First Room Done and Happy Holidays!

Sorry for the late post, but we've been busy getting ready for the holidays. Last weekend, my parents came down to help our with the hardwood. Our goal was to finish laying the hardwood in the first room, so we put them to work right away. 

My mom and I would help with the design and choosing the pieces, and then Dan and my dad would do the hard part of actually securing the wood to the floor. Luckily, this portion of the sub-floor wasn't too uneven, so they didn't encounter too many problems. 

The closer we got to the wall, we had to switch to installing everything by hand., but we still had time for a little silliness. 

When it came time to lay the last row in the room, we got lucky and did not have to rip any of the boards to fit. We were able to use the full pieces and they fit snugly against the wall. 

Once we got going, it was amazing to see how quickly we were able to lay the hardwood. We love how it turned out and completely changes the look and feel of the room. Plus we are still smiling at this point in the project, which has to be cause for celebration! 

We are going to be taking a break for the holidays, but will be back in full swing soon enough. For now, we have one room done, and one to go! We wish everyone a very Merry Christmas and the best of wishes for the New Year!

 D&L

Hardwood and Getting into the Holiday Spirit

We have been keeping at it with laying the hardwood. It seemed to be slow going at first because we were dealing with some unevenness with the sub-floor, but once we got past those spots, things moved more quickly. We were able to do a row or two each night when we got home from work before it got too late for to run the compressor :)

We had a very productive day on Saturday. Steve came over to help Dan out with the hardwood and they were able to make a lot of headway. After next weekend, we will probably be done with the first room! We are thrilled with how the floor is looking and can't wait to see how the whole room will look. Our parents are coming down next weekend and we are going to put them to work! Here's a picture of Dan checking out his handiwork. He certainly deserves it because he has been working so hard. 

We also got our Christmas tree on Saturday. We have started a tradition of going to the tree place that is set up a few blocks away. We walk over there, pick out our tree and then walk the tree back to our house through the neighborhood. I'm sure our neighbors get a kick out of seeing the two of us carrying a tree but we love it. 

Last year, for our first Christmas as a married couple, we strung some popcorn to put on our tree. I got the idea from my parents who did the same thing for their first Christmas and 33 years later, they still put the same popcorn on their tree. Hopefully our popcorn lasts that long! 

 
We spent the night decorating our tree, laughing and smiling with each ornament we pulled out, remembering where they came from. 

 We hung a wreath up and some garland with lights outside and I wrapped some presents up tonight. Our family room is bursting with decorations because the dining room and kitchen are in reno mode. We did put some elves throughout the rest of the room :) More hardwood pictures to come!

D&L