Flooring Update & Other Little Ditties

My directionless blog has really taken on a strong direction...towards remodeling! I love "journaling" about these trials and tribulations as it makes me feel as though we are all in this together. When I refer to all, I mean me and you - whoever you are. A shout out to my now FOUR faithful followers (of my blog) - you make my blog worth writing...;-)

I'm sure you were up all night stressing about the floor stain just like I was. Well, good news...actually, fantastic news...they are looking beautiful! I can hardly believe the difference in equations of the stain blends...but how unbelievably similar the stairs turned out. Now, keep in mind that I have not even gotten a GLIMPSE of what things look like upstairs as I can't walk on the wet stairs...so let's hope things are looking as nice up there as they are on the staircase. Luckily, it's a much more straightforward process up there being that it's all the same material. So, I snuck in the house this morning to catch a glimpse of the stain and the guys had just left after putting down the first seal coat. Here are a few pictures:

I took a close up of the stairs so you could see the difference in the woods. The small stair (the tread) is the Fir wood and the larger landing is the oak. Notice the difference in grains? Also, notice how the Fir wood has a little less even look in the stain and how warm certain areas of that step are? I am really pleased with how well they match - and with the runner on, I don't think you'll ever notice. The stairs are literally wet in this picture with the seal coat...I think once they dry and are buffed the difference will be even less.



Now in other news, I received the sample of the wallpaper we are considering for the foyer. Now, the word foyer does far too much justice for this tiny entry way. The woman who has been helping me make selections for the house suggested wallpapering the "foyer" to give it a more special feeling upon entering the house. I really liked the idea of this and also the fact that, as with painted walls, the wallpaper wouldn't show as many scuffs from the carseat constantly banging up against everything as I stumble my way out the door with two kids. This paper comes in two different colors that we are considering. Both are from the company "Designers Guild" and feature a hand-painted, metallic look.

(These two pics are of the same sample, just showing how the light hits it differently. I'm still waiting on the other color sample)

I'm not 100% sold on it yet. I really like it, but was imagining something a bit more graphic rather than the whimsical feeling that this one has...more like this:

But I love the sheen of the sample we have and think the colors are really unique and beautiful. Here is a picture of the wallpaper next to the runner swatch (in the correct color) and the bedroom colors upstairs. We are going for FLOW here..what do you think?:


The final thing I will touch on today is a brief ode to our truck lovingly named "Whitey." Whitey has been with us since 2001. It is a 1991 GMC Pick-Up that recently hit the 245,000 mile mark. It has been a great truck for us...but being that it is a 2 door (and IMPOSSIBLE to load carseats in and out of), it no longer starts, when it does start - it "bucks" down the road...not drives down the road and needs more work done to it than its worth means its time to bid our faithful truck farewell. I snapped a quick picture of it at the graveyard today (we gave it to a mechanic who will salvage its parts in exchange for labor on our "new" vehicle). So, here she is in all her glory. Farewell Whitey!