Renovation Step #4 - Flooring and Bookcases...

After watching numerous home improvement shows and reading anecdotes by both men and women, I naively assumed I'd be able to install the laminate flooring myself or at least with minimal help from my husband.  I'm reasonably intelligent and in fairly good shape, so how hard could it be?  Hmm.  Famous last words.  The day before I was set to begin, I threw my back out.  Fortunately, my husband (who coincidentally was against me installing the floor myself anyway) had the day off and insisted on working on it instead.  The first step was to put down the underlayment.

When he started to lay out the flooring, he realized right away that we had a problem.  The laminate planks are about 7.5" wide and his saw wasn't large enough to make the cuts we needed.  So off he went to Lowe's to get a new Sliding Compound Miter Saw.  I insisted on trying it out, as I really want to learn how to do all of these things myself.  Although I can use it, it's definitely not one of my favorites.

He managed to get half of the floor laid the first day and almost finished it up the next.  My back was feeling much better the second day, so I helped to lay out the planks in advance for him to install.  It wasn't hard, but you had to pay attention to the patterns to make sure the boards were spread out evenly.  I also tried to install a few planks myself.  I can honestly say that even if I wasn't having back problems, this is not a job I would be able to do on my own.  My neck isn't the greatest and just from trying to pound in those few planks, it was obvious that I would never be able to do an entire room.  So I'm very grateful to have a super handy husband to step in and save the day!  I think he did a wonderful job on it and I just love the new floor...

The flooring is actually Pergo Presto Gunstock Oak from Home Depot and the underlayment is Roberts 70-190 Super Felt Premium Felt Underlayment.

The room looks so barren here, but I also ordered some bookcases that came in.  I had some help in putting them together.  David and Jack (not pictured) were fascinated by the tape on the boxes.

I bought 3 of the the Threshold Carson bookcases in different sizes all from Target.com and I have to mention that the assembly instructions were some of the best I've ever seen.  Also, one of the pieces was chipped and I called them on a Sunday afternoon and immediately reached a customer service representative who was extremely polite and sent me out a replacement.  I would definitely purchase from them again.

I'm hoping these will hold everything I need for them to.  I'm considering getting a couple of smaller ones to hold bolts of fabric, but haven't decided yet.

Don't they look so clean and fresh with nothing on them?  I'm imagining how pretty they'll look with fabric!

Next up is baseboard trim and the window seat (already done).  Also, my counter tops are supposed to come in on Monday.  We still need to re-do the stairs and my husband has the plans for my new sewing and cutting tables.  I'm not sure how long it will take him to build them though.

It's getting closer day by day!

God's voice is glorious in the thunder. We can't even imagine the greatness of His power. 

Job 37:5 (NLT)