Now that we've decided on flooring for our upstairs (you can read about our choice here), this weekend we officially started the prep. Or maybe pre-prep? Our home is a ranch-style home meaning it is two levels of the same size basically stacked on top of each other. You walk in on the first floor and go downstairs to a finished lower level. In our case, each floor is just over 1700 square feet. Chris made a quick floor plan of our first floor so you could better visualize the areas we'll be adding new flooring.
All of the rooms (and stairs) on the first floor will be getting the faux-wood treatment except the master bath and closet--we will be remodeling those areas, most likely, next year. Before we can even start demolition on the existing floors on the main area, nearly 1700 square feet of tile and carpet, we'll be moving all of our existing furniture downstairs and essentially living on the lower level while we tackle the first floor.
Greta's bedroom is downstairs, but other than that, we are rarely down there. Almost once a week (usually while vacuuming or picking up a trail of Greta's shoes or toys) we usually bring up how our house is too-large for our family now, but we're looking forward to growing into it in the years to come. And hey! All that extra square footage is going to get good use over the course of this project. The big pre-prep project this weekend was finally unpacking and cleaning out the last room of boxes (with my parents' help) we had stashed away in this spare bedroom downstairs since we moved in.
Just...stuff. Some things I was embarrassed I actually packed in a box instead of throwing away before we moved, while others I was so happy to finally see. You know what a good feeling is? Unpacking board games. As I put them each in our designated game cabinet (a built-in cabinet in the basement), it was so settling. We're here. We're staying. Within a couple hours, we had our last pile of empty boxes to bring to the transfer station and had gained another room:
Once we move our bed down, this will be mine and Chris's room for the next couple months--hopefully shorter, of course. While our downstairs will, no doubt, be cramped for the next little bit (we're also storing some furniture for my in-laws, not to mention we bought Greta a trampoline for Christmas that's also down here), we've never been so grateful to have so little furniture and so much extra un-used space. And although things are about to get real chaotic, after 4 months here, it feels good to finally be unpacked. Please tell me it takes you just as long.
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Honey, we bought out house on June 7th of 2013, started a kitchen reno immediately, moved in on July 28th, and STILL haven't finished the renovation OR unpacked our last boxes. In our defense, all that remains is cabinet doors on the renovation, and we had our first baby in August, so we've had a bit of a distraction. :-)
We redid the floors that desperately needed to be redone before moving in. It was so nice to have it all done! And I kicked the husband out and unpacked the entire house in one day. Granted I'm constantly moving things around, so it's hard to say how long it took me to really settle in. Haha.
Haha, we have a whole room of things not unpacked, so you're not alone. (Not to mention, rooms that we close the door to and don't want to think about AT ALL right now!)
Is that a little stone penguin in the photo with your mom and dad?! Need.
We have been in our house for almost 14 years and my husband has 2 unpacked boxes still!
On a related note, are you going to be replacing the flooring on the lower level? If not, what would you use if you were going to? Husband wants to use laminate but I am worried about water. Thoughts?
We won't be replacing the flooring THIS year on the lower level, but eventually--absolutely. We're leaning toward a durable, stain-resistant carpet when we do get around to replacing. We love a low pile with a pattern on it, similar to the carpet we put in our family room in our last house: https://chrislovesjulia.com/2012/03/winterthur-carpet-ftw.html
I still have probably 5 boxes/bins that I haven't touched since we've moved. I generally know what is inside each, so that's okay right? We need to get some Ikea book shelves after we have our van (yes, it is in the works!), and I can't wait to feel more at home with more storage!!!!!
I can't WAIT to see your upstairs transform. And now you have me curious about your master bedroom plans...
The closet, tub, shower, toilet are all going to get swapped around next year, as well as the entry way into the master bath. It just doesn't make a ton of sense the way things are situated right now. Ps. You're getting a van!?!?!? Details!
I cannot imagine how stressful this must be for you. I would be a wreck! It'll all be worth it in the end and I'm sure it gives you double motivation to get it done in a timely manner. I wish you guys luck! Can't wait to see the end result!
I feel VERY stressed. Chris feels calm as a cucumber and he'll be doing most of the work! How does that work? Haha.
Hi! Will you be replacing thr floor in your kitchen although you plan to demo the whole thing in the next few years?
The floors in the kitchen are all getting replaced as well. We will actually be tearing out the island and pantry in the next week prior to demo-ing all the tile to prep for this. We know they won't be sticking around after we renovate the kitchen, but the pantry will likely be placed temporarily back in the kitchen area (as opposed to the dining room) after we're all done with the floors.
Are you planning to take any walls down? I'm always curious to know what's load-bearing, what is more functional, etc. For example, would you consider taking down the wall in between the reading room and the living room? Congrats on cleaning out the spare room and being completely unpacked- that's an awesome feeling- good for you! :)
When we renovate our master bath next year, there will be some wall reconfiguration, but no walls are coming down in this main area. When we first moved in, we thought about opening the space from the reading room to the living room, but we have grown to love the intimate and separate feeling that little green den gives off, so we're happy to keep all walls in tact.
OMG Julia!! A resounding YEEEESSSS. We've been in our apartment for 3 months and are still unpacking. And the worst part is, we don't have an extra room to just hide all the stuff we don't want to deal with away. I'm literally tripping over stuff day and night. I finally had it this past weekend and got a lot done, but there's still a lot left to do. I feel like by the time I get settled it's going to be time for us to move again! I never realized how long unpacking would take.
Unpacking is not so fun for me. I remember in our last house, our family room had a bunch of large boxes just hanging out for months. It got to the point I didn't even notice them anymore. Ha!
I've been in my house 10 months and still not completely unpacked. No worries! It makes pitching useless stuff so much easier when you realize you were able to live without it.
Yes! My brother-in-law and his wife are so good at unpacking right away, but there is ever a box that goes 6 months without getting unpacked, they toss it without ever even looking inside.
Smart plan.
The hub and I are both Navy brats and he's ex-Special Forces. We've unpacked within 3 days of all our moves. The exception was the last one. We've lingered and it's felt so right!
Good Luck!