Pulled up the carpet and tore down the ceiling!

[Sadie's Porch]

I had mentioned to you all about some of the work I have been doing on the inside of my home. My biggest project has been the floors. I have torn up all the carpet in the house to uncover the original hardwood floors. The house was built in the 1920's and the floors have been under carpet for a very long time. I was lucky that they were in pretty good shape except for some cupping. I had to use the drum sander so I could get most of the cupping out. It took me two long months to do all the work on the floors. I think the hardest and most tedious part was getting the 475,789 staples out of the floor. Somebody really like staples! I was lucky enough to have a great best friend who helped me out or I would still be pulling the things up!:D I didn't stain the floors I just sealed them with a satin poly and was really pleased with the way they came out. I still have to put down the shoe molding and around the brick on the fireplace but I am going to try and do all that when I also do the crown molding in the living room. I guess I can only post 5 pictures at a time so I will have to add another post to finish!914

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[Sadie's Porch]

I was able to get the drop down ceiling in the living room down with out a lot of damage to the ceiling. With a little patching it turned out nicely!
There is such a large space left from the wall paneling to the ceiling we are going to have to make the crown molding to fit it.
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Here are a couple of pictures of the floor after it was finished. The one of the living room looks really dark in the picture, I will have to see if I can find a better one to post.

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Next on my list is the kitchen cabinets and ceiling. If you all notice in the before and after pics if you look back into the kitchen, the cabinets over the sink have been taken down before they fell off the wall. The drop down in there is also coming down but there is some serious ceiling damage that is going to have to be addressed before I can continue. I really would like to have cabinets with glass doors for this area but I could really use some ideas from you all to help me make a decison on what to do with it. I have someone who is building the cabinets for me so all I have to do is decide what kind I want. All ideas are welcome:)

[smithbbb]

beautiful, just beautiful. You must be thrilled with all your progress !

[Lisa S]

You did a beautiful job! Your home looks lovely.

Removing the carpets was one of the first things I did at my house too. Didn't the rooms feel lighter and brighter?

[yarborough house]

Looks great - and I love hardwood floors. So easy to clean and the amount of germs in carpet about makes me freak out.

On the kitchen..hmm I am not one to ask right now as I am in a full kitchen reno so a bit crazy with it.

[Gigi]

A BIG WOW! Just beautiful floors! I can see all the work you have done~ another wow!

So glad you joined this forum~ it's really alot of fun seeing your progress. Thanks for sharing.

[Heather]

Great job! Is that you in the pink shirt?
As far as your kitchen goes - your in the right forum!
You'll get great advice from many of the ladies here that have re-done their kitchens.

Here's a huge collection of kitchen eye candy:
http://ths.gardenweb.com/forums/load/decor/gal0103442621249.html?30
I suggest cutting out the ones you like and start a folder! (if you haven't already...)

[Josephine]

You did a wonderful job! The floors look beautiful!

[CohenCottage]

Your floors are amazing!! Did you go one room at a time or the whole thing at once? Also, how difficult was it to use the drum sander? Is it as bad as people make it out to be?

We want to refinish our wood floors, but the hubs is balking about it right now. Our current floors are in good condition and they have no staples, so hopefully it won't be too bad. Seeing your beautiful results gives me hope!

[Sadie's Porch]

Good Morning!

Tammy, I am with you on the germs/carpet thing, especially when someone else has already lived on it! We looked like Haz Mat when we were taking it up, gloves, masks etc...:eek: I have been reading about your kitchen reno and have already learned alot from it. I really like what you did with the floors.

