It's All Installed!

Yea! Finally! The hardwood flooring is all installed! It took more hours than either DH or I care to think about but it is all in. When we started this project we weren't sure if we would have enough boards to do both the dining room and the hallway out to the front door. We were pretty sure we'd have enough to do the dining room, but we thought we might have to buy some new wood to do the hallway to finish the project. We had managed to find a very close match that we were happy with, but held off on purchasing any until we knew exactly how much we were going to need. Well......exciting news......we had enough wood from my parents' old house to do the ENTIRE project!!! We are so happy about that! Not only did that save us money, but it is extra nice to know that the whole thing was done all with the wood from the house I grew up in.
Now it's on to the part of the project I have been dreading the entire time.....sanding the floor. Ugh! It's going to be a horrible, dusty mess to clean up after we do that. DH did go out and buy plastic sheeting to hang up to block off the other rooms to try to at least contain the majority of the mess, but sawdust is so fine it's still going to get everywhere (so even once the floor is sanded & refinished, the job will still not be done because then the cleaning will begin and I'm not going to even think of how long that's going to take!). *sigh* Oh, well, it will be so pretty when it's all done. DS & DD went down to spend the weekend at my parents' house so that they won't be trapped upstairs while we sand, stain, and the seal the floor. It's going to be a long process.
And just in case you think this will mean the end of the project.....think again! DH came home from the hardware store today with paint.....to paint the hallway! Because of course now that the kitchen/dining room is painted, the hallway looked dingy.....so it needs to be painted too! And we still have yet to replace the vinyl in the laundry room, 1/2 bath, and closet. Plus we still need to put in the tile flooring by the front door. Yep, looking like we might get finished by Christmas! (And for anyone wondering......I think I have lucked out.....neither my kitchen nor the rest of my house smells like spoiled milk so we must have gotten it cleaned up enough....yea!)