Last post I left off with ripping up the first layer of laminate flooring

and the second layer of oak flooring.

During the process we found an old return air vent hole that needed to be repaired.

Once all of the nails were removed and floor repairs were made we were ready to rent a floor sander.

The sanding process always takes twice as long as you think it will. For that reason, we decided to do this room separately from the living/dining room so we could keep at least one area dust free during the process.

We both really like the look of unfinished natural wood so we decided to go with Bona Naturale floor finish. According to their website, "with Bona Naturale, you get as close to an utreated look and feel as possible while still providing your floor with a durable surface." We used the sealer before the finish to bring out the natural colour and grain of the wood.

Today we are rolling on the last coat of Bona Naturale but we are already so happy with the results.

Before and After

Another Angle

Next up, white plank walls and trim to finish this room so that we can have a place for all of our friends to stay this summer. 

At first I didn't want to get too excited because I didn't know the condition of the remaining hidden boards. Jeff wasn't home and I had the night to spare so I just kept pulling up boards, knowing that we could always install plywood and new hardwood if all else failed. 

After removing all of the nails (I'm talking hundreds), cleaning and finally inspecting the boards we knew that we had hit the jackpot! Houses of this age often had wide plank sub-floors but from the stain and paint lines it appears as though ours was once used as the main flooring.

The boards are tongue and groove and have very little to no cracks between them. 

The oak boards throughout the living/dining room came up easy but I had Jeff help with the plywood which was difficult to get up. 

We checked the vents in the kitchen and the flooring runs throughout. 

Next up, the soft pine floors which the dogs nails have completely destroyed.

I can't wait to see these beauties restored to their original glory!

It feels good to be back!

Here is what our living room currently looks like. What you can't see on the other wall is the front closet that is still under construction.

I recently completed my first interior decorating course and this was my final project.

Here is a peek at our shed we had installed a couple months back.

Lastly, we've all enjoyed having the attic space finished and it 

seems to be Jeff's new favourite reading spot.

Merry Holidays and Happy Christmas everyone!

One small section of drywall that we had repaired nail pops on months ago now had screws popping out. The problem was that the studs that we were screwing into weren't secured properly. The drywall had to come down so that studs could be fixed. 

We have always talked about having an open closet with a built in bench so it made sense for us to do that drywall at the same time. Off came the closet doors.

Removing the drywall exposed an old wire that looked in bad need of replacement so that had to be done. We also adjusted the light switches to proper height as they were pretty high up on the wall before. 

I bought this light from LampGoods on Etsy and absolutely love it!

Now this is when we started getting a little ahead of ourselves and thought, "why not replace the door too?" The previous door was short and very narrow. I love the character that is has so I'm hoping to use it somewhere else in the house.

Since the door is on the same wall as the washroom door we are replacing that door as well. 

Here is where we are at as of right now. I see a lot of taping and puttying in my near future.

On an end note, here is a picture of my ecard Halloween costume only a month late!

I apologize for the delay in the attic reveal but we were busy visiting her. 

(my amazing little sister)

here (Alberta)

There we are!

Just before we left on our trip I set up an area of the attic.

To us the attic area seems quite large. At 400 sq ft it's almost as big as our entire apartment was. We decided that there was enough space to divide the room into a few sections. With the built in shelves it made sense to make a reading area.

You remember the before...

and now it looks like this

We spruced this baby up with hand-scraped birch hardwood and a few coats of Farrow and Ball's Wimborne White.

Another angle

Ta-da!

As you can see we've acquired yet another couch :)

More photos to come once we get some furniture set up.