Refinishing the Hardwood Floor

The weeks have been flying by and I've actually been getting some queries as to whether I've fallen off the planet. I'm still here! I'm sorry this poor blog has been rather neglected but unfortunately I just can't do it all. I'm still hoping to keep this going but my reality is that I need to keep it down to a few posts a month.

In case you don't know, this is my second blog. My ramblings of home, family and a hobby. My first blog is one that I update almost daily with paper crafting inspiration. It's called Belle Papier and if you're into that kind of thing...check it out.

But back to the renovation. I'm excited to say that it's almost done! Yay! We actually have started using it again while we finish off the last touches and I have to say I love it. It may seem a little silly but I'll go out of my way just to go through that room and smile at it.


But since I've been so neglectful of keeping you up to date.... let's back track a little. Today I'll show you refinishing the floor.

All in all, refinishing a hardwood floor is really not that difficult, just time-consuming. Depending on the condition of your floor it can take quite a while to sand. Basically, the more time you put into it, the better it will look. Our flooring was in mediocre condition when we moved in 11 years ago. Add five kids and lots of use and a major renovation on top of that...you have quite a bit of work to do.


Hubby rented a floor sander from Home Depot and then proceeded to put in 16 long hours sanding the floor. You start with a heavy grit sandpaper on the bottom and then slowly change to a medium grit and a finer grit. You need to remove all the finish, then the original stain and finally any gouges or dints in the floor. While yes, there was some dust from this project, I was surprised at how well the bag on the sander kept it down to a minimum.

To get close to the baseboards for a good edge finish, hubby removed the small trim at the bottom of them and then re-trimmed after the floor was finished.


You may want to open a few windows when staining the floor. Wow! Made my eyes water. We used a mixture of two colors of stain on this floor. We couldn't decide between the two so just stirred them together. I love it.

To finish off the floor, we applied three coats of Varathane to the floor. Just follow the directions on the can and sand with a fine sandpaper before your last coat. I'm thrilled with how soft and smooth it feels.

Now in case you think we forgot about the portion of floor between the two windows, we didn't. I forgot to take photos of that step. Hubby purchased a bit from Lee Valley and made his own oak flooring to fit in that spot. Same finishing process and it all looks like new. Once we'd gotten this far, it was so hard to wait a few days before moving in some of the furniture. It takes a little while to cure and if you take the time, you won't be disappointed after your hard work.

Thanks for stopping by!

Julia

Baffled

I must say, I'm just baffled as to where the past month has gone to! I know it's trite but time flies. My apologies for being a very bad blogger here but between the renovation and some paper crafting commitments and my family life, I just had to take a break. It's important to prioritize and figure out just want is most important in your life and stay true to that.

Jumping back in, I find I left you here with some recipes and the drywall just going back up on the ceiling. Then came the taping and the drywalling "mudding". A big job to be sure. Hubby did an amazing job.


Doesn't it look great? It's looking like a completely different room. Much larger and that ugly popcorn ceiling with its bowed drywall and holes is gone.


And the wall where he replaced the old wiring is fixed now too.


Hubby wasn't happy with the near perfection of the ceiling and we had a California Knock-Down finish applied on it. I wasn't thrilled at first but it's growing on me. I do adore the new ceiling fan though. My daughter and I hunted high and low for one we were happy with. It was difficult to find one as large as we needed and we wanted something that looked classic but 2010 too. It looks awesome in the vaulted ceiling. Notice the rest of the room is not complete but we already have the speakers installed in the ceiling. That's my man for ya.


My other huge excitement was the removal of the fireplace. See? No more nasty faux brick and we can actually arrange the furniture better in the room now. That did leave an extra job though. That floor has to be patched and as the hardwood really needs refinished...that's our next big job.

I'm sure excited as I finally feel as though we're in the home stretch. We're aiming to be done by the end of March and I really think we just may do it!

Take care!

Julia

It's a Beautiful Thing

One sheet of drywall.

How could one sheet of drywall be such a beautiful thing?

Because it means progress!

The insulating is done. The vapour barrier is up as you can see.

