With a forecast like that...

Can I briefly share AGAIN why we got hardwood floors and Stainmaster carpet?

Take a look at this:

 And these guys:

And this (nope still haven't redone the backyard)

All of that adds up to THIS, constantly: MUDDY PAW PRINTS.

The black dog comes barreling around corners, and gets her muddy feet up on the baseboards, and the walls!  How the hell?

...I'm constantly sweeping.  However, there's some satisfaction knowing that it's not going into carpet and hiding.  At least it's easy to clean off!

So, of course, I'm in love with my Shark Steam Mop (that I got on clearance at Target!  Woop!)

All of this, to make it a better place for him:

 

So yes, I love the Rain, and therefore I love my hardwood floors.  The end.

Flooring Project(s) Part 4

The carpet guys came!  (Just try not to scroll down to the sneak peak of the new digs at the bottom!!!)

In anticipation of the few hours they'd be here, I typed up a "Part 4" to the series I've been writing about the flooring projects around here.  (...Part 1 Here...Part 2 Here...Part 3 Here...)

As I mentioned in my last post, we had some work to do in the room that the dogs used to call theirs (now that hardwood is in, they have free reign).  Z pulled up the carpet and found that they had stained (not surprisingly) down to the subfloor, and subsequently needed to bleach it.  That adventure was fun because we used almost a whole bottle, yes a full 2.56 quarts, in one room.  Needless to say, after the first round, we needed to add a fan, open the window, and seal the whole room off!  I wish I had a photo of it- you'd have thought that it was toxic material in there!  A second round, and we were a little smarter, using a little less and sealing the room immediately.  I have to say though that the bleach was a great idea (and recommended by the carpet guys in the first place) as well as better than the previous odor.  Lets just leave it at that.

So, here, I'll share with you some of the "why we needed new carpet" photos, and some bleached wood photos in hopes that it may help you in the future.

Part 1 of bleaching the subfloor.  Awesome, eh?  But hey, did you notice the awesome stripes?  Remember this post when I told you my secret for crisp paint lines?

Subfloor after bleach.

This room actually stayed decent.  It's going to be the nursery, and the dogs didn't go in there much.  But, we replaced all the carpet at the same time for consistency.

You can kind of see where the bed was, before we moved it out.  Yep, that looks like a highway of foot traffic around it!

My black dog sheds EVERYWHERE!  this carpet is supposed to be (or was) tan, but her hairs were even behind the bed!

The last one is just too gross to show you.  :)  One of the dogs threw up the other day, and stained it!  Good thing it was getting replaced just a few days later. 

One thing I certainly know is that when everything gets moved back in, I’m going to be more cautious about the clutter, since it’s been difficult to clean around (ok, to be fair, I haven’t had the energy to clean in months, but now the pregnancy energy is in full force, all I want to do is clean!) 

Here's a sneak peak to wet your appetite for what the carpet looks like now:

And yes, this new carpet has made me want to paint, change decor, and pick new fabric for our nailhead trim headboard in the master...  *evil laugh* but more on that later...

Come back for installment 5 soon!

Flooring Project(s) Part 3

Have you gotten the idea yet that there are a million big things happening in this household at once?

If you haven't, let me fill you in on a little secret:  There are a million big things happening in this household seemingly all at once!  Yes, we're crazy.  Is it fun?!  Sure is!  I haven't had this much energy in months, and am enjoying every last second...

Now, to the purpose of this post.  If you noticed, this is titled Flooring Project(s) Part 3.  Yes 3.  (Part 1 Here and Part 2 Here) On Monday, we get the bedroom carpet replaced, and new stuff installed!  We went with a shade of loop patterned (in a square design) of Stainmaster carpet in a color called "brown sugar."  It really picks up on some of the undertones of the wood floor we just had installed and will be a great dirt hider.  :)  After all, the backyard still is ripped to pieces, and the dogs (ok, and the humans) of the house bring dirt and dust in every time we walk back in.  Plus, with a baby?  Yep.  Time to prepare to hide that dirt!

Here are some sample shots from the Stainmaster website so you can get an idea of what we're working with.   This color is called "chocolate" from their website, but it's nearly the same:

 Bedroom scene, because we're only carpeting the bedrooms + closets.  Oh, and the hall closet.

Better carpet shot though here in a living room- doesn't it look good with the white baseboards?!

Love, love, love it!

Real photos to come later- well, Monday even!

Remember, this was our flooring:

But here are some better pictures with it installed, and the baseboards up... Yes, these are just teasers!  There will undoubtedly be a Flooring Project(s) Part 4 & 5.

Oh, and you'll *love* to hear about the bleach story on the subfloor in the dogs room.  Just awesome I tell you!

Hope you're having a great Saturday... I'm sitting here with my chubbies (my pet name for those super swollen pregnancy ankles I've already acquired) with my Game Ready eatin' some FroYo.

Yum

Rugs Needed!

Now that the flooring is in, I am dying to get some new rugs!  Plus, one of my best friends just bought a new place, and I'm vicariously living through her entire interior decorating project... She's having fun, and it's fun to watch it all come together.

So I was browsing for a smaller version of a rug she purchased, to go right in our entryway, and stumbled across quite a few at Target that I L-O-V-E!  Here's a sample of the great rugs I found:

Link Here

Link Here

Link Here

Link Here

Link Here

The very last one is the one my friend purchased, and this photo looks totally different than how awesome it looks in person!

I love the bold patterns, and colors... the brown backgrounds and accents will match the floors, while the other colors add pop to the entryway.  Can't wait to do some rug shopping!  (Did you know that Target has 3200 rugs on their site?!  Holy Moly!)

Oh, and final pictures of the new flooring coming soon!

Flooring Project(s) Part 2

Day one is done!  I showed you earlier the less than stellar flooring we were replacing...

I was told there were about a million staples holding the carpet pad down... and it took 3 hours with 3 guys to remove it!

Here are some brief sneak peak photos of the progress:

The dining room is for tomorrow- you can see the dark flooring from the front, some of the underlayment (green), and the subfloor.

Ah, I can't wait to see the crisp white baseboards against this dark floor!

That's it for now, I'm squealing with delight already, even though it's super dirty and dusty in here.  :)

Flooring Project(s) Part 1

It's here, it's here!

Tomorrow morning our floor installers arrive to strip out our Fun-kay carpet, and replace with the awesome flooring we purchased last November.  :)

This project has been on my list of House To-Do's since I started this blog, if you can believe it.  So, that's why I'm beside myself to see it get going.

To recap, we're having around 600 sq ft of Armstrong Rustics Premium, Homestead Plank flooring in Prairie Brown installed in the common areas of the house.  Here's a color sample:

It's dark brown, with grey undertones.  We're also having the baseboards replaced too, so the crisp white boards constrasting the dark wood is going to be awesome!

Just so that I remember how BAD the carpet was, I went through the house after the first round of furniture was moved the other day and took these horrific photos:

Front room had a rug down, but with the dogs, you can see how dir-tay it got.  Gross!

Another front room shot, with our nursery glider to be re-covered (that I mentioned in this post the other day)

The small bit of laminate flooring at the entry way is also being ripped out.  We'll have our dark flooring flow right from the door to the back of the house, and everywhere in between!

Hallway will also have the new flooring, and WHITE baseboards!

This shot is looking away from the dining room back to the hall.

Another benefit of this project is getting to reorganize, and re-decorate the place once we see what the new flooring looks like!  So, we'll get to put the house back together (ok, Z will get to put the furniture back since I can't lift it when I'm pregnant) and refresh the place!  Then, we'll get to do the nursery.  This is so exciting!