I’m trying to stay upbeat about this new renovation in our lives, and today I’m failing. Mostly I’d just like my life put back together. My house = my life.
The upside of it all {and there is an upside} is that my family room is a blank slate. I can do whatever I want with it. The only things that are permanent are the fireplace and the color of the walls. I painted them blue last October and I adore the color more than anything.
But the flooring is kind of where I’ve spent the last two days. What do you think? This is engineered hardwood by Shaw. I’m in love with it.
What would you do with a blank slate? With this blank slate?
Allison
Hello there! I'm Allison Czarnecki, founder + editor of Petit Elefant, a blog all about style on a budget for every part of your life: style / home / travel / family. I do a lot of how-to beauty + style tutorials, travel posts, easy recipes, home remodel projects, and cool DIY crafts you totally want to try. I'm super happily married (to a hot Polish immigrant) and am the mother of two kids, a daughter and son, all of whom are featured here on the regular. We live in the country but we're a little bit rock + roll. Welcome!
We put in "engineered" wood in our family room this past year. My only beef is that with our dogs; they do scratch it, so we ended up putting in a lot more area rugs than I had anticipated to protect it and also keep them from sliding all over the place. Vacuuming around/over/under the rugs is a PIA. We went for a darker color than yours, but our room is painted a very similar turquoise. Still, it looks awesome. If you don't have to big dogs to deal with, then go for it.
Love that hardwood. It has my vote. And if you want to change it up later you can do rugs (which are fun in spite of vacuuming difficulties.)
I love the hardwood. Trust me, you won't regret it. It's cleaner than carpet and looks more warm and inviting than tile.
What else would I do? You would have a difficult time keeping me from painting the brick fireplace. An easy way to freshen it up.
I love that wood. If it were me, I'd be asking Alma to come tell me what to do, or just copying whatever she does, cause I'm original like that.
I love hardwood flooring- especially when the planks are wide. It immediately warms up the space. I agree with dandee- I would be painting that fireplace… probably white- because that's what I like these days.
Love those wide planks on the flooring, and also the color. We have dark wood floors on our steps and the dust shows so easily, so this lighter color will be great.
I actually like the fireplace color. Maybe you could paint the ceiling a few shades lighter than the walls. We did that in our bedroom and it really makes the room feel larger.
Tammy,
No dogs here, just two kids. I'm nervous about going darker because it shows dirt, but I love that you have it and like it!
Jen,
It's pretty right? Guarantee there will be rugs, especially in the more trafficked areas like the front of the french doors.
dandee,
Ug, that's what my husband says {re:painting the fireplace}! It scares me, I won't lie.
Jenny,
The wood is really pretty and warm huh? Love it.
Deb,
Aaaaah! Both you and Dandee are really good at interior decorating and you both want me to paint the brick. What to do….
Kathleen,
That's my thought process. Dark = dust showing. I like that the color is a little bit warm though.
Krista,
That's what I'm thinking. HATED the green.
Looking on the bright side.
I think the hard wood will look great with the paint color! I wish I had more flooring like that and less carpet.
I love the wood. We have bamboo and it's great but the finish is sort of thin so I think we will have to reseal it sooner or later. Engineered is probably a better bet!
p.s. the Shark steam mop is AWESOME on wood floors
Okay, I'm so getting that Shark steam mop for our floors! We have hand-scraped hardwood floors like the ones you've shown above only darker and they do show every little toast crumb possible so I find I am constantly sweeping (when not mopping). But I do love hardwood and rugs always help. I say go for it! You'll love it, especially with that blue!
Kami,
I'm slowly, room by room, replacing carpet with hard surface flooring. I can't stand carpet!
Amy Smart,
I know, the timing of the flood couldn't have been worse! We're trying to save up for plane tickets to Europe. But, a girl's gotta do what a girl's gotta do. ;)
Naomi,
Bamboo was our other option, but I'm terrified of C doing major damage to it; he's such a boy like that.
P.S. good to hear about the Shark because it's not the greatest on Vinyl.
Emily,
The LAST thing I need is for every toast crumb to show, that will kill me. Seriously, kill me.
Susan Peterson,
I hadn't even thought of chandeliers but how awesome would they look? Amazing.
YES YES YES with the hardwood floors! You'll love it, believe me, you will! DO IT! Or you could go back to the green carpeting. The flood happened for a reason girl.
Oh man, floods are such a pain. I feel for you. But, as you pointed out, now's your chance baby! I like the idea of wood. It will look awesome and I think you won't regret it. Can't wait to see what you do!
oooh, how exciting! I'm all for painting the fireplace to match your base boards and maybe a dark brown mantle top? og course, that's what I want to do to mine so I'm all for encouraging others! ;)
for my redo I'm considering smooth, stained and glossy concrete floors. mostly because of katrina nightmares. haha. but so pretty!! only down side is it's a hard fall on kids. grrr.
I adore the color and if my husband wouldn't notice, and in turn throttle me, I'd rip out every stitch of carpet in our house and replace it with wood floors. I loathe carpet but we can't afford to replace it all right now. And…I hate to say it but paint the fireplace. It would look splendid!
–Leadia
ohh, i love the hardwood, and that paint is awesome. i would go for an awesome chandelier.
Oh, that room is going to awesome! Can't wait to see it finished!
yes I agree I would consider painting or just doing some sort of gloss or EVEN something very different with the mantle for the fireplace.
i love love that color, i have some ideas for you from martha stewart's encly. of crafts, i will send you links
Laura Ferry,
We seriously considered buffing and staining the floors but it's almost more expensive than doing flooring!
Breeders Digest,
That's what everyone is telling me: paint the fireplace! Yikes. I might, might might do it. And carpet: HATE all of it.
Jennifer O,
Thanks for the vote of confidence! I can't wait to see it finished either. :)
Vanessa,
I definitely love the idea of gloss, Home Depot sells something along those lines. I think I have to do something since it's the focal point.
Send away the files!
Erin,
We'll definitely have at LEAST one area rug, so there's that. I'm so torn about the fireplace. Send me photos of yours?
i love the floors you have chosen. real wood floors are the best. you'll need an area rug. i love my FLOR tiles and they have so many options.
i agree with the other comments– paint the fireplace white. i painted mine three or four years ago, it makes a HUGE difference. i love it.
you can see pictures of the fireplace decked out for Halloween here:
http://suttongrace.blogspot.com/2009/10/hello-october.html
painting a fireplace is really easy, just make sure you give it a good cleaning first. i cleaned the bricks with a scrub brush and some (lightly) soapy water.
i can't wait to see what you do with your blank slate. i am sure it will be FAB!
you know the ironic thing is that I HONESTLY saw the color of the walls at the beginning of the post and thought to myself, * she should think about some honeywheat colored hard wood floor with that turquoise-y * then I scroll down and viola, you've already got it covered! :)
Erin,
What about actually USING said fireplace once it's white? This is a working fireplace and I hate to make it black with soot.
kbgraphics,
Doesn't a warm color seem like a good fit? I like the idea of balancing out the blue with really warm flooring.