Last week in my One Room Challenge update, I had shown how I’d pulled back our old sheet vinyl floor to see that there was subfloor underneath. My plan had shifted to maybe just putting real tile down on top of the subfloor, instead of the vinyl we’d look at initially.
A local contractor came by to look and see if tile is doable and suggested pulling up the subfloor because it should probably be replaced anyway, and there was a chance that there was old hardwood underneath. After chipping a little of it away myself and finding some hardwood underneath, I was able to convince Garrett to rip up all the subfloor on the weekend.
What we found underneath was 115 year old oak flooring. I was so excited.
There is some damage, lots of nail holes, lots of sanding to be done and two plywood patches that need to be replaced, so we’re weighing our options right now on what we should do.
Do we repair and refinish these floors? Put new hardwood over top? Or go back to the tile idea? I’m going to be doing more research over the next two days. When we thought we had to leave the vinyl I had planned to use inexpensive vinyl tiles to fix it up for now, but with this new development, we have to look at everything involved, including the budget.
In other news, I started planning out the coat rack I’m going to make using this antique headboard from my great aunt’s farmhouse. For years it was hung up as a headboard at my parents’ rental cottage but when they didn’t need it anymore I jumped at the chance, even though I didn’t really know what I’d do with it at the time. Now I’m thinking it would make a great new coat rack for the front hall.
I found these vintage-style black hooks for a steal awhile back and picked up a bunch for projects.
I’m thinking I’ll do 5-7 hooks, but now the debate is whether I should put them along the middle section or the bottom section. What do you think?
I also picked up the Benjamin Moore paint colours that I selected last week and I CANNOT WAIT to get painting this weekend. Seeing as I’m pregnant right now I’ll be leaving the majority of the painting up to Garrett, but when I’m helping I’ll be taking extra precautions. Benjamin Moore’s Regal Select paint is zero VOC and low fumes and with the front door and windows open, it will be a very well ventilated area. I’ll be steering clear of ladders of course, and making sure to wear protective clothing, including gloves and a mask.
Be sure to stop by every week for the next six weeks to get an update on the progress. Check out the One Room Challenge blog to see all the other participants as well.
FARMHOUSE ENTRYWAY – ONE ROOM CHALLENGE
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- One Room Challenge Week 1 : Farmhouse Entryway Inspiration Mood Board
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- One Room Challenge Week 2: Picking Paint Colours with Benjamin Moore
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- One Room Challenge Week 4: The Transformation Takes Shape
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- One Room Challenge Week 5: The Final Stretch
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- One Room Challenge Week 6: Farmhouse Front Room Reveal
What a great find! If you can finish the old floors, but need a bit more time and money, then do everything else and let the floors go. Down the road, you’ll have beautiful floors, and a fading ORC memory. For the hooks, maybe alternate between middle and bottom; then “stuff” won’t look so bunched together.
If you stagger the hooks for the front hall some up some down maybe smaller people will be able to hang up when the get taller? As long as you resist the temptation to use the lower hooks like your Grandpa Gordon. He used to hang your Aunt Linda up using the cross over back of her cover-alls. Moments like this I wish I had the Photo’s from Aunt Irene’s scanned into the computer. I pull the box of photos out look at it sigh and push it back into the storage closet.Some day. Hope you are feeling better. Hugs your Colorado Connection
That is an amazing discovery! Tough decision for sure. I vote for restore because I’m in a land in my head where time is no issue 🙂 If you decide to put anything over it, definitely protect them. That would be a shame to ruin them!
We had an older home when we lived in town and we were re-doing the heating system. When My Shug drilled a hole in the kitchen floor to put in the ductwork, he found that underneath the battleship linoleum was oak hardwood from the 1940’s. Of course, the linoleum was glued down with black tar like gunk. But he rented a big upright sander, and stripped the glue off, then re-stained and varnished it. GORGEOUS! Even with the imperfections, it was gorgeous. I loved it so much that when it came time to do this house, we did all hardwood floors. The other thing…it NEVER goes out of style. It’s a classic. So you’ll do it once, and you’ll never cover it again. Congrats on the baby!
Cindy
What an amazing find! Those will look beautiful once they are finished