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Let The Projects Begin!

 Thanks to Lowe’s for their support  in this home improvement project!  

Last week something extremely exciting happened! What was it, you ask? We crossed over from the “dreaming” stage of some long-awaited home improvements to the “this is happening” phase.

In the three years we have lived here, a few things around our house have kind of gone downhill. Between the wear and tear of living and trying to establish the church and pay our bills, an old dog and a new puppy, some home improvement mishaps and figuring out how this house could best suit our needs, we just weren’t able to get around to everything we wanted to do in our house. I’m sure some of you can relate to those seasons of life.

For quite awhile I’ve been tossing around ideas in my head, but sometimes feeling a little overwhelmed with how I was going to accomplish all that we wanted and needed to do. I wondered if they would ever happen? Like I’ve said, we don’t have unlimited time, talent or funds and that is kind of a challenging combination if you want to get things done. You have to learn patience and be content.

Am I right or am I right?

You might remember my Home Dreams post from this January. I didn’t make GOALS because I wasn’t sure what our year might bring time or opportunity wise and setting goals seemed a bit much. Like I would have to make them happen or be disappointed if they didn’t. But dreaming? That felt much more realistic and enjoyable to me. But I was just looking back at what were my dreams in January and realized that every single one of those dreams has either come true recently or is about to! YEOW!! That is pretty awesome just six months into the year!

Let The Projects Begin!

One of the biggest dreams for my home was to be able to replace much of the damaged carpet in our house with new Hickory hardwood flooring. When it was just damage from our graffiti carpet from the paint spilling incident, I was able to hide the evidence with our seagrass rug. All was well. But eventually between our old doggie Winston and our puppy Jack, our carpet went from just ugly to quite smelly too.

And smelly is NOT OK with me.

It was time for it to be gone and I couldn’t wait another day, it had become a necessity. From our connected living and dining room to our family kitchen to our stairway, connecting hall and master, it all needed to be replaced — and soon.

So I did what I always do when I realize something needs to get done NOW but I’m not sure where to start. I head out the door to shop.

Because shopping is a good coping mechanism for stress. Right?

I ventured out to my local Lowe’s store to look at flooring and before I could panic any more, Lowe’s came to the rescue and sent out their capable and helpful project manager Robert to see what needed to be done. He listened to all of my concerns, answered all of my questions and had solutions for everything I was worried about! PANIC no more! Next thing I knew, Robert had the installers out at my house measuring and showing me everything that needed to be done to make this happen.

Best part of this upcoming DIY adventure? It won’t be a failed DIY. HALLELUJAH and AMEN. This is going to be QUICK and fairly PAINLESS! Robert and his team are professionals and they will see to it that it will be done right. That takes a load of stress off my shoulders right there because I know it will turn out beautifully!

And with that, our project was under way!

Our carpet will be torn out soon and within the next few weeks I’ll have beautiful new wood floors! YIPPEEE!

Let The Projects Begin!

Because this is one of those “one thing leads to another” types of projects (aren’t they all?), I will be sharing details and information on how this project comes together, what we chose for our floors, how they get installed and where, but also on the related projects we have going on like new paint and a pretty fun kitchen project we will reveal in the coming weeks as well. I pinch myself every day to make sure this is real!

You can see many of the spaces we’ll be working on in the photos in this post, and I’ll be coming back to each one in the coming weeks to explain in more details.

Let The Projects Begin!

 

I’m especially excited about working on our master bedroom! I have not done one thing to decorate or fix up our master bedroom since we moved in three years ago. We hung towels in the window for privacy (high class all the way around here!) and moved on with life.

Three years with towels in our windows.

Did you catch that? NICE, huh?

We’ve lived with the original swine colored walls, towels in the windows and now oh-so-horrid-carpet.

Let The Projects Begin!

Not exactly an inspiring master bedroom, especially for me because I happen to LOVE having a great smelling pretty bedroom. This is NOT either one of those things. But that is about to change. This week the room will be painted, the carpet ripped out and soon we’ll have lovely new floors. Master makeover on the way!  I can’t believe the day has finally come to clean up this room and make it pretty.

When Lowe’s project manager Robert and the wood floor installers were at my house, it was complete pandemonium. Robert and his team were awesome, it was US who were the crazy ones. I missed the message that Lowe’s team was coming so I didn’t have a chance to clean the house in preparation or put the dogs away. My parents had come up unexpectedly for the weekend so our house was full of people and dogs lounging around in PJ’s and eating breakfast.

Well, the people were in PJ’s, not the dogs.

It was pretty much how my house normally is … c r a z y.

Robert kept laughing, but I’m sure inside he was wondering what he got himself into.

