A look at our wood
Everyday we’re shufflin’.
As I mentioned before, our house has been a bit of a giant construction mess for a few weeks. Totally worth it.
My dad came over and helped the Pilot install wood floors in the master bedroom,
closet
and loft.
Eventually we would love to do the entire upstairs -5 families have lived here before us and the carpet is gnarly- but wanted to start with one large area, see how time consuming and costly it was, and roll from there. After this experience, we’re hoping to finish all of upstairs this summer, making the house carpet-free. Carpet has always kind of skeeved me out -you vacuum and clean it, but it never feels really clean- and our once-white carpet was already grey when we moved in. We’ve wanted to do wood floors for quite a while and finally decided to go for it.
We ordered the wood from Lowe’s
my dad came over with all of his tools and equipment, and the boys got to work.
My dad is a ninja at anything house-related (he designs and builds custom houses here in Tucson), so they were able to crank it out fairly quickly. We’re so happy with how beautifully they turned out, and so thankful that he came over to help us. Now that the Pilot knows how to do it, the rest of upstairs shouldn’t be too terrible to finish later on.
As soon as the floors were finished, we shuffled the rooms around: Liv moved out of the loft to her big girl room, the guest room went into the office, and the office was moved to the loft.
We’re still working on finishing Liv’s room and the other guest room, but here’s the new office. I love how open and bright it is:
Moving her into her big girl room was pretty sentimental for me. We’d had her in the loft -attached to our room- since she was itty bitty, and for quite a few months before that, she slept in the basinet next to our bed. When she moved to her big girl room, I worried that there might be a transition phase or she wouldn’t sleep well, but nope. She sleeps SO much better in an enclosed room… she’s on hour 3 of her nap as I write this post. Of course, I think it would have been easier to just start her out in that room instead of the loft, as it’s not the most conducive for baby sleep, but I’m glad we did it the way we did. We loved having her close to us and it was especially convenient during the era of frequent nighttime wake-ups and feedings. I’ll post a pic of her big girl room when the last piece of it arrives later this week- I love the way it’s coming together!
While our wood floors make the spaces seem much bigger, it also made us realize how empty it still it. As a military family, it’s pretty daunting to make investments for home remodels and decor. You never know how long you’ll be somewhere, and for all you know, you could spend your next assignment in a small apartment while most of your belongings and cars are in storage (which is usually the case in Korea). I’ve gotten over it and decided to do as much as we can to make this house our own, and do tiny things we love, even though we might only be here another year.
At least if we move, our house will be more rent-worthy with some shiny wood floors….
To clean them, I’ve been vacuuming using the brush attachment with our Shark vacuum to get the Caro hairs, + a duster mop, Bona spray with a towel mop:
To protect the floors from Caro marking her territory, we’ve been crating her since the first night they were installed. At first I felt really guilty about it- she spent so much of her life in a tiny crate at the puppy mill- it changed my mind when I saw how comfy and happy she is in there at night. We give her a treat and tell her what a good girl she is, and she walks right into the crate.
Have you done any remodels or decor changes lately? Anything you’d love to upgrade in your abode? Every time I see the shiny gold hardware in our house, I shudder a little.
Hope you’re all enjoying your day so far <3
xoxo
Gina
79 Comments
Leave a Comment
This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.
Absolutely gorgeous. Love how big the master bedroom is.
Wow– so beautiful!! Love the hardwoods 🙂
Wow! The wood floors look awesome, such a transformation. I really like the dark’ish color of them. I am working on re-designing a guestroom for a family friend and we had hardwoods installed. Unlike you, we paid a professional to do them 😉 Best of luck with the room shuffle & keeping the floors puppy-hair free!
They look fabulous; I especially love them in your closest! Makes it look so open!