Heather - That is my long time bestfriend Kathy in the pink. Even after all the blood, sweat and tears on the floor she is still hanging in there with me and being a big help. Thanks for the idea on the folder. I am going to get one started today.:)

CohenCottage - Thanks, I did all of them at once. I knew if I moved in with my two dogs and cats I would never get all the pet hair out of the way! The drum sander was pretty hard but not as bad as I though it would be. I only gouged two small divits in the floor. One in the bedroom and one in the dining room. You can hardly see them now unless you are looking for them. Just keep that thing moving at all times when the belt is on and it does a good job. It is really heavy so make sure you have help to pick it up, I have a nice dent in the back of my car where I tried to take it out by myself:mad:

[Breezy]

Sadie's - the floors and walls are just beautiful & the finished living room is so lovely! Well done!:)

[vintage girl]

You did a beautiful job:) As far as kitchens go, I have been redoing mine for years also. Decided not to replace the cabinets, because they are built in and I would have to replace all the walls also. Thought about going with glass fronts, but decided to take the doors off completely, and go for a "hutch" look. On the lower cabinets I used cafe curtains. it really opened up the kitchen and really highlighted the vintage look I was going for. This is not for everyone, but it was very inexpensive and I love it. I would look at lots of pics on the internet for kitchens and do as Heather suggested and print out the ones you like and go from there. My dream kitchen would be to not have upper cabinets at all, just lowers and than use hoosiers and antique hutches to store my dishes. But than I am a little "eccentric" . I also took out all my carpeting and replaced the floors with wood parquet tiles. When I removed the carpeting I could not believe all the gunk in it. And I vacuumed everyday at least once, sometimes twice. I have 5 dogs, so the wood floors are fantastic. We do not have one speck of carpeting in the entire house. We even took it out of the bedrooms. Now I can indulge my obsession with area rugs;) I love your house. It is absolutely gorgeous and I look forward to more pics as you progress through your reno:)

[Sadie's Porch]

Thank you all for the compliments and input. I have already started my folder and have added several items to it from these forums and will be looking for more! It is so hard to pick just one idea or style, I see so many that I really like.

[Gigi]

Love looking at the additional pictures. You have a lovely home and you must feel proud of all you have accomplished.

[yarborough house]

Yes there are so many styles that you like. Me too. Here is what I did. I tore out every kitchen I saw that spoke to me. After about a couple of weeks I grabbed the pile then started organizing it into similar looks in different piles. That is when I noticed I gravitated towards one look mostly.
try it.
I just got back from Lowes ordering the last of my cabinets- I ordered the 3 to do my island. I ordered them in heirloom black - a distressed black look to counter balance all the white in the kitchen..woo hoo now have to wait a month for them to get here. dang it.

[LindaLK]

Hi Ladies, :)


I hope that you all are having a great day today. Sadie, you did a beautiful job. You should be very proud of yourself. The idea of making a scrapbook was a good one. I don`t like cutting pics out of my magazines, silly I know. So, I dog ear the pages instead.

Have a great day!


Hugs,
Linda :)

[Sadie's Porch]

Hi Linda, I know what you mean about cutting out of favorite magazines. I have all the old Cottage Living magazines and tons of cooking magazines and they all have little yellow post-it's sticking out all over them marking my favorite pages. Not very neat but it works!

[LindaLK]

Hello Ladies, :)

Sadie, that is a good idea with the posted notes. I wil give that a try. I usually am not a hoarder, but I am when it comes to my magazines. I just hate to part with any of them. My cabinets in the kitchen are neatly filled with cook books and cooking magazines.

Have a wonderful day everyone!


Hugs,
Linda :)

[annielinz]

I have those pretty magazine holders that I save the magazines I just can't part with. Every month or so I go thru the magazines I receive and decide if I keep the whole magazine or just tear out my fav inspiration pics. The torn out pages I then put in plastic sleeves and put in a binder. I just realized I'm up to three binders of inspiration pictures :eek:

[LindaLK]

Hello Everyone, :)

Mary Ann, that is another great idea. I like it.
I probably could eliminate the two under~the~bed, plastic storage bins by doing this. I also have magazines stored in the bottom half of my hoosier.

Did you cover the binders, or did they come like that?

Have a great day!


Hugs,
Linda :)

[annielinz]

Hey Linda, I found them already covered in the red toile. If you have a Marshalls or TJ Maxx near you they have them all the time. I'm on the hunt for some more...yes the collection is growing. I've tried the cardboard magazine holders and they just aren't study enough.

[Breezy]

Mary Ann - what a neato idea for your mags!

[LindaLK]

Hi Ladies, :)

Thank you Mary Ann. Both stores are not too far away from where I am. I will go and see if they have any.

