Renovation: The Family Room

Part of our recent renovation included replacing the floors in the family room, which were the same as what used to be in the kitchen. It's hard to see in the photos, but the wood was buckling in several places. There were also such deep grooves between the boards that we've been battling little sticks of polyurethane coming out for years. That and just generally looking dated, it was time to replace the floor.

 

 We also decided to remove the redundant sliding glass door, which we never once used in our nearly four years here. We only started using it during the kitchen reno, to let the dogs in and out. It was drafty and is always blocked by furniture anyway. I say redundant because there is a sliding glass door off the kitchen just a few feet away. So silly.

 

The Family Room - Before

The Family Room - Before
We never used this slider until a few weeks before it was taken out.

We decided to go with a pre-finished solid hardwood floor, for a few reasons. One was the price. We were able to get a wider plank (we chose 4") for a more reasonable cost than a traditionally installed hardwood floor would have been. It was also faster to install, and there was no mess or chemicals.

Ooooh! Shiny new floors!

A mid-painting view of the new double-hung window that replaced the door. (And a bonus shot of our most recent foster, Spanky Jones)

  It is so much cozier in this room now. I was always hesitant to paint this room because it gets such nice light, especially in the morning, but the primer white was getting old, and dirty. I picked a pale shade, Benjamin Moore's Olympic Mountains. It was quite a challenge to paint off-white over white. But after a solid second coat, it all turned out nice and even. Between the windows, fireplace, doorways and pass-through, there isn't a ton of wall space, so I managed to make one can of paint work. I thought I was going to have to make a last minute run to Home Depot, but I pulled it off. It's a big room, and I painted it all by myself. Then I celebrated with some much deserved bubbly.

I also finally hung the curtains I bought over a year ago. In my head they were a lot darker, but when I got them out I was surprised to find they were nearly the same color as the new wall paint. Once I clear out the Christmas crap, I'll update with a final photo.