Carpet is evil. Hardwood is good.

I suppose I should start detailing the saga of the new-old house here so my family can see it. :) I've not done much since moving in last week except to pull up the old carpet (the renters I had in it previously were heavy smokers, and I have bad, bad allergies) and really clean the place up.

Under the carpet, though, I found old oak hardwood! I had been planning on putting in new hardwood floors (in this maple), but since stumbling across the floors underneath, I've put that on hold. There are a few bad boards that need to be replaced (there were termites in the house at one time) and some paint/stains in places, but overall it's not in bad shape. I will have to wage war on 17 and a half billion miles of tack strip and fill holes left behind by an army of little staples, though.

After that, I will either refinish it (though the estimates I'm getting put the cost of that close to the cost of a new floor if I do the installation myself) or perhaps paint it white. I'm really leaning toward the painting option after seeing homebug's White Floor Inspiration set on Flickr.

I just love the fresh, clean look that the white floors give to the rooms, and it really makes the colors in the accessories pop! It's not terribly hard or expensive to do, either, it just takes time.

Then there's this wall behind the couch.

It's a fine wall, to be sure, but it's separating my scrap room from the rest of the living area (which is where the projector is). To solve that, I'll most likely have a set of pocket french doors installed. The scrap room has a large window in it, so the french doors will allow that light to pass through to the living room. They'll also allow me to open the room up or close it off (if I need to use it for a guest room).

PocketDoors.net has some wonderful examples of pocket french doors.




Oh, and the projector that I said was in the living room? Because of the throw distance, we now have a 9' wide viewing area as opposed to the 6' one we used to have. Which means I need to order a new screen. It's going to be recessed in the ceiling (where it can roll up out of sight) so I can put an Ikea shelving unit on that wall to use as a display area for the turtle's aquarium, plus some storage for books and DVDs.


Lastly, I have some new appliances already delivered or on the way. The new washer and dryer were installed last week. These are not their final resting places, but for now they're sitting where the existing hookups are located. When the kitchen is remodeled, they're going to get moved to sit side by side with a counter over them.

I've also been doing some clearance shopping at Home Depot- I found a vessel sink, vanity, and marble top 75% off!! The sink was only $37!!!

The new refrigerator is in, too. As soon as I get it cleaned up, I will post pictures. :)