Next Big Project

Home ownership has it's ups and it's downs.

Up - you own your own house.
Down - you have a mortgage that makes you vomit to pay each month.
Up - You can modify anything you want because you own your house.
Down - You can modify anything in your house because you own your house.

Throughout the 3 years that we have owned our house we done a lot of minor updates and projects. The biggest project thus far has been painting nearly every single room in the house. What did we learn from this? That we hate painting. A visceral hate. The kind of hate that leads to starting a fund for the next time we get the wild hare to paint again - to hire someone. Out of all the minor things we have done, we have never tackled a project like this. It is one of those ideas that we talk about a lot, but never actually do. Well, as I listen to the sound of the hammer... there is no turning back now. We are ripping out the laminate flooring in our entry way, hall, kitchen, and breakfast nook. We planned on staining the concrete until we save up for a more permanent solution unless we love it in which case we will leave it as is. There is one little problem - the builders did not plan on the house going sans laminate. There is spray paint all over the floor. Looks like we are painting it now.

So what made us decide to do this? Other than the fact that my husband is a designer and the thought of laminate floor makes his skin crawl, our dog Tucker (the big dumb lab) is like Bambi on ice... all the time. He is so unstable on laminate that he falls daily, won't eat if the food is the bowl is too far from carpet, and he has taken up the best trait ever, backing into every room. Our friends find it hilarious. It is like he is doing a trick, only he is just being Tucker. We are also very excited to have the tap dancing sounds of the dogs claws gone as well. Nothing better than claws on laminate at 4am to help you have a restful nights sleep!

We (I keep saying "we" even though I am on the couch watching Top Chef and he is doing all the work) have a 5 sq ft area up so far and have hopes that the rest of the 855 sq ft come up just as easy. Wishful thinking right?