We finished the floor on Sunday! Yay!
Now, when you walk in the door, you don�t see hardwood in the entryway (oak, no less, with the planks going in the wrong direction to the light source). You don�t see a break into vinyl going into the powder room, or vinyl in the kitchen and breakfast nook. And BEST of all, you don�t see fugly carpet (that was forever spotted and dirty) in the hallway or living room. All you see is smooth, beautiful, light cherry laminant wood flooring, everywhere. Like a sea of smoothness, with no transitions. The color adds warmth and interest, and we are amazed at the transformation. It�s like living in a brand new house.
It�s not completely finished, of course. There is the matter of the baseboard mouldings we still need to attend to. A lot of them. First we have to buy the mouldings, which we�ve already selected, and then stain them to match the floor. Then install them. A pretty big job in itself, but not daunting. No, the big job is over.
Fresh paint all around, new colors, clean windows. It�s beautiful. The fireplace still needs paint, and a moulding solution, but I�m in no big rush. Can�t do that anyway until we get the baseboards up. The windows are nekkid. No curtains, and the big vertical blind that covered the sliding glass window is pretty much history. Not only did we hate it, but two of the pieces just broke right off and fell to the floor. It�s not whole, so I�m using that as an excuse to just chunk the whole thing. I can see myself shopping for a lovely curtain very soon. With sheers, and valances for the other three windows to match. Purty!
We have two ceiling fans, matching, and the blades are a darker cherry color, as is my computer desk and hutch. They all go with the floor so nicely. It�s as if we planned it that way.
I�d like to get the couch recovered in black leather, but don�t know how feasible that would be ($$). Might do some research. We have a chair that would look great in black leather too. If we could get them done for a reasonable amount, the effect would be awesome. And way more durable than the fabrics currently covering them.
In other non-home improvement related news, I�m hosting a baby shower for my niece this Saturday, who�s due in 5 weeks! Can you believe it? It�s gone so fast. I can�t wait to see my baby grandniece. I�ve got a bunch of presents for her. We bought her a nice stroller/travel system, a monitor, and I made her a baby quilt (a specialty of mine!). I have to resist the urge to buy mega baby stuff when I�m out shopping anymore. I see a sale, and my first reaction is to buy buy buy! But that�s not for me to do. Plus, I still have my own baby to buy for (granted, she�s three, but still�) Anyway, the shower is at my dad�s house, down yonder, a four hour drive for us, so we�ll be leaving on Friday morning and returning on Sunday. I think there�s going to be around 20 people there. I�ll be serving lunch and dessert, so Friday will be a busy day preparing for the party. Several invitees have volunteered to come over and help get things ready (cleaning Dad�s house, buying/preparing food, decorating), so I�m expecting this party to be easy breezy. And my niece is SO looking forward to it. I will take many pictures for her scrapbook.
Our Thanksgiving is going to low-keyed this year. No guests, since our house is still not guest-friendly. I have done all the shopping already, and with the exception of fresh rolls, I have everything for dinner ready to prepare, including pumpkin pies, which I guess I�ll bake Wednesday night after my hair appointment. Poor P will be stuck with all of the leftovers himself, since we�ll be heading out bright and early on Friday morning. He�s not going with us this time.
AND, I�ve already started on my Christmas shopping, and P�s birthday shopping. Online, of course. I ordered one of K�s gifts, K�s brother�s gift, a little something for B, and P�s birthday gift. I�m giving P all of the Shakespeare books/plays in the collection that he doesn�t already have. I think there�s something like 40 of �em, and he had about half (of same publisher). I got him the rest. Ten of those I�ll give him for his birthday, and the other ten I�ll give him for Christmas. He�s going to flip out. He�s going to want me to build him a new bookcase now, I just know it.
Not a lot of other news. Life is on a pretty even keel at the moment, even with all of the home improvement labors and distractions. I think I�m going to ask P to let me pick out a nice big round fluffy rug for the living room, and have that be my Christmas present. To me, that would be a great Christmas present, and since you just know I�m going to buy one anyway, it would be a budget-wise thing to do.
Well, time to get ready for work. I got me some new jeans and a couple of new shirts, and some new tennis shoes (at the Nordstrom half-yearly sale!) so I�m wearing new stuff today, which, for some silly reason, makes me happy.
Gotta get the trash and recycling ready first, which, surprisingly, doesn�t make me happy, but needs to be done anyway. Then I�m off to the shower.
If I can find my digital camera and PC adaptor thingie, maybe I�ll post some pictures of our project. Hard telling where it is just now, though. A thorough search of the premises is in order. Have a good day!
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