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Falling In Love With Wood? Home Depot #LoveMyHouse

in Lifestyle on 10/17/13

For the last few weeks I have made more trips to The Home Depot then I care to admit.  I started with one simple goal.  To replace the hideous tile in my front hall with the hard wood flooring I had been dreaming of for years.  One would think this would be an easy process.  Um, have you met me?  Nothing I ever do is easy.  I must complicate every task given to me.  I must worry about every project, I must ponder every decision.  Everything must be perfect.  I must stop this nonsense and get on with my life!  So finally a HUGE decision, with the help of The Home Depot Canada SassyHubby and I are taking on the biggest home renovation project of our lives!  We are not just replacing the hideous front hall ceramic that we have loathed for years, we are going to smash our way through the office, crash into the bathroom, tear out the kitchen flooring and rip out the family room rug, replacing it all with glorious shiny new hard wood!  Woot!  Oh yes, it’s a full on #LoveMyHouse Reno!  Bye bye ugly front hall!  I am fully prepared to get my shop on, and not stop until I am head over heels in love with some brand new shiny hard wood. 

HDFrontHallTornOut

(Status update:  The current state of our front hall. It is a disaster right now, but we are on our way to perfection!)

If you are thinking renovation, I really can’t think of a better place to start than The Home Depot.  There are so many options for for any kind of renovation, from the simplest of paint jobs to the biggest of kitchen overhauls.

The flooring options alone seem almost endless. 

HD1HD3

So where do you start?  How do you begin to narrow things down? As my intent was to put hardwood in so many rooms, including the kitchen, I knew I wanted real wood.  Something that would stand up to the wear and tear of my busy family.  Decision one made.  A tough hardwood, a product that could have scratches buffed out if necessary.  This next decision was the biggest and the hardest for me.  I have a warm honey colour maple stair case (that I do not love) and lighter maple kitchen cabinets that I have no intention of replacing.  This hardwood floor had to be some kind of “magic floor” that would go with both.  How do you begin to pick the perfect colour floor?  You start by making many, many, trips to your local store.  I can now say with some certainty that this couple from the suburbs knows their way around the flooring department of The Home Depot!

Thankfully at this fine store you can purchase samples of wood for about 99 cents, and when you are closer to a decision, you can rent bigger boards to get an idea of how that wood will look in the natural light of your home.  Our front hall looked like some kind of funky wood patchwork quilt for about a week as we hummed and hawed trying to decide what colour was best for us.   Finally after much deliberation, discussion with friends over coffee, consultations with my Mom over the phone, and even a chat with the sweetest Staff lady ever at The Home Depot itself, we decided on this………    HD2

Ahhh! Do you love it!  I think I do.  I better, we are talking about over 900 square feet of hardwood here people!  Do you know what that looks like?  Sort of like this:

HD4HD9

SassyHubby and I cleaned out three stores of all their stock, loading down our pick up truck and filling up our living room.  (Big tip.  You must make sure you are going to have enough hard wood floor to complete your job BEFORE you begin.  Don’t forget to have a little more than you measure for.  You have to account for corners, cuttings and even split or broken boards!)

HDCollage

Hubby did the loading and moving of all our product, I took the pictures and made got the take-out dinner. 

So now that the decision has been made, the hardwood has been purchased, and the demolition of our house has begun, all fingers and toes are crossed that what we are doing is taking our abode from a house we live in, to a home we love!  It is truly time to love my house, and I’m ready to get to work, get my hands dirty and start the transformation. 

I hope you are following me on Instagram, Twitter and Facebook for all the dusty updates! (and just to make sure I don’t get lost under all that mess!)

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    Comments

    1. Jacki says

      October 19, 2013 at 2:24 am

      How beautiful it will be when it’s done!

      • Stephanie says

        October 19, 2013 at 5:37 pm

        Thanks, I think so too! I can already tell our home is going to feel not only warmer, but bigger too!

    2. Cheryl (@loucheryl) says

      October 19, 2013 at 1:25 am

      Good luck with your project! My husband and I used Home Depot for our hardwood basement floor when we finished it!

