Our Downstairs Floors: My Great Tragedy
I have a confession to make.
Despite all the time, effort and dolla bills we’ve poured into our home since we bought it about a year and a half ago, I’m still a little bit embarrassed when people see it for the first time.
I know this is stupid. Our home is lovely and we’re lucky to have it. I know this. But here’s the thing: our floors are frigging disgusting.
EW.
GROSS.
UGH.
I should see all the things I love about those rooms. But all I see is nasty tile with dirty grout, and stained, smelly carpets. And they disgust me. Call me ungrateful and negative if you must, but I can’t help it.
I realize that there are things I could do to improve our floors. I could paint the grout. I could steam the carpets. I know. But the thing is, I hate them so much that I don’t want to spend any time or money on them. I just want them GONE.
Some day, somehow, we’re going to rip up all that tile and all that carpet, and our whole downstairs will be beautiful, beautiful hardwoods. I dream about it every day. Oh, how they’ll shine! They will always smell like lemons! I will have such colorful, beautiful area rugs and all my furniture will POP!
I have it all figured out in my head. Of course, I love dark, dark hardwoods – I mean, I’m only human.
By Design by Lilly Bunn Interiors, via La Dolce Vita
But you’ve gotta know yourself. And I know I’m not going to clean my floors often enough to keep up with the dust and hair and dirt particles that are apparently attracted to dark floors like magnets. No, I need something a little lower maintenance.
Theoretically, it’d be nice if they sort of matched our upstairs floors. You’ve seen them. They look like this:
They’re engineered, and Brad isn’t a fan. Apparently, they have beveled edges? I never would have noticed. What I do notice is that they’re a warmer and a bit more on the orange side. And I could get down with that. I love all of these:
Via Style at Home
Design by Emily Henderson, via Design Love Fest
From Design*Sponge at Home, via Oh Joy
Via Emily Henderson
But then I look at cooler, lighter floors, and I love those, too. These are some of my favorites:
Design by Daun Curry, via Marcus Design Inc
Via Design Crisis
From Est Magazine, via Desire to Inspire
Via Little Green Notebook (her flooring is from Lumber Liquidators)
Aren’t they airy and bright and wonderful? And I bet the dust just blends right in! But since I tend to decorate with cooler colors, I’d probably be better off with something just a tad warmer. I think these are perfect:
Via Lonny
Of course, I have no idea what that is. Red oak, maybe? American cherry? With my luck, I probably want the most expensive thing out there.
So, ya know, I just need to dig up a few thousand dollars (or something? We haven’t gotten a quote yet), and then this thang is gonna happen. Any day now.
What’s the great tragedy of your home? (You know, that’s the thing that makes you say, “I would love my house, if it wasn’t for the (blank).”)
