORSE. Also? Stinky.
The really, really hard part is behind us, but the sort of hard part is still ahead, and that’s living on unfinished wood for at least a week with a toddler and two dogs. Thank God Leyna’s not crawling yet.
We are finishing the floors with a product called Rubio Monocoat Natural Oil Finish that I’m SUPER excited to use. I did a ton of research on eco-friendly, healthy finishing options, and this was at the top of our list. It’s completely VOC free, non-toxic, very durable and easy to maintain, from what I’ve read.
Now, I have a question for you all. Originally, we planned to finish them in a mahogany, as seen here. But, after getting the floors down, I am absolutely in love with the way they look right now. Since we used utility grade wood, there is a lot of variation in the colors, lots of knots, and I sort of hate to cover that up. I’m thinking of just applying the clear Monocoat over it. What do you think? Would you leave them natural or stain them a little darker?
Kendall is 3! Leyna is 4 months.