Before:
After:
Actually, this is the living room, but we have been using it as the dining room because we have no dining room after we enlarged the kitchen. Someday we still hope to add on a real dining room. It seems like this project has taken years, and Hubby and I can't remember the exact date I ripped out the carpet.
Since taking out the carpet, we moved the exterior door beside the fireplace, put another door from the dining room into the kitchen - in front of the new back door, put a window in place of the old back/side door, and put wood flooring in the dining room and hall.
Before installing the flooring, I cleaned the hearth. I had cleaned it when we moved in without much success, but this time I pulled out the big guns.
The reason for all this work was because of the way our Moe built the patio and this side door. The door faces north with no porch over it, and the patio in front of the door is about six inches lower than the nearby driveway. It also doesn't help that our lot is about two feet lower than the lot north of us, and it in turn is about two feet lower than the lot north of it. The result is that this patio became a wading pool with each rain and no amount of weatherstripping around the door could keep out the water.
Since the doors have been changed, we have had a good rain and for the first time in years, we stayed completely dry in the house. Adding a dry stream by the patio will keep the water from becoming a wading pool when it rains.
Having finished rooms is great, but having a finished floor is awesome. No matter how often they are swept or mopped, concrete floors are just gritty. And our floors were worse because the original painters had spilled paint on the floor, and we had taken up tile and the gritty thinset was impossible to completely remove, or at least it was for us. The best part is having the carpet at the bedroom doors tucked in evenly across the doorway. When I ripped out the carpet, I cut at least four extra inches of jagged carpet so there would be plenty to curl around a tack bar.
Draw leaf inlaid table, $150 at auction. Ten parsons chairs $2.50 each at auction. Yes, that's right, two dollars and fifty cents each. They needed to be reupholstered but as messy as teenagers are, I thought I'd wait until they were grown. Now I'm not sure if I even want to keep them. While it was really handy to have a big table when groups of hungry teenagers come over, it's a little big for us now.
I get up every morning surprised and pleased all over again that we are actually living like normal, civilized people. Ahhhhhh. It's amazing how living in an unfinished house can wear on your nerves.
Until next time, may you have blessings and clean socks,
Marti
After:
Actually, this is the living room, but we have been using it as the dining room because we have no dining room after we enlarged the kitchen. Someday we still hope to add on a real dining room. It seems like this project has taken years, and Hubby and I can't remember the exact date I ripped out the carpet.
Since taking out the carpet, we moved the exterior door beside the fireplace, put another door from the dining room into the kitchen - in front of the new back door, put a window in place of the old back/side door, and put wood flooring in the dining room and hall.
Before installing the flooring, I cleaned the hearth. I had cleaned it when we moved in without much success, but this time I pulled out the big guns.
The reason for all this work was because of the way our Moe built the patio and this side door. The door faces north with no porch over it, and the patio in front of the door is about six inches lower than the nearby driveway. It also doesn't help that our lot is about two feet lower than the lot north of us, and it in turn is about two feet lower than the lot north of it. The result is that this patio became a wading pool with each rain and no amount of weatherstripping around the door could keep out the water.
Since the doors have been changed, we have had a good rain and for the first time in years, we stayed completely dry in the house. Adding a dry stream by the patio will keep the water from becoming a wading pool when it rains.
Having finished rooms is great, but having a finished floor is awesome. No matter how often they are swept or mopped, concrete floors are just gritty. And our floors were worse because the original painters had spilled paint on the floor, and we had taken up tile and the gritty thinset was impossible to completely remove, or at least it was for us. The best part is having the carpet at the bedroom doors tucked in evenly across the doorway. When I ripped out the carpet, I cut at least four extra inches of jagged carpet so there would be plenty to curl around a tack bar.
Draw leaf inlaid table, $150 at auction. Ten parsons chairs $2.50 each at auction. Yes, that's right, two dollars and fifty cents each. They needed to be reupholstered but as messy as teenagers are, I thought I'd wait until they were grown. Now I'm not sure if I even want to keep them. While it was really handy to have a big table when groups of hungry teenagers come over, it's a little big for us now.
I get up every morning surprised and pleased all over again that we are actually living like normal, civilized people. Ahhhhhh. It's amazing how living in an unfinished house can wear on your nerves.
Until next time, may you have blessings and clean socks,
Marti
Those floors are gorgeous! And I can't believe your auction deals. Amazing!
ReplyDeleteThank you. I love having wood floors and babied them, but still we have had an accident and have to replace some of the planks. Auctions can be long, hot, and crowded, but it's a good way to find bargains.
ReplyDelete