Woot! The floors are done....and yet still not really done.

I previously posted how Matt had laboriously installed our new hardwood flooring through out the dining and living rooms on the main floor (here and here).  As planned Dakota Floors came out last week to sand and stain them-what we thought would be the final step.  Well, they are mostly done...but I'll get to that later.

For now, let's focus on the positive.  I'm very satisfied with the way the floors turned out!

 

Here is the before shot of the entry way.  Not a lot of work was done in here by us, but we had them professionally sanded and restained.

 

Here is the entry way now. 

 

 

It's a little bit of a "wah-, wah".  However it does look different, even if not drastically so.  It's richer and warmer and not quite so orange.  We did go into this project assuming the entry was white oak (like the wood we purchased), but found out from the guy who finished them that it is actually a mix of red and white oak.  You can definitely tell how the different woods took the color differently.  If I could change it, I would probably prefer it to be all white oak, but I also like it the way that it is.

Moving on to the dining room:

(I decided to go way back for a before shot.)

 



This is why it's good to take photos!  I forgot that we used to just have a folding table in here.  It was where we did school and other art projects.  So, thankful that Matt built us a dining table to eat at!  The above photo also gives a nice appreciation for the 80's carpet and ceiling fan.

And Dining room now:

 



 

This room is all white oak stained walnut.  It's exactly the color I wanted and it looks fabulous with our pre-existing wood features.  This isn't really an "after" shot because we do still need to put up the new baseboards, and I have a few dream projects for this room (can I get a second for a barn door and some built-ins?)  But, I'm guessing those are on like the "C" list if we are prioritizing...

 

Here is the living room before:

 

 Again, it's nice to look back.  This is not at all how the furniture has been arranged for over a year, and we have since taken down the outdated (though quality if I do say) curtains and the broken halogen floor lamp in the corner. Ooh, and do I see a little Vietnamese wall art...

 

And, here is the living room now. 

 

 

With the rooms being empty they look pretty much the same...except one is next to the stairs and one has a chandelier. :)

 

Last but not least, I thought I would show how the floors look where the entry meets the living/dining rooms.

 

And yes, that brings us to the annoyance factor of the "final" stage of this project, and the fact that they are not really finished.  (The real "wah-wah" moment.)  Turns out that putting in the transition pieces was not on the finishers work order.  There was some sort of miscommunication that led us to assume they were putting them in, and them to assume that we were doing them.  We didn't find out he wasn't doing them until the end of day 1 after everything had been sanded.

Now, Matt has to try to construct some pieces to fit, sand and stain them, then nail them in place.  Then put in wood filler over the nails and restain over the wood filler.  The process would have made a whole lot more sense if they could have been sanded and stained with the rest of the floor! And we would be DONE and not have to look at a quarter-inch gap between the floors and Matt wouldnd't have to spend his free time working on them....AND, AND, AND. 

But...I live a ridiculously blessed life, and complaining about such trivial matters seems, well trivial. 

I pray that we don't just strive to make this house more beautiful for the vanity of it.  Let's face it, we can pump a lot of money into this house to make it look good, and in a few decades it will look not good.  So, I pray our home may be blessing to our family and all those who enter; and even as we slowly change many surfaces in our home, may our hearts be filled with gratitude and contentment.