New Entry Floor

While the hubs was gone for a week to the upper peninsula this past month,

I took advantage of having the house to myself 

and getting a project completed that had been put off for way too many years.

I installed a new floor!

Well...I can't take all the credit.

I did have help.

I called Lin up to see what she was doing

and she happily and fearlessly donated her services.

She's willing to try anything 

once

(from what she tells me anyway).

Neither of us had put down flooring before.

What were we thinking...???

But, being women of the 2000's 

and being incredibly inspired by all of the DIY bloggers out there,
and being such a teeny, tiny space ~

we knew we could do it.

We plunged right in.

Pencil?  Check!

Box cutter?  Check!

Level?  Check!

T-square?  Check!

Yardstick?  Check!

Box of new flooring?  Check!

Bottle of FatCat*HappyDog wine?  

Ummmmm.....

"Hey, Lin?"

"Yeah?"

"It's 10:00 in the morning."

"Yeah, so?"

"We better wait on that."

"Okaaaaaayyyy....."

I had ripped up the old parquet floor a couple days prior

with a hammer and putty knife.

As you can see, it was in bad shape.  

It had gotten wet from snowy, salty, dirty shoes over the years

even though we've always had a rug there.

I couldn't keep it clean any more and it just looked
gross.

Not to mention that I've never been a fan of parquet floors.

Too busy for my taste.

Yuck!

The old parquet came up very easily.

"Demolition" = my new middle name.

See what I mean about being tiny? This space looks larger already with the parquet gone.

Ugly gold metal trim.....gone!

I also repainted the risers as well as the little "cubby" which holds our boot tray.

We were laying TrafficMaster Allure Resilient flooring in "Tradition" from Home Depot.

It's awesome stuff.

It looks just like wood, has a distinct wood grain feel to it,

but is actually some type of rubbery material.

You measure, cut, line it up, and stick it down.

That's it!

Looks like real wood, no?

The gray strips are where you line up the planks and stick them together.

After a couple hours of work,

a few choice words,

prayers for said choice words,

a few wrong measurements,

prayers for correct measurements,

a bit of a learning curve,

forgetting to take photos of us in contorted poses with planks in our hands,

lots and lots of laughing about "cheek cracks" while both of us squished together in that tiny, little space,

and not a DROP of wine, mind you...

we had the majority of it done.

Boot cubby

However.......

we ran out of flooring.

We were about 6 planks short.

Agh!

Guess someone didn't calculate correctly.

(Yes, that would be me.

But in my own defense, 
the guy at Home Depot said one box would be enough!)

So, I ordered some more online and it arrived three days later,

which is when I completed it ~

all by myself.

 

This past weekend,

Hubby and I finally took some time to install new baseboard trim as well as replaced the old, icky gold metal strip on the top step with a new pewter colored one.

Ta da!

I would definitely lay this flooring again ~ and have already started eyeing my carpeted bathroom...

We couldn't believe how much larger this teeny, tiny space looked.

No more make-your-eyes-go-loopy, crazy, parquet squares filled with years of dirt and yuck.

Now, just easy-to-keep-clean, smooth, wood-like planks

that are water, dirt, and scratch resistant

to scruffy dogs

and scruffy husbands.

Lovely!

Thank you, Lin!!!

Love you, girl!!!

(Hey, wanna build a house next....?) 

♥

Hmmm, 

now....where's that wine....???

[ Blessings ]

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Be sure become a Linky Follower of Heaven's Walk, too!

I'd love to meet you!

The Robin & Sparrow

I didn't really have anything exciting to post about this week
since I've been working on some furniture pieces I nabbed at the
Habitat for Humanity ReStore
last week.

(Stay tuned.
They're almost finished!)

So, I thought I'd tell you about a special blog friend.

(Well....I actually have a gazillion,

but this post is about just one of them.)

Her name is Clare.

That's Clare on the right.  Her sweet momma is on the left.

She has a sweet blog called The Robin and Sparrow 

and a beautiful Etsy shop of the same darling name. 

 

I ordered a beautiful linen lavender-filled heart sachet from her a while ago

which has traveled throughout the rooms here at Heaven's Walk,
hanging from our TV armoires, pie safe, doorknobs,
and tucked into a vintage wire basket filled with yarn.

Her creations are stunning.

I received a gift from her the other day.

She's thoughtful like that.

I stood there at the counter and just took in how she tied the box up

with tattered strips of a vintage flowered sheet.

(Note to self: Do not throw away any more old sheets.)

I read her little note, and my broken heart filled with a whisper of joy.

You see, 

her gift arrived on the exact same day that I had to painfully cancel spring vacation plans 

to our beloved Florida island this year.

I was having a very sad day.

I slowly, carefully untied the knots and peered into the box.
The beautiful scent of lavender wafted up and embraced me.

This is what she sent me ~

all sweetly wrapped in a beautiful embroidered linen towel.

I delighted over the darling little ceramic bird and pearl filled vintage bottle.

The starfish and striped beach tag was a sweet reminder of ocean-side vacations past.

I imagined myself tying the pretty French postal tags on future gifts to friends.

They all sat atop a breathtaking embroidered handmade linen lavender-filled pillow.

I lifted the pillow from that box and inhaled it's calming fragrance.

The linen towel with the baby blue embroidered bird

was hung on the ladder in my bathroom.

(I'm putting away the red touches for now here at Heaven's Walk,

and bringing back my beloved blue for the spring and summer months.)

The gorgeous lavender filled pillow was placed in the white bowl on my coffee table.

When the sun shines in the window and warms the bowl, 

the room is filled with that delicious scent.

Thank you, Clare ~

for being such a cherished blog friend 

and for taking the time to make a sad day

a little happier.

♥

Be sure to check out Clare's blog

and visit her sweet Etsy shop.

You'll find a new friend there,

I'm sure.

 [ Blessings ]

Linking to the parties on the lower right of my sidebar.

Just click on the buttons!

Be sure to become a new Linky Follower of Heaven's Walk, too!