It’s been a crazy few weeks with picking flooring, contractors in and out, etc. but I’m excited that we finally have new hardwood flooring installed in our living and dining rooms! I wish I could say we just wanted to make this update, buuuuuut that isn’t exactly how it happened. A few months ago, one of our hot water heaters (which is in the attic) exploded and water gushed through the ceiling all over our old hardwood floors. Sigh.
This post contains affiliate links
Now, our old floors definitely needed some TLC or to be replaced (they were original to the house, which is 14 years old), but we didn’t have any plans to change them – until this incident happened! Though having new hardwood flooring installed right now isn’t the route I hoped to take, I’m really happy with the final result and love how they look!
You can peek at our old floors in this living room tour blog post!
We actually chose a lighter shade that had more cherry undertones initially, but when the wood came in it was SO RED (it was a different shade than the sample he showed us – apparently the manufacturer tweaked the color slightly but didn’t give out ‘new’ sample pieces to contractors). Luckily, our contractor was so helpful and immediately returned it and we were able to go ahead and choose another that he could get his hands on the same day so as not to hold up the process of having the hardwood flooring installed. So, because of that, we ended up with a darker color floor than we anticipated but I actually really like it. We were afraid of going dark with the floors because we thought it would make the room dark, but truthfully, I don’t notice any difference in how bright/dark the room is. I do think I’ll need to vacuum more often (right now I do it once a week and that’s definitely a stretch but our house is big and it takes forever!). I also need to find a good hardwood flooring cleaner – anyone have a favorite?!
A few pieces of advice I can give now that I’ve been through having hardwood flooring installed:
- Consider working directly with a contractor rather than going to a flooring store. We shopped around and flooring stores definitely cost a pretty penny in comparison with working directly with a flooring (or general) contractor who can purchase the wood flooring at wholesale costs.
- Take your time choosing a color – be sure to get some samples to take home and look at in the room, put it next to your furniture, see how it looks with your walls, etc. When we were looking in flooring stores, it was so hard to imagine what the flooring would look like in our home. Some flooring companies (and contractors) will bring the samples to your house and lay them on the floor to help you get an idea of how it will look. Always ask!
- We chose an engineered hardwood that is glued down. There was a lot of dust flying during the old floor removal and surface prep time, so I would recommend getting out of the house or going upstairs, etc. while they’re doing that. Also, the odor from the glue is pretty terrible so plan to open windows and allow the fumes to escape. It didn’t take long for the smell to disappear, but I definitely didn’t want my girls breathing it in!
- FUN FACT: So, I lit a candle yesterday afternoon and it smelled like kerosene/lighter fluid and I thought that was the strangest thing ever. Then, when I turned on the oven to cook dinner, we smelled a similar lighter fluid scent. Alarmed, I started Googling it and it turns out the dust and fumes from having new floors installed causes a reaction of sorts with things that are hot/burning and makes it smell like kerosene. Scary? I thought so, but it’s apparently a very common thing (with painting too). Just something to look out for if you’re like me and fear the worst! 😉
We’d love to redo our kitchen floors too at some point – the plain ceramic tile is killing me! Have you ever used a wood-look tile in your home? I really like the look but unsure if I would want more tile or something a little softer underfoot!
Be sure to follow me on Pinterest for lots of home project inspiration!
Paint: Sherwin Williams “Requisite Grey”
Floors: Mohawk “Gunnison” Engineered Hardwood Flooring
Sofa: IKEA
Console Table: World Market
Entertainment Console: IKEA
Coffee Table: Joss & Main
Rug: Safavieh
Armchairs: World Market
Anywhere Chairs: Pottery Barn Kids
Drapes: HomeGoods
Throw Pillows: HomeGoods
Leave a Reply