The wiring is done and the old aluminum wiring replaced with new copper. Don't mind those two remaining dangling wires. They are for speakers in the ceiling. So excited on this one as it means no more speakers flanking the sofa.


Here's a full shot. Did you notice that strange looking contraption in the bottom left corner? I'm telling you THAT is a beautiful thing. I've helped install more gypsum board than I ever wanted to. It is super heavy! And ackward! If you're planning on drywalling a ceiling this would be money well spent. It's a fifty dollar rental for the day at Home Depot but depending where you live, I'm sure you could get it cheaper. We gladly paid it though. It saved me a massage appointment for my back. It saved us the cost of paying someone to help board this difficult ceiling. Yep. Money well spent. It's not pretty but in my eyes, a beautiful thing.

Look how great it works on the angle...




And finally.... one sheet of drywall leads to another...

and another...

and another...


et voila...




the ceiling is done.


Or at least ready to be taped.

I finally feel like we're getting somewhere. And that's a beautiful thing.

Julia

moving furniture...

Unfortunately, I'm not goign to be showing you us moving our furniture back into the family room or tips on how to do it. We're still chipping away at the huge to do list for renovating the family room. As with all renovations, one thing always seems to lead to another. Hubby decided to do a little more electrical than originally planned. He wants to get rid of all the aluminum wiring and replace it with copper. I guess if you're going to do it, now is the time!

I'm lovin the new look on our walls...



I have been moving furniture however...on paper. It's a great way to plan a room for new furniture or a renovation. I put a lot of effort into finding free programs on-line to do this for me but one or the other all had some kind of difficulty with them. This room was too large, or too complex or there were limited furniture options so I decided to try moving things around on paper. I found a great little tool on the Pottery Barn web-site called Room Designer. You don't need to be technically savvy. You just need to be able to measure and sketch out your room and then do a little cut and paste.

Here's what I came up with...



One of the things I'm most excited with about this renovation is the removal of the existing gas fireplace. It was in such a difficult place to arrange furniture around. I suppose if it had been a living room it would have been easier but this is our family room and we needed to arrange around the main uses for this room...watching videos, the stereo and playing games. This allowed me to turn our furniture 90° to the left and it should flow much better. It also centers on the room nicely with the peak of the cathedral ceiling running right through the middle of the room...horizontally in the above sketch.

Another great thing about planning ahead for furniture placement is the ability to place power outlets in the floor just where you need them. I'll have one in the floor just under where the sofa will be to allow for a lamp for reading. I can't wait to turn this...


...into my nice cozy family room.

So. How do you move furniture? The old fashioned way, on some paper or with a computer program? I'd love to hear about it.

Julia

my creative space

welcome...

...to my new creative space.

I'm super excited to finally be able to share it with you. Two and a half years in the making since hubby and I were standing in a hole beside the house under where our porch used to be. We were pacing it off and planning the bedroom that we'd need to get baby #5 out of our bedroom and over top would be our new back hall and eating area. It went a little something like this...

She said: Hmmmm.... looks like a pretty big bedroom to me. Does child #3 really need a bedroom this large? It's larger than our master bedroom.

He said: No...we could make it two rooms. One nice sized bedroom and a smaller room...for studying, maybe?

She said: We have a study that we already have the computer in and the older kids all have desks in there rooms. (she hesitates a little and gingerly suggests) What about a craft room? It's not as large a space as I'd like but I think I could make it work.

He thinks.

She holds her breath.

She said: It would get all my stuff out of the family room....

He said: OK We can do that.

She said: (scream) I'm so excited! I love you! You are the best hubby ever...blah, blah, blah, blah.....

(she jumps up and down, runs over, big hug and kisses etc.)

You get the idea.

In the meantime we've been busy with more crucial parts of the addition/renovation.... whole story here.... and while we worked away, I planned out my little creative space eking out the most use from an 8x8 foot room. Here's my plan...






And finally welcome to my space...