Enjoy the day!


Hugs,
Linda :)

[yarborough house]

Mary Ann- that is what I do with the stuff I tear out. I put them in binders by the room. It is much easier to find it that way. I also have some that are just not worth tearing anything out as all that would be left would be the advertisements at the end.
On the toile boxes- I have seen them also at Tuesday Morning if any of you have those nearby. Also, Ikea has some wooden ones, and canvas ones along with the cardboard ones. I keep thinking the wooden ones would be neat painted and distressed..just a thought.

[LindaLK]

Hi Tammy, :)

I have never heard of binders being made of wood until now. What a wonderful idea to paint them, or maybe even decoupage them. We don`t have a Tuesday Morning here. We have an Ikea, unfortunately it is over an hour away. I will check Ikea`s web~site, maybe they will show them there? Now I have two ideas for all of my magazines. Thank you ladies.

Have a great day!



Hugs,
Linda :)

[Heather]

Hey Sadie - have you decided on anything for your kitchen? Let's see some of your pics from your inspiration folder!

[Sadie's Porch]

Hi Heather, I have been on hold for the past few weeks. My mom became ill and I have been dealing with getting her better and getting her home (hopefully tomorrow!) One good thing about sitting with her I have been able to look at lots of magazines and books to get some more ideas. My one idea that is playing around in my head right now is using open shelving for each side of the window/sink wall. I have been looking at several styles and with all my stuff it would be nice to have them out. I have a few pictures saved in my folder but they are on my home computer. I will try and post them for some feedback from you all this weekend.

[yarborough house]

Sadie- I did that. On my sink wall it is all open shelving. That way I can get to dishes easier and put them back easily. I do want all white dishes so will be working on that. On the other side of the kitchen it has cabinets to hide all the "necessary stuff".

I hope to post pictures this sunday evening..cross your fingers that it gets all done..

[Sadie's Porch]

I am finally home at last and things are settling down. I have attached a few of the ideas from my inspiration folder for you all to look at and maybe help me decide which way to go!:confused: The first set is a little more enclosed open shelving and the second is more open. Either way I go I do know I want the corbles on the bottoms, I love that look.
Tammy, I am looking forward to you posting your pictures, I bet you will have some great stuff and I will be able to steal some ideas from you.:)
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[yarborough house]

Hey Sadie,
Our shelves are more like photo 3. Boards resting on corbels. The only wierd thing is that those lovley corbels you buy are only for looks. Ours actually said they only hold up to 10 lbs..man a stack of plates weighs alot. So, we routed out grooves on the back of the corbels that would accomodate steel L brackets..so they are for strength and the brackets are for looks..

[Heather]

I like the look of open shelves but yikes on the dust factor! Our house is always under construction/renovation so I couldn't do it.

[CohenCottage]

We have our pots and pans hanging with some open shelving and surprisingly my pans don't get dusty. When we finish painting the kitchen, our yellow cabinet will be replaced by open shelving, so that will be the real test. Maybe all the golden retriever hair stays on the floor and off the shelves? Maybe it's just because we use our pots and pans daily? Who knows...

[Sadie's Porch]

Since I had to take down the cabinets months ago (they were barely hanging onto the wall) I have had all my dishes on a plastic shelving unit. I haven't really had a problem with dust or anything else getting on the dishes, except for the bottom shelf and since it is on the floor I guess that is to be expected. I cook alot and go home for lunch everyday so I do use my dishes quite a bit. Maybe that is why the dust doesn't have time to settle on them:D

[BoisBungalow]

I LOVE the floors :) You did a great job finishing them. We will be refinishing our floors in a few years...

[Old Wood Floors]

The floor in the first posting looks great. To BoisBungalow there are two books that I recommend to anyone considering floor finishing. Don Bollinger's Hardwood Floors: Laying, Sanding and Finishing (book or video) and Charles Peterson's Wood Flooring: A Complete Guide to Layout, Installation & Finishing. Both of these men have extensive experience in the field and are well respected. You can do a good job without all of the big equipment, but the basic steps are the same.

[Hillary Black]

Thanks for the tips. You can damage floors easily with the big equipment.