Love the wood floors! And seriously, some dogs just do much better in life when they have a special crate-space to call their own! My dog loves sleeping in her crate at night, and she’s visibly happier and less stressed during the day.
wow the floors look amazing, I wish I could get new floor or carpet or something for my house! My dogs would prob ruin it though 🙁
So pretty!! Where is your master bedroom furniture from? I love it and am in the market!
thank you!
it’s from the BX on base! we got the printed chest at world market, the lamps at home goods
Beautiful. I have gross carpet in my bedroom and would live to put in wood one day. My parents did that when I was really little and it made the house feel more open. I was also wondering if you could do a post about your transition from civilian life to military life and what military life is like and how it affects your everyday life. Do you think that being an officers wife holds you to a higher standard then if you we’re married to someone who’s enlisted?
Those floors are gorgeous!!!
We’re currently working on decorating the nursery for our first little one who is due in May!! We ended up removing the carpet and putting laminate flooring in that room a couple of years ago and now we are SO glad that we already had them done. 🙂
Your floors look BEAUTIFUL! I know what you mean about carpet…we moved into our new condo and I already hate the carpet. Such a pest to clean – especially when you have a dog that sheds (we have a chocolate lab. Brown hair everywhere!). PS Love your decorating style!
Looks great! We recently moved into a place with hardwood, it makes a HUGE difference, especially cleaning with the pups. As someone who has always rented, I know what you mean about the carpets. Especially when you start cleaning and realize your standards are much higher than whoever lived here before… ew.
Don’t feel bad about crating Caroline, if done the right way, dogs love their crates! They are den animals by nature and love the feeling of having their own space. We crate our pups at night and I can say, OK let’s go to bed! And they go in their crates no problem. And, if the pup is getting into mischeif when you’re away and you are frustrated to come home to find it, that can create stress. You don’t want them to be stressed when you come home! This creates a safe space for them to relax and you can rest assured that they will be safe while you’re away.
Looks wonderful! I feel the same way about carpet.
I wouldn’t worry about Caro. We crate out dogs when we leave since they’re still not old enough behave 100 %. We leave the doors to the crates open and they go in there to lay down all the time. It’s their own little space 🙂 .
Looks great. I love bedding you have in your master bedroom. Where did you get it?
thank you! target and home goods
Absolutely gorgeous!!! I love hard wood floors it came together so nicely.
And your closet. Totally jealous.
BEAUTIFUL! We did wood in the nursery and now I’m dying to do the rest of the upstairs.
I actually love that your place is simple and not cluttered at all. I don’t think it looks empty. It just looks super duper clean!
We haven’t done any renovations for a long time, last time I did was at my Mom’s house before she sold it 7 years ago. We ripped up the old carpet upstairs and put in laminate wood floors. In her basement we did heated tile floors. The year before we overhauled her kitchen. Two years before that we reroofed the house ourselves. She ended up getting an offer on her house two days after putting it on the market and closing around 3 weeks later since the buyer as a cash buyer. I really enjoy doing renovations myself, someday we’ll own our own home and I can do all sorts of stuff. Until then I just have to help my friends when they want to do something.
Your floors are gorgeous!!! I so know what you mean about carpet and would live to get new flooring at some point! We put in laminate in our old house and loved it!!
Gorgeous! I’ve been thinking about updating the floors in my apartment, and I love the color you guys chose! Thanks for sharing : )
Crates are supposed to be their “safe place” — I’m sure it was anything BUT that at the puppy mill, but the fact that she goes into it so willingly shows that she’s gotten good love and affection from you guys, and feels content in her new home! Sometimes I will look up and be like “Where’s Mocha?” and she’s just chilling in her kennel 🙂
How is Bella doing with the hard wood floors?
When my family first moved into our house we had original, beautiful hardwood floors but I noticed my dog would stay in his crate all the time. I took him to the vet because I worried that he was sick, but it turns out that hard wood isn’t the best option for a dog with joint issues/hip dysplasia like he has. I never would have thought of that and now we have carpet everywhere for him.
I know you mentioned Miss Bella had joint problems and thought I would mention it. She’s a lot smaller than my dog so you probably wont have any issues at all!
The floor are beautiful though! Its so funny how flooring and fixtures cycle in and out of style.