It turned out just as I designed on paper and I couldn't be more thrilled. I think what makes my room so workable for me is that I really considered how I design, exactly what my needs were for workspace and storage and how best to squeeze it into my creative space. Hubby agrees with me that the photos actually make my room look larger than it actually is. Two people would have difficulty working in this space together. It could be done but as I usually create alone, this works for me. I can turn around in my chair and reach into the drawers behind me, pull things out of the storage carts to the side or quickly stand up and grab my cardstock from its shelves.



My desk is the place were I spend most of my time. It usually doesn't look like this. I usually have some stamps, ink, a paper cutter, scraps and a project in progress. I have everything I use most within reach. My desk isn't terribly pretty but it was a gift from a friend who no longer needed it. The drawers are great and it has a great large worksurface. I'm thinking it may get a makeover down the road but for now...it works for me.


One of my favorite storage solutions for crafting is this Making Memories Storage Carousel. It's amazing how much it fits into one space, I can see and find my most used items and I think it still looks pretty. Love how it smoothly spins around. I picked mine up at Michael's with a 50% off coupon and liked it so much, I bought another next time it was on sale.


Above my desk within easy reach is my ink pads. Ink pad storage has been a bit of a trial for me since I started stamping about 7 years ago. They can be difficult to store and if you stamp a lot, you'll want easy access. I tried a few different solutions but this one is the winner for me. I have three ink pad organizers that each hold 48 ink pads. I know, I know...that's a lot of ink but I do use them all. I still have a few empty spaces but they are great for holding various acrylic blocks, twine and I have a row saved for some new Distress Ink colors being released soon. Organize More is a fabulous solution for me. They also sell ribbon organizers and other craft storage solutions.



When hubby installed my ink storage for me, I got him to make a nice little shelf to go over the top. I have some pretty frames, my clock and some crafting items up there. Things that make me smile. One of them is this stamp I've saved from an old Stampin Up set. For me it's the perfect decoration... inspirational, unique and using what I have.



Here's my magnet boards where I keep receipts, work in progress and sometimes a layout I like.


In the corner of my craft room, just behind the entry door, I have a little cupboard to store extra things. I have magazines, alterable items and other misc. craft things in there.


If you come back to my desk and turn left this time, you'll find two of my favorite craft storage pieces. I am totally amazed at how much these hold in one area. So much better than drawers and iris carts. The drawer units are from Best Craft Organizer and the shallow drawers are fabulous. I keep embossing powder, paint, rub-ons and just about anything small in these drawers. If you pull them out, they will also stack if you want to bring them to another area to work on. The area is a little tight and the area really only works because the carts are on castors. I knew this on my original plan but with my smooth hard floor, they easily move closer to my desk if I need better access into the cupboard on the left.

My two Clip-It-Ups fit perfectly on top of the craft organizers and are invaluable. One of them I ordered from the US and the other, I purchased at my local scrapbook store with a store credit I had. They are a little expensive but worth it for me. I can see what I have and use it rather than it getting creased or dated in a drawer. One of my Clip-it-Ups holds my unmounted stamps and the other, embellishments.




I like to keep my counter space as clear as possible so that I can have additional space to work. This end I use for die cutting.


This side holds various craft supplies and a circle cutting system.


My counter is 8 feet long and just barely squeezed into my space. I had originally planned on a different counter top but one Saturday after installing the counters, hubby told me I could order one and wait for it to come in or go to Home Depot and pick one from stock. He would install it that night. Hmmm.... I rushed off and this counter was quite similar to my original plan. I love the subtle color variation and texture. I did splurge a little on the hardware and I'm glad I did.

You can see where I did cut some corners in this photo...I've reused my old kitchen fluorescent light fixture. My flooring is also pretty much non-existent. It's just the concrete floor painted with epoxy paint designed for garage floors. We decided this was the best solution for me as I've been known to drop permanent ink pads onto flooring and drop adhesive glue dots on it too. This is so easy for me to clean up by sweeping up scraps, my chair slides easily and if I stain it...I can just repaint. My floor is also super warm as it has infloor heating. With the bright south-facing window, I hardly feel like I'm in the basement at all.




