One Room Challenge: Week 4!

I’m not going to lie. This week was all about frantic progress to even GET to the point of thinking about decorating.

I have not picked a single peice of furniture. I sh*# you not. Fellow One Room Challenge people probs just spit their coffee all over their computers, but seriously, send me all the good vibes.

We did do one really good thing…

We sanded the original 159 year old flooooors!

Honestly, I love patina. Like, more than most normal people, and if we wouldn’t get 2″ slivers from this floor, I would have kept it as is. But, the reality of it is that it’s not “fancy” wood. It’s soft pine, it’s gappy and uneven and it’s glorious.

We decided to hire a pro, mostly because it’s dustless but also because we were terrified we would ruin it. We do a lot of things ourselves, but this and drywall…nope.

We spent a good part of the week just prepping. It was a ton of work and we still had this (not totally unfounded) feeling that Shaun, our floor refinisher, would get here and say they were too far gone. Luckily he loves old houses and loves a challenge-especially something that isn’t just a 1980’s refinish.

He was amazing. He didn’t complain or tell us we were crazy once. He was happy and excited to see how it would all come out and he didn’t get annoyed with us instagram story-ing all day. (His company is called Absolutely Dust Free here in Utah, and we totally recommend.) He charged us $3.00 a square foot plus $150 to stain. So total we should be about $1,200. It’s definitely a big expense, but we feel so lucky that we even have the possibility of doing it, so we had to :)

See that cute little tin can repair? We love it and it’s going to stay :) My friend, Susan, told me about this incredible process where you use brass to fill big holes and gaps…wouldn’t that be amazing?! One day.

These are my favorite shoes. Just FYI. I didn’t eat expensive food for months to buy these. I don’t want to be judged, I just want you to know that they make me feel amazing and that’s all that matters ;)

See the beautiful layers? It had original crazy red varnish, then maybe one other layer other than our overspray. IN 159 YEARS. Blows my mind.

We left a little old, we felt like that was important. We will definitely be covering the gaps around the edges, but because this room is upstairs, we aren’t worrying about the gaps between boards. Shaun says it’s really not a big deal, we just have to apply the finish by hand instead of basically squeegee-ing it on. I’ll update you guys with how that part goes. Also, we are making a full video on the whole process: exactly what grit was used, how we prepped, how it will be stained, protected etc.

Check it out!!! So piney, so new, haha!! See that little square in the middle? That’s where they pulled up the floor to add electricity back in the early 1900’s. I think it’s adorable and we are leaving it unchanged.

We decided on Early American stain by Minwax because I love the warmth and it’s not too dark.

You can see the “old” that we left. So fun. Tomorrow morning we are applying the stain and putting the first coat of a super awesome matte finish protectant. I’ll write more about that next week. :)

In the meantime, don’t mind me, I’m literally still obsessing over paint color and not committing to furniture.

And just for fun…here’s our instagram story from today :)

Don’t forget to follow along with my friends who have likely made amazing (please don’t compare me) progress!