It was all a bit embarrassing and quite awkward and I felt bad for the installers, but that is a home improvement lesson I learned back when I remodeled my kitchen. You throw all pride out the window when you are having extensive work done at your house. You just have to invite the contractors in and treat them like family. Or rather, they see how weird your family really is.

Want to see what was going on behind the scenes? When I was trying to talk to the installers? Let’s take a look …

 

Let The Projects Begin!

Take note of how my kitchen looks here because as one thing leads to another, there will be some changes in the kitchen too!

Let The Projects Begin!

 

And that is another day in the life at our house! 

I’m so excited to share more of the new floors and the room makeovers along the way! Stay tuned! Meanwhile, tomorrow I’ll have pictures of my home office which is done “enough” to show you the pictures!

So, what do you think? Some big transformations ahead, huh?
And I’m sure Jack will keep us highly entertained through it all.

 Huge thanks to Lowe’s for working with me on this flooring installation project! I’m so excited!!

If you are starting a home improvement project, I recommend checking out Lowe’s online resource for home improvement and project organization! 

For an update on my kitchen remodel and to follow along with the project, click here for the first post!

35 Comments

  1. cassie

    how fun! the picture of your dad hauling jack away- priceless! love it!

    Reply
    • joni webb

      loving reading all about your redos! wow!!!! kitchen, hardwoods, office, bedroom – it will be like a new house can’t wait to see it all finished!!!! and congrats. i know you;ve waited awhile to get your house like you want it – I’m so happy for you!!!!

      Reply
  2. Jamie

    LMAO at your puppy!

    Reply
  3. Linda Bates

    What an exciting time for you Melissa……it will be wonderful to finally see all your dreams coming true :D Photo of Jack being carried off by your dad is hilarious! Lots of fun & games ahead – can’t wait to see the transformation x

    Reply
    • Melissa

      Thanks Linda, it is going to be fun!

      Reply
  4. Camilla

    Congrats on getting these projects underway – I’ve done nothing to my flat other than furnish since I moved in 9 months ago hopefully soon I’ll grow some balls as well and change that!
    x

    Reply
  5. Jen

    So excited to see the new master bedroom and new floors!

    Reply
  6. Mai

    Love this! Jack totally reminds me of Mason, our 18-month-old hound mix. He always tries to “help” repair and tradespeople, especially plumbers for some reason.

    Reply
  7. Cynthia Robertson Shaffer

    Melissa, this is fantastic news! I’ve been anxiously awaiting new posts since your office pics teaser the other day [mean]. I have to say that as much as I adore your work and find it so inspiring, it’s Jack that always makes me laugh. That pic of him jumping for joy with the contractor? Your dad hauling him away as he looks back with longing at all the fun he’s about to miss? .
    Can’t wait to see the progression of your projects…

    Reply
  8. Laura

    Is it the camera angle, or is Jack like 8 times as big as your dad? Those pictures are a hoot!

    Reply
    • Melissa

      It is the angle but when he hurls himself at you, he does look pretty big! HA!

      Reply
  9. Melanie

    Thanks for letting us be a part of this transformation- can’t wait to watch the process and see the final results! And I love your photos and stories about Jack. We have a 10 month old labradoodle who acts just like Jack!

    Reply
  10. Brenda Kula-Pruitt

    I can hardly believe you’ve lived there three years! I remember when you moved. Time sure flies. That dog looks like lots of fun!
    Brenda

    Reply
  11. kelly at Talk of the House

    My comment just vanished into the interweb..trying again here. Sorry if it ends up duplicating. I can’t believe you lived with towels in your windows for 3 years…maybe they were pretty towels? Anyway, I know it has to feel good to be moving from the “I want to do this” stage and into the “I am doing this” stage. Can’t wait to see your progress. As Laura above me says, your dog looks huge. Does he eat a ton?

    Reply
  12. teresa

    Oh so wonderful Melissa…so doing the happy Dance for you…can’t wait to see the transformation.
    And Jack…well he’s a crack up.
    happy Day

    Reply
  13. Rene

    We are doing a hardwood floor project right now too…….slow and steady wins the race…I keep repeating it to myself:)

    Reply
  14. Glenda Childers

    This progress and potential progress must be so exciting.

    Reply
  15. Grace

    How exciting. I’m so glad the dog wasn’t wearing pajamas and that there were people around to cart the dog away when needed.

    I’m in the process of writing the same here’s-my-embarrassing-undecorated-bedroom post. I’ve been working on making our master bedroom into a calm, peaceful, pleasant sanctuary too. I’m looking forward to seeing your house transformation.

    Reply
  16. Diane Y

    How funny! I have installers coming tomorrow to finish laying our new Hickory floors on our stairway. They spend most of last week installing this beautiful flooring in our entire main floor and our upstairs hallway. It’s beautiful!

