goodbye tile

I mentioned before about our plumbing leak. Ugh.  But, the good news is that now we we are going to replace that old tile!  In fact, we decided to tear up the carpet also.  The plan is to lay hardwood on the whole main level of the house.  We are going to do a lot of the work ourselves, so I must admit that I am a little nervous about it all.  

Meanwhile, I have been slowly learning to shoot photos in manual mode.  My kitchen/family room faces north, so it is darker on that side of the house and harder to photograph.  This one didn't turn out very well since I shot into the light, but these photos did of my sweet autumn banner!

Anyway, you can see the beige tile in the kitchen.  I like that it is practically indestructible, but I don't like that it is so light it shows everything and it is cold and hard to walk on.  Next is the transition from the kitchen to the family room carpet...white, I must add.  It has been a killer keeping those carpets clean for 7 years.  Like the brass transition piece?  ;)

Ok, I didn't clean up for these pictures...But, I'm debating whether or not to open up the doorway from the family room to the piano room before we lay the hardwood...There are doors on it now (opened into the piano room) that would come off.  The piano room is the biggest room, and I feel like we don't go in there enough because it seems closed off.  Besides, we put our Christmas tree in there (only place it will fit!) in the corner, and you can't really see it from the F.R. which is where we spend most of our time.

Here's a better picture of the wall.  What do you think I should do?  I'm definitely leaving a little bit of wall on the right.  Considering opening it up to just about where the desk starts.  That way that area is still distinguished from the club chair on the other side of the wall.  I'm leaving the header too.  I learned this and other great tips from Sarah Susanka's books..  Especially on my kitchen remodel.

I think the wood floors coupled with area rugs (like in front of the green chair) will help define the areas a bit better.

Bad photos, I know.  And, bad tile and light fixture. After the flooring gets done, I'm planning to swap it with a little chrome chandelier that has been sitting in my basement.  And, who puts the doorbell ringer things on entry way walls?  I'm still trying to figure out how to disguise that eyesore.  I do have an idea.  We shall see.

Every time I walk up and down my stairs, I'm so happy I ripped the carpet off and stained them. Remember when I did that?  I painted the old oak newel post and railings black.  I sawed off the ugly oak "bun" finial and screwed on a shiny black ball instead.  I painted the spindles and the risers white.

Here we go!  It's time to start pulling up flooring!