Everybody's Doing It....

So why shouldn't we do it, too? Remodel something in our house, that is! ;o) My parents are finally doing a major overhaul in their way too small kitchen and dining room. My in-laws are totally redoing a house. My friend, Danielle is installing wood floors. My friend, Stephanie just redid her hallway. And can't forget Joni's new wood floors last spring! So, why shouldn't we join in on the fun, right?

Last May when I went home for my reunion, we all picnicked at one of my old friend's houses. It was a new house that they had just built and being out in the country, they opted to have stained concrete flooring in their downstairs. Bill and I instantly thought, "hhhmmmm!". I have wanted wood floors for forever because I think it would enhance my country decor...lol! I just cracked myself up. Anyway, we saw this staining concept as an inexpensive way we could get rid of carpets and hopefully some of the allergens in our house.

Once we got home from that trip, Bill was instantly online looking for the stain, found it and ordered it. The plan, such as it was, was to try out the stain on our sad little patio. One catch, though....Chloe. How would we keep her off of the patio while it is drying? Well, time went on, and it got pushed to the back burner.

Well, anyone with a new puppy knows how hard it is to housebreak! Chloe just wasn't getting it, and I just wasn't spending enough time with her on it. Nighttime was the worst and we would wake up to really gross messes in our family room. We invested in a very easy to use carpet cleaner, but it just wasn't getting it all. Gross, I know! Then the little light bulb flashed over Bill's head....what about pulling up that nasty carpet in our family room and using our stain on that floor???? I was very hesitant at first, but the idea started growing on me....especially as time went by and Chloe still wasn't getting it. But, again, since the family room is Chloe's room, when could we find a time to empty out the furniture, pull up the carpet, stain the floor, let the floor dry and put all the furniture back without Chloe's help?? So, again, time went on....

Then it happened! I called the vet where we board Chloe to make reservations for her to stay while we went to Okla for part of the Thanksgiving break. It never dawned on me that they would want a vacation, too. DUH! Anyway, turned out instead of boarding her from Friday-Monday, we were going to have to board her Wednesday-Monday. So, opportunity just knocked for us, and we decided Wednesday night we would prep the living room and Thanksgiving morning we would add the first coat. Again, best laid plans....

While Bill was working on Wednesday, I moved as much furniture as I could. I left him with the tv stuff and the couch. He got home early that day and went to town. He had the rest of the furniture moved,










the carpet up and










the first (and only) coat of stain on the floor before dinner!











Easy as pie, right? Well, not so much....We learned a few tips along the way....

• Supplies are very important - a nice clean roller brush is needed to spread the stain.
• Getting the floor nice and clean is a really good idea before applying stain.
• Measure out your space before you decide to stain to ensure that you have enough for two coats.
• Don't try to do it all in one day as there may be some suprsies when pulling up carpet for the first time....nail strips, pock marks in the concrete, what to do with the space under the base boards, how to trim off where the concrete meets the linoleum of the dining room, etc.

All in all, though, we really do like it. It definitely needs a second coat applied with a nice roller brush to even it out. We still have one nail strip down where the family room meets with dining room. We re-arranged our furniture and then re-arranged it again once we put up our Christmas tree. A lot of our spots are hidden now. Hopefully after the holidays, we can get some more stain, send the puppy off for a day and get it evened out. Chloe is doing really well now, and the doggy door we added helps, too, but that's another blog for another day....