Yep, my knee’s are a bit sore from the weekend. And my back. Oh, my hands and wrists too.

No, it’s not because I’m getting older. Has nothing to do with that. It’s everything to do with crawling on all fours; along with the get up and down. I’m so excited to have the new flooring in the basement done.

It was a chore. It took me a good chunk of Saturday and most of Sunday to get it all down. A neighbor friend came over near the end to help me move the freezer and wood stove up over the lip of the new floor so I could get under them. Here’s some pictures.

I’m going to paint the steps white on the risers and an interesting dark shade of gray on the steps. I think it will be a nice accent in there.

The hallway was the toughest part of Sunday. I ran the flooring all the way back into the closet. I hope I didn’t screw myself on that move. I don’t remember if I included the closet in the original estimate when I ordered the wood. I can get more if I need. I’ll still have the back bedroom to do in the basement. I’m going to tile the bathroom.

I was tempted at this point to be done for the day. But, I talked myself out of it.

My next steps?

I’m going to get the trim in. I still need to paint it all, then I’ll put it in. I also need to check to see if my nailer can do the longer trim nails. If so, that’ll make it go quick.

In the end, I’m pretty proud of the work here. Each step to the finish changes the energy of the place. I’m already starting to think ahead on how I’m going to begin work on the upstairs. But, I will force myself to wait until I am done with the trim and outlet covers down below. Otherwise, it might not get done.

Last weekend I was able to paint the walls. Deciding on colors is sometimes a challenge for me. In the past, when I was married I was always told what colors to go with. Back then I didn’t really care and it was good someone else made the decision. Today I care. It’s just me and the cat.

I have spent countless hours over the past many weeks looking at color samples in the neat brochures you can get at the paint stand. In those perfectly staged and lighted pictures, the colors look awesome. Once the walls were done, now I had to decide which color scene would translate over into my new space.

In deciding how I would apply the paint I also purchased a paint sprayer. This turned out to be a great investment because I am able to spray up a room in less time it takes to tape it all off properly. In that scene, I wanted to switch colors. Lesson learned here folks. Wait until the first color is dry before going on to the next one. Just a tip.

Back to my color choices.

I picked my colors. I’m ready to go. With the sprayer I’m able to pump through five gallons of white primer in now time since it needed to cover everything. I didn’t need to tape anything off at this stage except the windows and doors. Perfect. Now I’m excited because of how quickly the paint went up.

It’s color time.

I tape everything off. The ceiling. The accent wall. Go.

I paint.

I’m done.

I decide I’ll sleep on it before deciding the outcome. Maybe the lighting is off. It’s something.

The next morning I go down and look and it hit me. The color I picked made this giant family room look like a bathroom. Yep. I wasn’t happy with it.

I’m learning in this process if I don’t like something, I must stop and fix it before going on to the next phase. I don’t have to settle. I want the space to be a reflection of me and the things I like. The color I put up did not match that criteria. I didn’t love it.

I called over to Ace Hardware in Sandstone to order up a new color. I toned it down a bit and went with Louisburg Green. Some historical Benjamin Moore selection. Turns out, I like how the historical paint went up and covered over the bathroom blue very nicely.

Once I finished the new color I went back and touched up here and there. I then installed the lights. Those came out nicely.

Then I cleaned up. I’m pretty happy with the results.

What’s next? Well, I think I will go ahead and paint up the stairway a bit. Then I’ll feel better about laying the flooring. That’s the project I’m excited about next. Maybe this weekend I’ll get at it.

I’ve learned everything in renovations will happen in layers. You never know what you’ll find when you peel the layers back. Mold, leaks, rotting wood, dirt, dust, and all things in between. Things need to be repaired and cleaned up. I’ve written about those before.

The fun and excitement builds when you get to put those layers back. Especially when they are big layers. This past week the drywall went up. I hired this part out. It ended up being 37 sheets of drywall. Joe made it look easy getting it up and even easier with the taping and mudding. He did an excellent job and it was fun to watch.

Each step in putting things back together creates a different energy feel in the space. I’m excited to get on to the next step. Painting. After that, the new flooring goes in.