Hardwood Flooring in Kids' Room Completed - Finally!

We had another great Make Your Monday this week, folks! Thank you all so such for contributing a project! I'm extending the giveaway from Timeless Treasures until Thursday, so you still have time to put your name in the hat by leaving a comment about what item you especially like from the Timeless Treasures shop. I'll announce the winner on Thursday in my next entry. I hope you win a beautiful Timeless Treasure!

Slowly the girls' room is evolving. Back in 2006 when we were just beginning our kitchen remodel, we found ourselves in a pickle. The kids' bedroom carpet had to come up ASAP due to one of them having major allergy problems. The poor thing was having six allergy shots a week and we were desperate to do all we could to bring her some relief. So we ripped out all the carpet.


Though we had wood flooring on hand, we weren't ready to remodel their bedroom {and we still aren't} so we needed a "temporary" flooring solution to make the room livable until we could get around to the floor installation. I decided to paint the subfloor with durable porch paint...


And this was their bedroom for the last four years. As with most of our projects, "temporary" takes on a whole new meaning.


Last spring, we decided it was time to get the girls their own bed {their mattress needed to be replaced anyway}, and if you remember, they did not want new beds. They pleaded and begged and even asked if we could at least store their beloved old mattress in the attic. {"No."} So to make the transition a little easier, I bought new bedding, painted their room lavender, and spruced it up a bit for them.

More recently, however, I removed the flower accents from their floor {they were peeling in places} and this week Hubs fixed a warped area in the subflooring in preparation for finally laying the hardwood. This photo showing the plywood patch and the removed baseboards and cute floor flowers really is weird, isn't it? It's like a scene out of Alice in Wonderland - with a trap door.


On Friday while the kids were away on a weekend trip, we installed the new wood flooring. It took us about 8-10 hours, depending on if you count our "breaks" or not. Getting to the halfway point in any room where you're laying hardwood is a great excuse for a break, by the way.


After the flooring was laid, I was able to once again spruce up their room for a mini reveal upon the kids' arrival. We won't get to this rooms total remodel until next year, but we're planning then to repaint, add painted planks to the ceiling like what is in our kitchen, and install beadboard and chunky farmhouse style trimwork. Oh, and I want to add antique style headboards and a chandelier..I'm hoping to find what I need at the flea market or yard sales. And there are no curtains now, only cheap blinds... So keep that in mind when you view the rest of the photos below.

Keep in mind that this room will never look this clean ever again...

Also keep in mind that this room will never look this clean ever again, and that I had not yet moved all of the kids' "stuff" back in when these photos were taken. I thought I should tell you all this lest some of you think my kids are some kind of neat and orderly freaks of nature. {No offense to any of you out there with neat and orderly freaks of nature. I really do envy you!} Finally, keep in mind that the duvet covers are terribly wrinkled in these photos {as if you need this pointed out to you}. I was in no mood for ironing this past weekend and I just kind of threw the bedding together from the dryer to the bed, plus I didn't realize just how badly they were wrinkled until I began editing my photos. And one final finally, the beds are lumpy looking because of the down comforters...there is just no unlumping those - or at least I haven't figured out the secret!


The painted subfloor served it's purpose, but I'm so happy to finally have a good old fashioned wood floor for the kids to play on. I'm so happy to have a picture of this floor to look at because I may never see the actual floor ever again.


What I like about the floors finish is that it already looks like flooring you'd see in an old house.


So that was the new flooring tour. It's a very small room. But there are still a few things to share with you... For one, here's a tip: Use a bedspread for a dust ruffle! I had two matelasse bedspreads that worked great for the girls' beds. In the past, I've also used large chenille blankets, which are a great, cozy look for cold weather months.


The mirror that belongs to this dresser is currently hanging above our mantel, so I grabbed this red one to use instead. It's a bit different and unexpected with the lavender, but for a kids cottage style room, I like it! When I looked at these photos, I couldn't help but to think that maybe Kim of Daisy Cottage might have picked similar colors when she was a little girl:).




I bought this sweet dresser from Craigslist and she was in major need of a makeover. She's so lovely in white now, isn't she?






This cheerful little Kim Parker print I found at Goodwill a few months ago. Back in the day, we had a huge Kim Parker canvas in the living room, so when I saw this, naturally I was drawn to it.


Do you think it's strange to use dainty little saucers for wall decor in a kid's room? I wondered, but I really like the look. There is something so little girlish about tiny plates.



The same folks that built our kitchen table, island, and television cabinet built this book shelf {from old house parts}. I originally intended this for our bathroom to hold towels, etc., but c'est la vie.



Because children don't have a hard enough time reading a clock...






I hope you enjoyed this little spruce up. The mommy in me wants to feel bad that their room isn't bigger, that they have to share, that so much remains to be done in there and in the rest of the house, and that they have to live through - in slow motion - the same remodeling chaos that we do. But you know what's sweet?



Their telling me how much they looooove their room, how they can't stop looooking at it, that it's so beauuuuuutiful, "can you pleeeease send pictures to my teacher?"....and "we love the whoooooole house!".

That. That's what's sweet. It makes me feel much better knowing that they really do love their imperfect little room and their imperfect little house.

{And did I mention that they still sleep in the same bed?}