As much as I hate to admit it, getting our 2nd story floors refinished a week and a half before Christmas probably wasn't the best idea in the world. It really added quite a bit of chaos to an already hectic time of year.
The fumes were waaaay stronger than I had anticipated. (We went with oil-based polyurethane for extra durability with the two doggies.) Not only did I need to have 10 nights worth of sleepovers out of the stinky house, we STILL have the windows open upstairs with fans blasting all crazy-like. Alex is really impressed that we've been heating the outside for two weeks. Hee hee hee.
We weren't able to move our furniture back upstairs in time to host Christmas Eve dinner so we had to do a last minute venue change and host it at my mom's house. I also ditched the turkey, stuffing, and gravy plans (boo hoo) and bought some locally made lasagna and perogies to serve to the fam. Yup, it was that crazy around here.
We did end up getting our Christmas tree up with lights on it by 1:00 a.m. on Christmas Eve (after we got home from hosting dinner). I guess you could say we went with the plain-jane style of decorating this year. ;)
Despite all of the setbacks and chaos that refinishing these floor caused us, it was SOOOOO WORTH IT. They are so dreamy and pretty and smooth and shiny. They make the whole upstairs look so fresh, crisp, and clean. It's making me SO excited to start decorating the upstairs bedrooms.
Without further ado, here are some of the after photos. Forgive the lighting, I snapped them late one night in a mad rush.
Since our house is so old, we have very large gaps between the floorboards and the baseboards. Our next step is to finish the rooms off with some freshly painted quarter-round or shoe moulding as some call it.
We did have to do some paint touch-ups to the baseboards where the sanding machines scuffed up the paint. My trusty handyman did that for me the other day while I was wrapping presents. He's such a good worker.
So now that the 2nd story floors are refinished, I'm so antsy to get the main floor done, too. I think we'll wait for the summer though, when we can stay at camp for a few weeks and have the windows open without the furnace running. ;)
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I hope everyone had a fabulous Christmas with friends and family and holiday cheer. Okay, and maybe a few fun presents. I'll be back tomorrow to share one of the gifts Alex and I purchased for ourselves / eachother on our shopping trip to Hamilton. I'm off to take some pictures as we speak...... MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!!
Sharing here:
Metamorphosis Monday @ Between Naps on the Porch
Oh yes, I remember the day when we refinished our floors....It was sure a inconvenience, however, when everything was complete, I just loved the feeling of the new floors! It makes such a difference.
ReplyDeleteHope you had a wonderful Christmas!
Wow, they look gorgeoous! You are going to enjoy decorating the rooms too, I'm sure.
ReplyDeleteFloors look lovely!!
ReplyDeleteMerry Christmas :)
Greetings from Australia♥
They look GORGEOUS!!! Make such a huge difference.
ReplyDeleteHappy holidays!!!
Looks great! We got new wood floors in our dining room (the existing ones were not worth refinishing) and we love them. Stop by and check them out if you want.
ReplyDeleteThey look lovely! When we had our floors refinished it was the dead of summer and a heat wave. We camped in a trailer on our drive way with the AC blasting.
ReplyDeleteThey look great! I can't believe the difference.
ReplyDeleteBeautiful, Sarah!!!! Hope you had a wonderful Christmas!!!!!
ReplyDeleteClaire
Wow what a huge job. But your floors look gorgeous. You must be tickled pink to have that done. Saw you on BNOTP link up. So glad I came.
ReplyDeleteNann
Wow, they look amazing! We have similar floors to your before...good inspiration for us to take a look at sanding/refinishing ours!
ReplyDeleteyour floors look lovely!! i have a question you mentioned that there are gaps between baseboards and floorboards would you be able to caulk that or have you fixed that and if so what did you end up using? thank you so much :)
ReplyDeleteHi there,
DeleteThe gaps were too large to caulk so we added a piece of quarter-round or shoe molding to finish it off.
I have some before and after pictures in this post:
http://www.cozycottagecute.com/2012/01/trimming-out-baseboards-and-lazy-day_01.html
:)
I love your floors! I am considering refinishing my floors myself but I am wanting a lighter and natural finish like yours. Did you choose a stain or finish? Or were the floors just sanded and then topped with the polyurethane? Sorry if the question seems silly, I'm still learning:)
ReplyDeleteOurs was just a clear polyurethane finish, no stain.
DeleteI didn't want to have to worry if the old wood didn't take the stain evenly. :)
What kind of hardwood are your floors?
ReplyDeleteThey are birch!
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