Show me the wood

Our first major house project is in the books! It definitely took longer than expected but we finally have hardwood floors. We knew almost from the beginning that we wanted to tear out the ugly 70s carpet and put down wood - we just didn't know when it would happen. At first we thought we could pull it together right after closing but before we moved in but then we quickly realized that we didn't have enough time. So we wrote it off as a project we'd get done in at some point during our first year in the house. One month later, we can't stand the carpet anymore.

First thing we do - start pricing out floors. We head to Home Depot, Lumber Liquidators and Lowes to see what kinda of prices we're looking at. Right off the bat we knew we were probably going to have to go with laminate flooring since that was much more in our price range. Next on our list was actually picking the floor we wanted to go with. We settled on a Pergo. Last thing to do was figure out who was going to install it for us. We got 3 different quotes and ended up using the guy that was referred to me by 2 people in the office.

On a whim, I asked him to send me a quote for hardwood floors in addition to the quote for the laminate install. I'm glad I asked because in the end, we were able to get prefinished hardwood floors for only $0.10 more per square foot than what the Pergo was going to cost. Score! The whole thing was slated to take 2 days to complete....which turned into 5 (4 days of work). It was chaotic and a mess but the end result looks awesome.

Now we're on the hunt for area rugs. We already found a navy and white chevron pattern rug from HomeGoods for the living room. But we still have the family room and dining rooms left. Rugs and decorating - that's next on the list for us!