New floors!

This is our year to do some bigger projects around the house.  We've been needing a new kitchen floor for some time.  The grout was stained and would pop out as you walked around the kitchen.  We had several tiles that you could just completely lift off.  Whenever you tried to sweep the kitchen, it will end up in the empty grout lines.  Vacuuming was your best option.  Tile is killer on my feet and knee - if I was barefoot in the kitchen for more than 20 minutes I was in pain.  So we were pretty excited to finally be able to do something about it.  My brother-in-law is in the flooring business and we found a product that we just loved.  We were able to replace the tile in the kitchen, and also the carpet down the stairs and through the downstairs hall.  Here's some (lots of!) pics of our project!

BEFORE

That nasty green carpet down the stairs and in the hall had so many stains from the previous owners.  I tried every trick I could find to get them out.  Then we just gave up. Now its gone!

When the demo crew was working on the kitchen floor, we found several layers of flooring as they went down.  We expected this - you could tell looking from the side.  They removed an inch and a half worth of flooring!!  When I walked from the front room to the kitchen I stumbled a little because I was so used to stepping higher than it was.  We had a good laugh about that. 

Then - check out the gem we found on the bottom layer of flooring!  This is the original contractor's choice when the house was built - my parents used to have the same pattern but thankfully in yellows not green.  This beauty is still there under the sub floor, because it was glued to the bottom layer and would have weakened the flooring if we took it out.  

DURING

It was on the stairs too!

Here's the finished product!  We love it!  My brother-in-law spent so much time with attention to details.  He did the trim work too - with a little of Dave's help :)  We are very pleased - but now we want to replace the counter!  This will do for now though.

 AFTER

My "Bobbins" shelf on the landing!

We are going to get a new dishwasher this week - the old one was falling apart and sounded like a jet engine when it was running.  We are so excited to start our summer with this fun new floor!  And - I was barefoot in the kitchen cleaning and cooking and my feet and knee didn't hurt at all!  Yay!  I love home improvements :)