flooring install, day 1

We spent surprisingly little time this weekend having to move furniture, because I tried to get as much done as I could before the weekend hit. So Friday I tackled the bookcases.

The big one: children's books and dvds (post-move)

The smaller one: the vertical equivalent of a junk drawer (pre-move)

The hallways now house our extensive library.

Friday morning, Lowes delivered the materials:

Kronotex laminate, top-rated by Consumer Reports, plus underlay, quarter-round, and all the other assorted materials needed for the installation.

By Friday evening, the family room was significantly bare.

What a mess!

Saturday morning, we pressed the children into work moving their toys upstairs, along with various cubes and cushions. Then we moved the biggest things -- the bed from the guest room, the futon mattress, the sectional sofa from the living room -- out into the garage. This morning, I moved the last few things out (like Nina, I come from hearty Polish peasant stock; it's not often I'm reminded of that.)

You can see why we're getting rid of the carpet. After 9 years, 3 chilren, and one very sick cat, it doesn't owe us anything.

And now I'm cosily typing away at my new office in the breakfast nook.

It's a good thing I'm not claustrophobic.

The installers arrived around 9AM this morning and very quickly removed the carpeting from the family room. Since the floor was nicely level beneath, they only had to do minimal work to prepare for the new flooring to go in. In less than two hours they've already put down a significant amount of laminate.

Rain Forest Mahogany

I'm very impressed with these guys. They are doing all the cutting outside, so there is no sawdust, or any mess at all, to deal with in here. Even better, the noise from the saw is minimized. The cuts are small so the noise wouldn't be that big a deal anyway, but not having it echoing in this cavernous room is a major bonus.

It's hard to believe this is happening. While we had kicked the idea around a few times, it had always been a "some day" project. I'm still not clear on exactly why we're doing this now, other than that we got a huge tax return and so we had the cash on hand to pay for it. I think it is some combination of carpe diem -- we're living here now, we might as well enjoy it -- as well as financial optimism, since I haven't needed any surgery or treatment in nearly two years now, and I was able to skip going to Houston altogether. It is such a great thing to be able to spend money on things we want rather than on paying doctors, hospitals, and medically necessitated airfare and hotel bills.