The floors look gorgeous. Where did you get the carpet in your closet? I LOVE it!!
Did you need to remove your base boards before installation? We’ve been looking at attempting this project, but it’s just a little overwhelming!
The new floors look great! They really make the house look beautiful, and I’m sure they’re much more functional than the carpet was. I might be buying a house this year and if so, I’ll probably want to do something similar with the floors at some point.
Oh – the gold hardware! I have all gold doorknobs in my new house and I absolutely HATE them! I just replaced all the faucets and the garbage disposal and need to replace 2 ceiling fans and a few lighting fixtures this spring so I don’t think the knobs are going to happen anytime soon. They are SO expensive (and I am looking at the sale price!)! It would be so nice to have them be the oil rubbed bronze that everything else in the house is. 🙁 My bathroom cabinet knobs are so ugly and fairly cheap to replace so I might do those this spring as well.
Also, re: the crate. I used to think that crating a dog was so mean as well…until my parent’s did so with their dog and she loves that crate so much. She goes in there and naps whenever she wants to and it’s like her own little “room”. I will probably crate train my next dog. And, like you said, it helps prevent messes, which is helpful for everyone involved!
I want some hardwood floors too! The entire house we bought has pretty beat-up carpeting and each bedroom had a waterbed which is the WORST thing for carpet ever. It’s really bad. We also have gold hardware on the bathroom and kitchen doors so we’re thinking that might be a fun and easy upgrade to do this year. I have a feeling the floor replacements will be a bit at a time…
It looks great! Congrats on your new bedroom getaway 🙂
It looks great. I’m jealous. Is it birch? Bamboo?
I’m glad you mentioned renting the house out when you move because if the wood was expensive it probably wouldn’t be a good investment, as far as resale. I mean, buyers LOVE it, but if you spent $10k on it, it might add $5k to your selling price.
I think YoungHouseLove spray painted their door hardware recently. It looks good to me. I hate brass, too.
I’m jealous of all that closet space! Luckyyyyy.
Love the wood y’all picked and the floors look awesome!! We always do the work ourselves, too – I like knowing that we had a part of the improvements!!
I totally agree that carpet never feels clean no matter how much cleaning you do. Ripping up the carpet was the first thing we did when we moved into our house.
We just remodeled our bathroom. It was horrible. It had shelves with a curtain for storage, a very wierd checked floor, and an old cast iron tub=slick as ice! Me and the baby stayed at the in-laws for a few days while my hubby worked his tail off finishing it. So worth it. I don’t even take bubble baths but the new bathroom makes me want to!
Next up, the kitchen!
Oh how pretty!!! Everything looks so very nice. The bedroom is absolutely beautiful!! And that wardrobe…..oh how I WISHED I had that space!!
Those floors are beautiful!
Looks great. Even if you guys are only there for another year, you still get to enjoy those beautiful floors for that entire time.
The floors look BEAUTIFUL! I love wood floors, and prefer both them and tile to carpet- I agree, you never know how REALLY clean carpet is (and it’s a lot harder to clean drink spills and puppy accidents out of carpet). Glad it is going so smoothly 🙂
Your bedroom is gorgeous!! I love the floors, they came out great 🙂
We did a main floor remodel 3 years ago and totally changed our house and the way we live in it! My kitchen is now open to the great room and hearth room…I love it. Best decision ever and totally worth living in the basement for 6 months!
We’re still working on slowly but surely replacing the 1980 brass fixtures all over our entire house. It’s never ending!
Is there a chance you’ll move to KOREA??!!??
I love wood floors. I just moved my mom into her new apartment and she has a guy there putting in wood floors right now so keeps sending me ‘in progress’ pics that look just like the first one in your post! It’s awesome that your dad is skilled at that stuff though, what a saving!
What an amazing renovation! I love those hardwood floors. You have a beautiful home. 🙂
Love the hardwood floors!!