      • Stephanie says

        October 19, 2013 at 5:38 pm

        Doesn’t Home Depot just have the most amazing array of products to choose from!?
        PS We spent another Friday night wandering the aisles of the Home Depot this weekend and saw that there were a LOT of couples doing the same thing. Love that so many couples are working on home reno projects together 🙂

    3. Judy C (Cowan) says

      October 18, 2013 at 11:06 pm

      Good Luck on the reno’s. It sounds like a big project but I am sure it will be well worth it in the end!!

      • Stephanie says

        October 19, 2013 at 5:39 pm

        That is what I keep telling myself! This will all be worth it in the end!

    4. Tenille says

      October 18, 2013 at 4:41 pm

      First, I love that you call him SassyHubby! Next, I am so excited to see the big reveal at the end! Your front all is gorgeous and I can’t wait to see how the new wood flooring looks when it’s all said and done!

      Third, I love Home Depot’s prices!

    5. Holly says

      October 18, 2013 at 7:56 am

      It’s going to look amazing! I can’t wait to see when it’s finished! 🙂

    6. Gigi says

      October 17, 2013 at 11:35 pm

      You will be SO glad you went with the lighter color wood; I promise. We have the dark wood (well for a little while longer anyway); which I LOVE but…shows EVERY speck of dust. I can’t wait to see how this all turns out – I just know it will be beautiful!

    7. Marie says

      October 17, 2013 at 10:06 pm

      Your home will look fantastic! Love the choice of hardwood that you and Hubby made. I was interested to read that you could buy pieces to take home to help out with your choice…what a great idea Home Depot has in providing this service. We are ‘thinking’ about new floors and I will be certain to check out Home Depot. So glad that you let us know about that. I’ll definitely be following your blog to see what the final unveil looks like!

    8. SueSueper Sue says

      October 17, 2013 at 9:49 pm

      Oh my, that is so much work, I am sure it will be awesome when done!

    9. Anne Taylor says

      October 17, 2013 at 8:16 pm

      Can’t wait to see your new front hall and keep up to date on its progress! My sister and her boyfriend just built a house and the choices are amazing for things these days.

      • Stephanie says

        October 17, 2013 at 9:20 pm

        Thanks! I am so excited ( and currently dust covered) It is coming along beautifully. Thanks to this hard wood and a little hard work it’s going to look like a brand new house!

    10. Lena @ Listen to Lena says

      October 17, 2013 at 6:29 pm

      So excited to follow along with this home reno. You home will look amazing! And we bought our hardwood from The Home Depot Canada too, so I can vouch for their quality!

      • Stephanie says

        October 17, 2013 at 9:21 pm

        I LOVE the selection at Home Depot, there were so many to choose from it was almost overwhelming! Thanks for following along 🙂

    11. Being Gluten Free [Rossana] says

      October 17, 2013 at 5:55 pm

      That is a lot of hardwood, can’t wait to see the finished pics! Getting thorough the process is always the hardest, but it will be amazing when it is finished!

      • Stephanie says

        October 17, 2013 at 9:22 pm

        Ha! You’re right! Loved ordering so much that we had to get a mini fork lift to get it into our truck. If your going to reno might as well go big right!

    12. AlwaysARedhead says

      October 17, 2013 at 5:52 pm

      Wow, you and hubby are certainly taking on a big project. Sending you patience to live through this. 🙂

      • Stephanie says

        October 17, 2013 at 9:22 pm

        Thanks for the patience, this Mama needs it this week 🙂

    13. Sarah says

      October 17, 2013 at 4:44 pm

      So many choices! I never thought of that. I bet it’s going to be amazing and can’t wait to see your final result!

      • Stephanie says

        October 17, 2013 at 9:24 pm

        It is already starting to come together!! Can’t wait to share some more pictures!

    14. Busy Bee Suz says

      October 17, 2013 at 3:40 pm

      You are going to be SO happy when this is all done!! I love hardwood floors SO much! Awesome!!!!

      • Stephanie says

        October 17, 2013 at 9:25 pm

        I am already in love with the fact that I will have less to vacuum, more just to Swiffer! Not only that, my house will finally have the “warm” feeling I have been wanting all those years!

    15. loriag says

      October 17, 2013 at 12:04 pm

      Your front entry is going to look beautiful. I love wondering the isles of Home Depot!

      • Stephanie says

        October 17, 2013 at 9:26 pm

        Should I confess Hubby and I have actually had “date nights” wandering those Home Depot aisles? LOL So many home reno dreams hatch on those walks!

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