The Floors That Finally Came

I've heard it said that a truly beautiful home is layered over time - with thoughtful choices, memories, and lots of love.   

It's not a process to be rushed, not even in those moments when you want so badly to see the "after" come to life after countless days of "befores."

So many times, I've been tempted to settle for a piece that kind of works, a paint color that will have me sheepishly traipsing BACK to Benjamin Moore next week, or even worse. . . settling for that clearance set of furniture at a big-box-store just to say "It's DONE!"

{No judgement here - done ALL of those things and more!}

Thankfully, though, we didn't make that mistake with our floors. 

Here's the back story. . .  Michael and I got married three years ago; and although I adored his bachelor pad on the lake, I wasn't so terribly fond of the 1970's orange shag carpet that came with it.  (To its credit....it was the most comfortable carpet you've ever stepped foot on and it hid every single stain like a champ!)  But still...not the style we I was going for.  SO the day after we got back from our honeymoon, Michael left for work and I recruited my sweet dad to come over to help pull up the carpet in "just ONE room."  

Famous last words.

Before the day was over, the ENTIRE house had been stripped of the orange shag and it lay waiting in one giant pile for Michael on the front porch when he got home. 

{Not a clue what I was thinking.  Not one clue}

But, being a naive new bride, I guess I just assumed hardwoods would soon cover our floors and that would be the end of that.  Michael ever so sweetly and gently let me know that hardwoods do not come cheap and that just wasn't in the budget right now.  

SHOOT!  Plan B. STAT.

Though the thought of a quick fix of new carpet did cross my mind a time or two, I knew that if we went this route, we'd have to wait even longer for our dream hardwoods.

The only logical (and inexpensive) option was to paint those sub floors with porch paint.  

I don't know about ya'll, but creativity often comes from necessity in our home.

Here's our Huck modeling next to our painted plywoods:

It wasn't bad, really. . . they worked. 

But since everything else in our home was white or grey, I felt like it needed some grounding.  Some dark, richness to balance out all of that white.

We had no idea we would live with this for almost 3 years.  

But we did!  And loved every moment of it (except the part where I got down on my hands and knees to scrub once a week.)

We knew we wanted reclaimed wood (if at all possible) but had no idea where to get enough to cover our whole house at a reasonably affordable price.  

Then one day, Michael stumbled across an old textile mill in our area that was being torn down.  

Perfect!

He endlessly and shamelessly stalked the owner to ask about what they were doing with the old wooden floors and beams.  

Finally . . .we got an answer (and a good deal!)

Michael and I were there the next day loading up the truck

Bless my sweet husband's heart!  He worked endlessly to load, de-nail, and plane all of this:

MANY, many loads later. . . 

It was ready for a wood makeover. . . 

Which proved to be no easy task!!  

Sometimes we wondered if we shouldn't have gone with the "rush route" and just bought our floors from Lowes with free delivery and next day installation.  Tempting to say the least.

Slowly but surely . . . board by board Michael got it done.

Gorgeous 6 inch wide boards of Southern Yellow Heart Pine ready to find a new home.

And find a new home they did:

(before being sanded and stained)

So here I was, 8 months pregnant and out of our house for 3 weeks while they sanded, stained, and finished these gorgeous things.

(not at all how I imagined it all going in my head last year)

But after lots of waiting (and a few tears shed out of sheer frustration and pregnancy hormones), they were EXACTLY what I had dreamed of.

Even better, really.

Here's our finished floors...3 years in the making!

I squealed VERY loudlly when I first saw them. . .  

and still kind of do each time I come home to this:

I can't wait to tell Baby Knotts how hard his or her daddy worked for these.

So here's to a little bit of patience, a talented husband, and letting a home come together naturally, unforced, and in it's own sweet time.  

{Even if it takes 3 years!}