Decisions Married People Shouldn't Have to Make Together {Floors}

Let me begin by saying that the floors, especially in person, are phenomenal. The shine, the grain, the color, the history, the texture, the imperfections...I love them. But I didn’t come to this place on day one. Oh, no my friend, much emotion was put into these floors. Please remember one of the decision makers is 8 months pregnant!

Looking at the before pictures you can see the old floors are darker than the final product. That's due to a build-up of wax, dirt and age. In the front rooms of our house, the previous owners restored the floors themselves and added a stain to mimic that color. So, for the last six years we've been looking at dark floors. After many conversations about what we wanted from the new floors Steven and I agreed (yes agreed) we wanted to let the original floors BE what they are. No stain. We'd been told that heart of pine floors darken with age and take on a lovely reddish hue. When sharing our home with others we wanted to be able to say "these are true, unedited, 100 year old heart of pine floors," but it was a visual adjustment.

The day the floors were sealed the crew wiped portions of the floors with mineral wax to show us what the floors would look like after the seal was applied. We liked the look, left for lunch and when we came back the floors were sealed and the crew was gone. That evening was filled by staring into the windows and comparing the pros and cons of the new floors verses the old. We called friends over for their input. Steven and I both wanted the other to be happy and in LOVE with the floors. In the end, we went back to our original desire: "To have unedited, 100 year old heart of pine floors."

The scratches and dark spots tell a story. High traffic areas are darker than the rest of the floor which gives you a little glimpse into the traffic and flow that the house once saw. Being a sentimental fool, I loved that the history of our home shows in the floor and makes me daydream when looking at these areas. Did they like the view of the back yard from the office windows? Why doesn't the hall have more darkening? My guess? The maid in the house did all the work and her path was through the back rooms. This maid, will be using the hall!

Oh, and yes, that's a refinished tub and two BEAUTIFUL sinks sitting in our master bedroom, ready to be installed in the master bathroom. More to come on that topic!