And Korea is a LOVELY place to live. I miss it every single day. 🙂
We did an on-the-cheap remake of my sister’s bathroom and we removed the light fixtures & knobs and spray painted them a dark brown-black. It won’t last forever but we bought paint that is good on metal and it looks SO much better for so little $$. She is going to do the lever handles on the doors next.
We also replaced the towel bars & curtain rod with “bronze” bars (dark brown-black) we found at TJ Maxx, painted and got a few coordinating bath rugs (washable) to cover the ugly floor. Although it was ugly, it was big and we redid the whole look & feel for about $300!
She feels she can now live with her old, formerly yucky bathroom for quite a while until sometime when they can re do it. Covering the brass with spray paint works well!
Haha, you still have the “No Crying Zone” sign up! Love. The floors are beautiful; great color choice!
We flipped a house last year, so I’m a little over the home improvement deal for now. Plus I wouldn’t recommend flipping a house with a newborn! 🙂
gina, WOW, WOW, WOW. love the floors, the accent wall, bedding, the whole gestalt! great job pilot and dad! as another poster mentioned, your bedroom doesn’t look stark at all; it looks clean and organized. my husband and i have lived in our house for 5 years and our master isn’t any more furnished than yours. we — me mostly— vehemently dislike clutter. we each have a beside table like you, there is one small dresser for him, a chair to put our extra pillows on at night when we climb into bed, and an armoire. in january we installed new flooring on out entire first floor. we hired professionals and they finished in 4 days –thanks to the fact that we moved 75% of our belongings to our basement so things didn’t get damaged and the installers didn’t have much to move. it was the most depressing 4 days of my life though due to the mess. thank goodness they finished so quickly otherwise i may have fallen into a deeper darker depression. we have engineered wood in our kitchen, dining room, and hallway/laundry closet. we have new carpet everywhere else and porcelain tile that looks like weathered wood planks in the master bath. we are only the second occupants in this house so we had ugly contractor green berber in our whole upstairs and contractor linoleum. we don’t ever wear shoes in our house and we vacuum every two weeks (no pets here). the berber looked brand new. my sister-in-law actually took it and installed it in her house. we also refaced our gas fireplace. it has an oak surround so we put 12 x 12 splitface marble tiles over top.
DON’T even get me started on brass fixtures! i call it “old lady gold.” i finally eradicated the last remaining brass light fixture that was over our washer and dryer. we still have brass door handles and hinges which make me shudder. i hate brass so much that we actually got a new inset for our front door (it’s a half moon shape) that is trimmed in silver. it actually wasn’t very expensive and was an easy fix. the door handles are actually next on my list.
Gina, When you got Caro did she have trouble with biting? We got a 3 month old puppy and he likes to bite (not aggressive, just teething) and I want to train him not to do that but in a positive way since he is also a rescue puppy. Any tips?
The wood floors look great! Nice to know that such a house “game-changer” is totally do-able! In regard to gold hardware, have you seen the tutorial on Pinterest where you can spray paint yours with Rustoleum “bronzed” paint, and save the money of buying new ones? My husband is super handy and was suspicious, but ours turned out great and it saved about $40/per door (which, if you add up your closet door, the door to the garage, guest bathrooms, back doors, etc is pretty hefty savings!)
omggg you girls changed my life by letting me know- i had no idea you could DIY. the ones we like are $40 each, so we’ve just been buying them here and there but so expensive.
that chest in your room in GORG! Beautiful floors, hope you can enjoy them for a while!
Looks beautiful! I am dying to get wood floors in my condo! It was a model unit and came with pretty but not functional off white carpeting and is starting to show it’s wear.
Beautiful floors, Gina!! What kind of wood is it?
Absolutely beautiful! Love how simplistic yet incredibly homey your abode is 🙂
I am preparing myself for a life of that as my man wants to get stationed in hawaii, followed by italy once I’m out of the National Guard. Moving will become a past-time for me..
Wait…did I miss something? Are you moving to Korea?
not as of now, but that could be our next assignment
Looks great! We’re still apartment dwellers so we’re good to get pictures hung. But one day!