Remember when I told you that we got more paint than needed because someone (not me) got over-zealous in their paint estimate for the great room? Well, I decided since we had extra, why not paint the kitchen? So that's that I did Friday. I'm glad it's done because that was a pain in the ass with all of the angles and little spaces to get in to. I also cut in with no taping up the crown molding. I did a decent job but right now I'm over it.
There were all kinds of emotions running all over the place this weekend as we delve deeper into this updating of the downstairs. On our way to every known flooring store, we were treated to the sites and sounds of the city.
Weirdest thing we saw this weekend:
Don't ask, I don't know.
We got a call from Pottery Barn that something was wrong with the fabric they were using on our furniture and there's a delay. We're getting money back for our trouble. We could've cancelled if we wanted but that damn couch is the whole reason we dove into this project and painted the entire downstairs. We're invested. But honestly, I'd rather have a little more time to get the new flooring down so I'm not too overly heartbroken but I'll admit, the sooner this is all over, the better I'll feel.
Easiest decision we made? What our new baseboards will look like...
Hardest decision we made/are still making...
While we both like the big slab with the hand scraped look, we could find absolutely NO reviews on it. Matter of fact, we couldn't even find a website for the producers of the product. It's also almost double of what the one slat right next to it is and while there isn't really hand scraping on that one, it's basically the same color and gets 4 1/2 stars from all of the twenty some people who reviewed it. We're just very big on other people's experiences and the fact that we can find nothing, not even the company who manufactures it just feels like a red flag. We almost bought a floor from a big name company and while we were borrowing the sample, I researched it and it got horrible reviews so that shot that in the foot. I'm not going to be one of those bloggers who is like "tell me which one you like to help me decide" when they have no intention of taking opinions into consideration. Honestly, I'm doing good enough trying to manage just the Mr and I's back and forth on this but feel free to speak your mind in the comments knowing we'll still pick what we want anyway. LOL (What can I say, I'm honest like that!)
I picked up some Annie Sloan chalk paint over the weekend to ready myself to paint the furniture. It's SOOOO expensive but I'm holding off judgment until I work with it. It'd BETTER work the miracles all of it's disciples claim it does. All I do know is I don't have the time it takes to cure the wax on our tables so clear water based poly it shall be on the table tops but I'll give it a go on the armoires and such.
When I get overwhelmed and cry, I just thank God the house no longer looks like this...
So depending on what we go with, we could be spending this coming weekend or next putting down new floors. The friend helping us wants us to remove the carpet and baseboards. He's funny like that.
Tonight we go to dinner for my mom's birthday. My grandparents won't be coming to that because it's just too hard to do for grandma anymore. I knew this would come soon enough. Sigh. I'll have to scour the menu and see what I can have that isn't deep fried or will give me salt bloat for the rest of the week.
What did you do this weekend?
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Glad the big painting project is done but I know it's only the beginning. I do wish it wasn't so hard to choose the right wood look but in the end if we make the right choice it will have all been worth the effort and it's definitely not something we want to have to do again for a very long time. And I am glad the couch/loveseat were delayed a little because we did need the extra time. Just wish it wasn't a full 5 more weeks. A 2 week delay would have been plenty.
ReplyDeleteYes. I'm still bummed that despite more info from the slab guy a few minutes ago, I still can't find info on the manufacturer. Oy. When you dream about flooring, a decision needs to be made and hope that it's the right one for us.
DeleteI spent a few days with my folks, and then left the little guy there for a few more days. He'll be home Wednesday. so I've got a few days to myself. I miss him but I won't lie and say I don't look forward to these few days a year that they have him. I have a lot to do in just a few days though so it's not really much of a break.
ReplyDeleteI have to get my kitchen re-floored this summer and I'm definitely not looking forward to it. We're going to hire someone to do it though because there's some damage to the underfloor and I really want a professional to do it right instead of us muddling through. I probably should paint at the same time while everything is pulled out, but ... yeah. No excuses - needs to be done.
Hey, every mama needs a bit of a kid break so enjoy yourself! :-) I hope you get everything done you need to. It's nice to feel like you've accomplished something but there's also something to be said for being a lazy bum. HA!
DeleteI think that's smart especially if there are issues with the subfloor. Do yourself the favor if you have it all pulled out. So much easier!
I'm going to be completely unhelpful and say that I don't think you can go wrong with any of the flooring options. ;)
ReplyDeleteAs for taking up carpet, are you familiar with the Wonderbar? My husband swears by it for demo/deconstruction. We had a friend take up her carpet and spent hours working on the floor boards with little success. We lent her the medium sized Wonderbar and she got the rest up quickly.
No, actually that is helpful to know that of the two one doesn't look glaringly better than the other to you! So thanks! :-)
DeleteYou know what, I think we just bought a wonderbar!!! We bought a kit for putting down the flooring and then needed a crowbarry type thing and I think that was it! Now I think we just need to make sure we have 2 utility knives and we're good to go. Poor Mr, he was not brought up in a handyman situation so I think he'll be on stage 2 of stress trots in no time! HA!
House projects are SO overwhelming and they never, ever go as smoothly as planned. What seems like something should take maybe an hour to do ends up taking a good four hours instead. And when there is chaos and clutter (from having to move stuff, cover stuff, etc) it just feels that much more intense. But the good news is it DOES improve and every single corner you work on gets cleared out and new paint, furnishings, etc are in their place. That day isn't today, and that's ok. It sounds like you're allowing yourself to be overwhelmed, but you keep moving forward so it's not paralyzing you. Give yourself a pat on the back for that! I have a project in mind for my vacation week and I'm already breaking out into a sweat just walking into the room, so I get it!
ReplyDeleteI know. It all sounds so good on paper, doesn't it? Then you get in the throes of it and it's like I'm not one of those people who can go halfway and stop and leave a big project like that unfinished to hang over my head. We pulled the trigger on the floor tonight and now it's on to the rest of it. I think a to do list always helps me so maybe give that a try and see if it helps you too!
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