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Slow and Steady Lays the Tile

March 24, 2014

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Befores, afters, mood boards, plans, failures, wins. We’ve done a lot of projects, and they’re all here. 

We have a long-standing relationship with DIY, and love rolling our sleeves up and making it happen. 

Even when you don’t want to rip down a wall, you can make that space in your home better. Right now.

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Y’all wanna know what I’ve been working on lately? Shhh… it’s a secret…

IMG_2042

Psyche. Not a secret. Everyone knows. Floors. Floors, floors, and more floors. As you can see from the above photo, Saturday we made serious progress in the great room. But, here’s how my daily schedule breaks down:

7am: Wake up, get ready for work
8am-5pm: Work
5pm-11pm: Work on the floors
11pm-midnight: Shower (I’m usually covered in mortar from head to toe) and get ready for bed
Midnight-7am: sleep

Rinse, repeat. This is, by far, the largest renovation project we’ve taken on. Logically, I know the floors will be done at some point (and that point is this Thursday, fingers crossed), but I just can’t imagine living not in the basement. I can’t imagine having a couch to sit on, a table to sit at, and time to spend doing things other than these floors. But! As exhausting as this project has been, I love knowing our subfloor is in better shape. I love knowing the leaks and mold we discovered along the way have been addressed. And I especially love seeing the way these floors are transforming this house. It’s the progress, slow as it may be, that keeps me motivated. And thank Heavens for the friends and family in town who have been eager and willing to help. There’s no way we would get this project done before the baby’s arrival without their help.

photo copy

Today, I’m going to finish laying all of the whole pieces. Tomorrow and Wednesday, I’ll spend making cuts and finishing all the spaces. Thursday, grout. Friday, lots of cleaning, and we’ll have our home back on Saturday. Once that’s all done, we’ll share a few more detailed posts on the process, and we’ll all get to admire the beautiful flooring together, with our furniture back in place. One more week. …one more week…

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What do you think?

  1. Wendy says:

    They are looking really great! But I think you may have convinced me that I really want to hire someone to do my tile work! What a project….

    • Chris says:

      Haha! Yeah, even though the point of what we’re doing is to, more or less, let people know they CAN do these things themselves, sometimes the outcome is more toward convincing them (and us) that hiring someone else isn’t so bad. :)

  2. Amelia @ House Pretty Blog says:

    They look fantastic so far…and luckily the thrill of those beautiful floors should last much, much longer than the pain of installing them (though I can understand if that’s hard to believe right now!). Keeping my fingers crossed that things go smoothly from here on out!

  3. Lisa says:

    Always feels never ending when you’re in the thick of it, doesn’t it? Gonna feel sooo good to be done and can’t wait to see. :)

  4. Haley says:

    This is looking great so far! Keep up the hard work!

  5. Jeanna says:

    You should feel proud of all that you’ve done! This time is stressful, but look at how far you’ve come………….. you can see the finish line!

    • Chris says:

      Right now I think I just have my head down and I’m focusing so much on what isn’t done yet. But you’re right, every so often (usually when I wake up and am just about to go to work) I look around the spaces we’ve done and think, “This is gonna be great.” :)

  6. Meagan Briggs says:

    You can do it!!!

    • Chris says:

      Tell Ryan I can save a couple hundred square feet for him when he’s up here. No need to spend time with family when you can fly across the country to lay countless tiles in someone else’s house.

  7. Sarah says:

    You can do it, Chris!! Sending positive thoughts from across the country!

  8. caroline [the diy nurse] says:

    You go tile warriors!!

  9. Kerri @ Building a Charmed Life says:

    Looks great! Can’t wait to see it finished! I honestly do not think I’d have the patience to do it!

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