We replaced our hardwood floors

For years I have been wanting to replace our hardwood floors! They were the nasty golden oak color that half of Kansas City has installed in their home in the 80s.

See… so orange-y, golden-y, not my style.

The floors were killin’ my decorating mojo over here.

We have been slowly transforming our home from golds and browns over to grays.  and the flooring was one of the final projects we needed to tackle.

And, we had several rooms on our main floor with carpet. I like the carpet in our family room, but it separated the space into “here is the kitchen” and “here is the living room”.  DECORATING TIP: Any time you can keep your flooring and wall color CONSISTENT throughout spaces your area will feel and look so much larger! So the carpet had to go!

We contacted Nebraska Furniture Marts flooring dept. They replaced our carpeting going up our stairs on this post earlier this year and I couldn’t wait to work with them again!

We made a trip out to our local NFM and we told them what we were looking for:

• A flooring that was grays and browns both.
• Something that looked distressed because, kids.
• Something not too dark because, I hate to sweep.
• And something with wide planks.

They directed us to this Mannington engineering flooring in the color “Smoke”. Yes, the top layer IS real wood. But the layers below it are engineered so it’s easier on the pocketbook.  It was gray and brown both with distressing and wide planks. SOLD.

The first part of the project was loud, messy and INCREDIBLY EXCITING. With every golden oak board they pulled up and took out, I felt more giddy inside!

I even just liked it better when the golden oak floor was gone and there was NO flooring down. Lol. That’s how bad I hated that floor!

I would suggest that if you do a hardwood floor project like this that you:

1. hire the flooring people to rip out your old floor and take away
2. hire the flooring people to move your furniture for you

Those 2 things made the project so easy for Mr. Magic and I.

And when the new flooring began to go in after 2 days of demo, I think I squealed. 

I posted this pic on my Instagram page  and said that I seriously wanted to cry.  HOW CAN NEW FLOORS MAKE ONE FEEL SO GOOD????????????

I have a ton of before and afters because I just love them and want you to see how different our space now looks!!!

Our entryway changed dramatically. Amazing, isn’t it? And notice no carpet in my office anymore. Hallelujah!!!!! Get details on our stair carpet HERE and instructions for my PRAY BIG sign here.

This is our hallway that is still needing a new rug but nonetheless, the floors rock.  They make my Ellie Gray wall color look so good!  (Read how I made this ginormous wall chalkboard for my hallway here.)

Our living room looks HUGE now without that separation in flooring!!!! Yes, we did put in an area rug, but the consistent hardwood just made the space feel so much better! (Read how I made this rusty tin cornice window treatment here.)

And notice how now my cabinet isn’t teetering on half wood/half carpet now! Love it!

Here is the living room from another angle! The new rug from NFM keeps the living room soft and comfie, but the wood floors keep it so classy!

Here is the new breakfast room.

Post coming super soon about the new, shorter, round table, which also came from NFM!  We tend to be regulars in their store! Lol. Be sure you sign up for my emails so you don’t miss that post!

And I think this may be the space I am most excited about….. the office and formal dining room. I thought I may miss the carpet in my office. Nope. I feel like such a grown up now!

(Read about my Buffalo Check Christmas Tablescape here.)

Look at that awful carpet in my office!!!! And then look at those hardwood floors!!! So good!

So that is our hardwood floor story! I can tell you that the demo took 2 days and the install took 5 because our main level has a million angles and cutouts. Nebraska Furniture Mart honestly made this project as painless as possible.  And one of the things I am so happy about is that we didn’t have to leave our home at all for this project. We were able to still be here all the time since the floor was pre-finished.

I do want to mention that our new floors are shorter than the old floors which meant I had to do a little painting on the baseboards. I explain that all in this video:

It was a small price to pay for gorgeous hardwood floors!!!

We are so grateful that Nebraska Furniture Mart sponsored the majority of this hardwood floor project but all opinions and reviews are my own.

Blessings,

Jen

Do my new gray hardwood floors inspire you to make some changes around your house? Watch my free video on picking the perfect paint color here! My video has designer tips for picking the right color of paint for your home, the first time and every time!