One of my biggest problems in my old corner was paper storage. I love patterned paper and like to store it in these Iris cases from Michael's. They work great and I can pull down the case I need and then put it right back. I designed this shelf system to hold them and hubby did a great job of giving me exactly what I needed. It's not the prettiest storage (hubby wanted to put doors on it) but making things easy access is key to me putting things away and finding exactly what I want. It's only functional if it works for you.


And now we're full circle at the door and you can see my last storage area. This space backs onto the basement stairs and we were able to carve out a little space to hold my cardstock. I'm thrilled with how easy it is to find what I need. Each shelf will hold a 12x12 stack of paper and an 8.5x11 stack as well.

That's my space and I hope you've enjoyed the tour. I'm thrilled to finally share it with you and I hope you've found a few ides for your own space.

Do you like my space? Was it worth the wait?

Thanks for visiting!


This post links up with the Twice Remembered Cottage's Make Your Monday.

Metamorphasis Monday at Between Naps on the Porch

Make it for Monday at Cottage Instincts

First Big Project of the New Year at Sanctuary Arts

DIY Day at A Soft Place to Land

We Interrupt this Renovation...

We interrupt this renovation for a sad case of strep throat. Poor hubby was working madly until Saturday evening when he called it a night. As is often the case with strep throat, it came on seemly out of nowhere with a high fever and sore throat. Totally knocked him for a loop. Thankfully he got into the dr. today and got some meds and will hopefully be on the road to recovery soon. Don't be looking for those drywalled pictures this week though. Taking Monday off is not going to translate into being able to take Friday off as well.

I guess I'll just have to be happy looking at this in the meantime...

huge batts of insulation waiting to be fitted between the joists

Saturday brought a big change in the temperatures as one layer of insulation was placed over the framing and all those dangling wires are roughed in electrical.

At least things are much warmer!

And I can always learn a little more patience.

Take care,

Julia

Framing the Catheral Ceiling

It's amazing how far you can come in three days. Of course, when renovating, it never does seem fast enough! I'm thankful we did take New Years Eve off and spent time with some dear friends welcoming in the new year. An awesome potluck and fun games really made for a nice break. I hope we won't spend the ENTIRE year renovating though as this is how we've spent the first day of the new year.

I hope you're not entirely sick of seeing construction photos here. I promise, the wiring and heating etc. will start soon and there won't be any great progress shots then. Hubby will also be back to work on Monday so that will put a damper on things as well. I'm praying that the insulation will be back in before then. You should see the weather we're finally getting. It is cold and snowy. Beautiful to look at out the window but I don't want to even think about how much heat we're losing through that roof right now.

Here's a few details from Thursday and Friday...

starting to frame in the new ceiling

almost finished removing the old trusses

the weather outside is frightful...and baby it'd cold INSIDE
there's snow coming in the roof vent

my 19 yo finally decided to wake up and help bring insulation from the shop

construction inspection team

framed ceiling pretty much complete

Today I'm excited that the insulation is going back into the ceiling. Should be a little easier working conditions and also on my heating bill. After that, hubby starts wiring.

Meanwhile, I'm off to get a turkey in the oven. There's a huge one in my fridge and I think they deserve a treat.

Have a beautiful day!

Julia

so cool

This is so cool. Seriously...very cool project but also VERY cool inside. We now have no insulation in the family room and baby, it's cold outside. It's exciting though to see the worst of the mess gone. The yucky nasty insulation and who knows what else (don't want to think about it) has been hauled off and the joists are exposed.



You may or may not notice from the photo that we have TWO sets of joists in this picture. The top one is much newer wood. Hmmm... That's because when hubby, son #1 and hubby's brothers redid the roof, hubby planned ahead. The back half of the house had a "newer" addition. I say this hesitantly as the house is over 100 years old and who knows when the back half was added. Sadly, like many additions it just did not match the house. A very low pitch roof when the front part of the house had a steep pitch. My amazing man ordered new trusses and built up that roof so that it looks MUCH better from the outside.

