Things are afoot over here

We will be replacing our floors through the living room, kitchen, and hallway early next week, we settled on the same maple color, and once that is completed, our new couches will be delivered. The long-planned and much-bemoaned home front refresh has officially kicked into high gear. We shall have to do things in stages, of course, observing the dictates of our pockets, but I believe we have found the contractor who can accomplish it all—floors, new kitchen, full bathroom renos (or cheaper cosmetic upgrades), and even the refinishing my mother's beloved but battered coffee table! Moments ago the contractor and one of his workers came and removed our beaten up brown couch, loveseat, and armchair in anticipation of the floor work, and this weekend, the man and I will need to remove all the books, photographs, art pieces, and what nots from the hallway shelves so they can move them more easily to lay the planks beneath them. This contractor has also shown us preliminary drawings for the kitchen re-do, though we don't have any quotes for that job yet, as some decisions are still being made. I'm working away on the sidelines of all this, but just wanted to pop in and report that this is happening! 

Our son just called, and was hearing about all the plans for the first time, as we only jump started everything last week when we got the call that the couches were ready to be delivered. Figuring the time to do the floors was before the new couches arrived, I called the contractor who had been recommended to me by some of my neighbors, whose work they had invited me to see in their apartments. I'd been impressed by the obvious care he took in his work, the impeccable way he finished each of his jobs that I viewed. When I met him in person for a consultation last Thursday, it didn't take me but a minute to decide he was the one. 

Only yesterday, my husband and I settled on laying all new vinyl plank floors as opposed to refinishing our worn maple veneers—so much cleaner, no dust from sanding, extra durable and waterproof, a fraction of the time needed for installation, plus we could still closely approximate the warm look of hardwood. In case you forgot the woeful state of our floors, take a look at that kitchen photo. The contractor told us he couldn't guarantee bringing them back to perfect condition, and that in a matter of months they would begin to get scuffed all over again. Hence our new direction.

On hearing the plans, our darling boy volunteered to come over tomorrow and move everything off the hallway bookshelves for us. "You can just keep working while I move the books shelf by shelf and stack them in the back bedroom," he told me, and what did we ever do to deserve our wonderful boy and girl. The man and I have been on the receiving end of a lot of philanthropic karma in this life. I'm humbled and grateful.