Last summer we put our condo up for sale. The market wasn’t great for it but we had found a home we loved and wanted to take advantage of the buyers market. Unfortunately we didn’t have much interest in our home and ended up taking it off the market when the little peanut was born. During the process of selling we talked about different improvement projects we would do if our condo didn’t sell. The number one item on our list was installing hard wood floors.

A baby and 7 months later we finally started!

Ripping the carpet out was actually much more easy then I anticipated. The carpet and padding came up easily with minimal dust.

Before with grey carpet

Down to the raised platform

The floor was leveled and clean so we were able to start the hard wood installation right away. We owe a huge thanks to my brother in law who motivated us to get started and came over to help! We went with the click and snap type of hard wood which was easy to put together.

Installing the floors

Snap here, tap tap there, cut here, cut there and we were rolling. The main flooring was quick and easy to install – it only took us 1 day. It was the finishing that took for-eve-er! It took us about a week to put in the stair nose… I think it was because my BIL wasn’t there to help with it though!

Although it was an easy process I would recommend starting it only with someone who has installed it before. There are tons of small tricks of the trade that a newbie wouldn’t know. Like how you have to take a cut piece and put it at the start of the next row or how and where to get started.

After with cherry wood 5 inch hard wood

All in all the floors took at least a month to finish but that was because we did the entry hall ourselves (without my BIL’s help!) painted an accent wall and put in new baseboards. We did have a lot of days where we couldn’t work because the little peanut was home so I think total working days might have been 20.

We are now armed with the knowledge of installing hard wood and more confident in our DIY abilities which has gotten us into a home improvement groove. We’ve already installed new tiles in our kitchen and plan to do our bathroom next.

picture gallery

After I’ve watched a great “Divine Design” makeover, I dream of giving one of my own rooms (actually all my rooms!) the Candace Olson touch. But unfortunately I don’t have $20,000 to spare. With bills to pay and mouths to feed, re-decorating is a luxury I can’t afford. To fill that urge, I get creative and learn how to stretch my decorating dollar. Here are some quick tips to bring some life back into any room in the house:

1) Go shopping…at home! If you’re like me, you have furniture in other parts of the house that you’ve forgotten about. Swap out furniture pieces and/or artwork and it will transform your room immediately!

2) Re-arrange your furniture. I can’t tell you what a big difference this makes. It’ll make your room feel totally new and you’ll be able to do some deep cleaning in the process! Just remember the new layout or else you’ll wind up with bruises if you get up in the middle of the night

3) Color! Color! Color! Try painting your walls a different color (or try an accent wall). If you’re afraid of that kind of commitment, try different drapery or bedding.

4) Accessorize. Pillows are great accessories for your sofa and bed and are super-inexpensive to make. Or try hanging up some picture frames or putting a flower arrangment in the room. Accent rugs are fun too (it’ll also hide the food stains your kid decided to put there!).

make-up desk turned accent table

Accent wall, accessories and brown curtains