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.
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!