Checking off the list

It's been 7 years that we've been looking at the painted vinyl tile on our upstairs hallway floor. It was a grayish blue, the same grayish blue that was also painted on all the doors of the house, and even our living-room floor (ugh!) Most days we just walk over it, not even noticing. On other days, I cringe each time that horrific blue tile creaks under my foot. When we bought the flooring for Preston's room, we bought enough to cover the hallway floor as well. However, with Preston's room done and Steve back outside to work, the flooring for the hallway got put into the unfinished upstairs bathroom and forgotten (well, almost.) Now with family arriving in a week, we felt it was the perfect time to take on that project. I really should know better by now. We've not had one project in our house, thus far, that has been a quick and easy project. That's what you get when you buy a hundred year old house. When Steve tore up the old flooring, he found the framing from a previous stairwell opening that was covered by just a few uneven old boards . . . NOT EVEN NAILED DOWN. No wonder my foot squeaked with every step. It was a minefield of creaks, which made putting my little light sleeper to bed a challenge. But that is all going to change. Steve has been tirelessly working on the floor, making sure all the boards are nailed down tight, putting down a new sub-floor, and as I type this, starting in on the finished hardwood. I'm so excited to see the finished product. This January I made a list of goals we had for ourselves and for our house over the course of 2008. It is going to feel so good crossing one of those goals off the list. I'll be sure to post some photos of the finished floor (and of Preston's room, which I meant to do last spring.)