Why My Hands and Shoulders and Other Various Parts are Sore, in case you wondered...

It feels like it has been a constant flurry of activity around here. Every moment I haven't been at work has been filled with something...whether it was continuing to work on the floors, runs to the hardware store, runs to do laundry (as I am still waiting to get a washer & dryer of my own), attending fun housewarming parties for other friends who have recently moved, or prepping far too much food for Thanksgiving.

The best part about all of it has been time with friends and family, though I will confess that seeing so much progress on the house has been pretty exciting as well. The floors are *thisclose* to being finished. For all intents and purposes they are livable now.

Hand scraping two rooms was a big job and I couldn't have done it without some great, great help. After the scraping, a coat of lacquer thinner mixed with acetone was applied to clean and smooth the floors. I could have gone the route of renting a sander to use, but I really didn't want that "new wood" look. I wanted the character of the floors to match the character of the house.

After the floors were clean, 4 coats of Satin Polyurethane were applied. That process took several days. Because of the house's layout, that meant I had to be out of the house for two nights while it dried, or be permanently trapped in either the bedroom or the kitchen, which was not an appealing though. So, I packed a bag and crashed at my mom's for a couple of nights.

The floors look gorgeous! I am so completely thrilled with the look. The satin finish gives the a great sheen without being overly shiny and gave the color a nice boost. We did find some matching lumber and that will be stained and distressed and woven in to the area of the patch in the near future. With any luck that will look pretty close to seamless when it's finished. I also may decide to scrape and patch the little hallway area between the bathroom and bedroom too, but that all can wait a bit.

Next project related to the floors will be to put trim back up around the baseboards. It's all purchased, just needs to be painted, cut, and installed.

This last weekend, with some help, I got the living room and dining rooms painted and the furniture moved in. Lots of things still need to be arranged and hung, but it's already feeling incredibly homey. And, I moved the TV out of the bedroom and back to its rightful place in the living room. Hopefully this will dissuade me from staying up too late watching TV!





Living Room in Progress-Harbor by Valspar



Christmas tree in progress too!

Hard to tell, but it's kind of a minty blue. My aunt said it looked like a big Tiffany Box.

From the Dining Room into the Living room. The Dining Room is Brushed Suede by Valspar.

Starting to get the built in filled.

New dining chairs from Kirklands are a dark brown and blue brocade.

Still need to get things hung...

The only room I have in mind to paint now is the kitchen. It has a nice buttery color in there now, but I'm itching to paint it a color  reminiscent of an old blue canning jar. But, I think I'll take a little break before I do that and decorate for Christmas!