House updates for 2015

There were some big updates happening around the house this year that I wanted to share. One of the biggest changes we made was to our hardwood floors. We had them refinished in a darker color and it was such an amazing transformation. Here is a before picture so you can get an idea of the color we started out with. There was nothing wrong with them, we just felt a darker color would go better with our decor.

 

 

Here are a few of the swatches we were trying to decide between. The bare wood was so beautiful, for a minute I contemplated just sealing it, but we really wanted a darker color.

 

 

Here is a shot of the after without our furniture. The after was such a dramatic change.

 

 

A close-up shot of the hardwoods. I love how they are a dark brown, but you can still see all of the wood grain detail in the wood.

 

 

We also contemplated whether we would stain the stair railing or paint it white. In the end we decided to paint it and replace the carpet. Here is another before shot to refresh your memory.

 

 

It's a double staircase that meets at the landing and goes up to the second story.

 

 

Here they are getting painted with the carpet ripped out. I think at this point my husband would have picked whatever carpet could get installed the fastest, and Baxter would agree! Those carpet tacks do not feel good on the toes!

 

 

Here are the two patterns we narrowed it down to. One was more of a greek key pattern and the other was kind of a fresh take on a herringbone.

 

 

Here they are in all their finished glory! We went with the herringbone in the taupe colorway. We liked that it was a little more of a bold pattern. It also didn't hurt that it was about 1/3 of the cost. We figured that we could replace the carpet two more times if we had to and it would be around the same cost as the other one.

 

 

Baxter definitely approves!

 

I'll try and share some more pictures soon!