This leaves us with two sets of trusses and the originals, are just not needed any longer. The lower ones were basically just there, hanging out and holding up the drywall ceiling. Enter the vaulted ceiling idea. How cool is that? It's going to add about 3 feet to the center of the roof and I think it will make the boring room look lovely. Architectural details are always SO cool. I can't take the slightest bit of credit for this idea. It's all hubby's. He's the brains as well as the brawn. I provide the food and back rubs. Oh yes. I brag a little bit too. Isn't he a keeper?!

Here's one of our fabulous helpers in her very fashionable outfit borrowed from daddy.
And oh look! That lovely faux brick behind the gas fireplace is gone!

As the original roof was just built over, it all had to come down with the original rafters.

It's also a wonderful learning experience for the kids. I passed this one selflessly by so that they could learn. Wonderful mother, am I not?
I'm glad my job was photography but shh....
don't tell.

The original rafters are starting to be cut down.

OK. At this point me and my camera were banished from the area. I'll have to try and sneak in again today for some more updates. Last night they worked well into the wee hours. I can't believe how different the room looks. It's getting exciting!

And just a quick disclaimer here. This project was professionally engineered and hubby has worked in construction for 20 plus years. This is not a basic DIY project. Do not try this at home.

Happy New Year Everyone!

Julia

and so it begins....

and so it begins....

again.

Another renovation project commenced this morning. Seriously, I thought we'd at least finish up a few of the ones in progress before moving on. I had hoped to get the living room and dining room painted. The bathroom counter repaired. We did actually get most of the craft room done. Hubby finished trimming the window on Monday and as soon as I find the time, I'll finish painting the trim and that will be good. Yay! Almost there.

I was thinking we'd be spending this week puttering about with little things, enjoying some family time, relaxing.....

until he broke the news to me.

We're redoing the family room.

Yes it needs done. It is ugly. UGLY in capital letters ugly. You just can't imagine how ugly. Dusty rose walls, UGLY gas fireplace with even uglier brick surround. The crowning touch is the ceiling. A lovely stucco ceiling. The previous owners had installed too-thin drywall on the ceiliings too far apart on center and it was bowing. And my favorite feature...the lovely hole where my 19yo fell through last year when redoing the roof. Don't worry. It's all good and he just ended up with a few bruises.

I'm not sure if you'll believe me but this room was actually improved when we moved in. The windows were almost non-existent slits in the walls and the seals on them were cracked giving a nice view of condensation in between and not much else. The walls were dark, dark, dark paneling which hubby covered over with drywall. We ran out of time before moving in and with an old house, there is only so much you can do at one time as there is always a project.

I have to admit, I'm thrilled to finally be getting this done. It's just the process I'm not so thrilled with. And I'd wanted to spend some family time. I guess we'll be doing more bonding through dust and dirt and hard work.

I seem to be a little long winded this morning. Perhaps it's because I'm trying to avoid the major demolition going on upstairs. I know my 19yo is actually thrilled all of a sudden to be on night shift this week as he can sleep through most of it! My job is actually just to keep the little boys out of mischief (full time job there!), provide food and try my best to keep up with the demolition and construction dirt and keep it from the rest of the house...easier said that done to be sure. The reason I gave in and we're actually doing this now...hubby needs at least 4-5 days in a row to work on this and doing it now is much better than giving up our week at the beach next summer.


So.

I can't quite believe I'm actually showing you this but it will make for some good before and after photos.

Mostly emptied of stuff
my crafting area used to be that tiny corner where the desk is

the north wall...a little more to move out but hubby has covered the hardwood with plywood to protect it

Isn't this a lovely hole? I only had to put up with it for about 15 months lol

anyone want an ugly gas fireplace?

yesterday the drywall arrived
via a crane truck lifting it through an upstairs window
we have interesting features in this old house...the family room is upstairs above the kitchen!


ceiling is coming down


our interesting garbage chute...out the window

Where's the beauty in this? I can't wait to find it. If it turns out how we envision...it's going to be beautiful when done and I can't wait.

Stay tuned! and wish me luck...

Julia