    We ordered it about 6 weeks ago and that started our “one-thing-leads-to-another” event. I decided since I’d always hated the fake wainscoting in our dining room/living room, that needed to come down and we needed to put up some much more interesting wainscoting. That was a several week project. We also had pet issues (cats), so we ended up tearing out the carpet ourselves a couple of weekends ago and then spending the week nights bleaching and Kilz-ing, and sealing our sub-floors to keep the smell from coming back.

    Suffice it to say, we were exhausted by the time the installers arrived to the chaos of our house on Tuesday. We were finally able to get about half the furniture back into the house this weekend and are starting to put the molding back up on the doors and floors (of course, I’m redoing some of that too, so there’s another project).

    Congratulations on finally getting your projects started. I’m sure you’ll love the finished product!

    Reply
    • Melissa

      Wow, how exciting!! I can’t wait to see yours too!

      Reply
  17. Jennifer

    Lovely job! This organized office would certainly motivate me to work harder ;) Thanks for sharing!

    Reply
  18. Mel

    Can’t wait to see how it all turns out!!

    Reply
  19. kelly

    Love your new rooms!But can I come visit Jack??? Love his mayhem while you’re trying to get things together to have peace! Great pictures!

    Reply
  20. midwestgirly

    Mellisa, great job with home office its beautiful and fresh and fun!

    Reply
  21. Fiona's Mosaic

    This is so exciting Melissa!! We are going to have to do the same thing as far as our floors…….I am so tempted to just rip out the carpet and paint the wood floors below until we can replace them with what we want. I guess will see how patient I am huh?

    Hugs to you!!

    Reply
  22. Sally

    You might be surprised to know that I find this to be one of your most inspiring posts. Why? Because it’s so real. I love your decorating style, Melissa, and admire EVERY single thing that you do. But, it’s nice to know that even people that are really good at home decor sometimes take a while to get to the final product… sometimes put up with a lot of temporary solutions along the way… sometimes wait a long time just to find the right thing… sometimes do a whole lotta thinkin’ before they really know what they want, etc. I’m pretty sure I’ve told you this before, but I’m going to tell you again! Thanks for keeping it real, and sharing that reality of “the process” with us. Personally, I relate to posts like yours a lot more that “instant beautification processes!” Thanks! ~Sally

    Reply
    • Melissa

      Sweetest most encouraging comment ever, I’m going to save this forever. Thank you, Sally!

      Reply
  23. Kathy Dittmer

    So exciting to get rid of carpet!!! We’re moving into an almost 100 year old house. I pulled up the carpet and voila…..almost 100 year old oak floor!!! Criminal to cover!! So with hands that now resemble a patchwork quilt (couple of slips with the Ryobi cutter, I keep finding blood spots, hither and yon!). Anyhoo…..I started stripping and spiffing up the floor and it’s a beautiful honey color….but my hubby has worked out a deal with a guy to make it beautiful for me……so off my knees and back to rolling paint. I’m really beginning to enjoy the DIY stuff…..but I stink at picking colors…..so I love your site here for inspiration! Keep it up!

    Reply
  24. Nancy

    I can’t believe I missed this post. Your blog is #1on my favorite list. We moved into our house just over 3 years ago and it has been in a state of reno ever since.My husband cringed when I sent him to Benj. Moore and he spent $75. on a can of paint for the babies room. Now after painting the master 5 times it turns out to be the cheapest room in the house. I also had him start a kitchen reno 8 weeks before Christmas. Was supposed to be just a replacement of some cupboards…..ummm……well…lets say that even the electrical got updated. :-)…thx honey
    Hang in there. It is a process but oh so worth it.

    Reply
  25. Jaye

    Can you believe what was under the carpet pad when they ripped that carpet out? We just ripped alot of our carpet out also and I consider myself a fairly clean individual! But, man when we pulling that carpet out, all I could think of was why aren’t we all asthmatics with all this gunk under the carpet! You’re lucky you have Lowe’s. We’re doing it all ourselves and with the exception of my fall down the stairs because the stair tread was cut off – and having about $1200 in dental work – it’s going pretty well.

    Thanks for sharing. Your house is amazing!

    Reply
    • Melissa

      Oh my gosh lol you poor thing! What an ordeal! And yes, carpet is much nastier underneath than you’d expect, considering we do vacuum. Blech. :-)

      Reply
  26. Staci

    Melissa! I just happened upon your blog this weekend and love it!! Can’t wait to see the progress with the floors! That is a project on my “to do” list as well so maybe it will inspire my continued indecisiveness! lol! Question for you?? What is the color of the paint on the walls in your entry way and living room? love it!!

    Reply
    • Melissa

      Welcome! Thanks so much! The paint is Studio Taupe by Behr :-)

      Reply

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