I'm getting new floors!!

When I first was looking at my house with the realtor back in 2004, I remember commenting to her that one of the first things I would do, were I to buy this house, would be to replace the floors. However, upon moving in, the myriad of new homeowner expenses that inevitably overwhelm one did just that and I put off the floors until later. (Besides, there were more pressing decorating challenges to overcome, such as the mirrors on the LOWER half of the dining area wall and the horrendous wallpaper everywhere...not to mention swinging saloon-style doors separating the kitchen from the dining room!)

Over the years I've been trying different methods of "living with" my current floors. My most brilliant idea was to *paint* the horrid vinyl tiles in the bathrooms & kitchen with garage floor paint. Worked great the first time but didn't stand up to mopping very well. So I re-painted. BAD idea. Either there was more than one coat of paint now or maybe it was just too humid the day that I re-painted but in any case, the floors are now sticky and the thing that sticks most is dirt. Ugh. And no matter what I've tried, that dirt is embedded into the paint permanently. I realized that things had gone too far when I stopped inviting people over because I was so embarrassed for them to see my floors! (Shallow I know).

So now I have bitten the bullet. The house has been measured, the new flooring has been ordered and it just remains to get it installed. (Logistics on this look like they will be challenging to say the least). I am getting porcelain tile for the 2 bathrooms and pecan hardwood everywhere else. Originally intended to go for bamboo because it seemed so much more environmentally-friendly but after further research, decided that pecan would be a better choice. Unlike the bamboo, it is domestically produced and is certified (whereas bamboo is typically imported with questionable labor practices so say the least). Also, from what I've read, it scratches more easily and having a German Shepherd, it just didn't seem practical.

So now I'm trying to get all the painting finished up (re-painting the living room and painting my bedroom for the first time) before they come to install. Hopefully that will be first of November although they have promised me that it would be done by Thanksgiving.