It's Bea-u-ti-ful!

This falls into the "Why Didn't I Do This Years Ago" category.  After lunch (and before room time) today, I ripped up the carpet in our hallway to reveal the original wood flooring.  Wow!  It looks GREAT!

Now, I ask, why, oh why, did I not do this a couple years ago, but instead lived with that nasty formerly-light-tan carpeting?  Well, truthfully, the answer is that, although we knew there were wood floors under the carpeting; we had no idea what type of condition the floor was in.

Much to my delight and surprise, not only was the wood in GREAT condition, it appears that it had been recently polyurethaned prior to having carpet laid over it.  The result, well, you'll see the result in a minute.

This project took all of 2 1/2 hours and was virtually free (well, except that I paid the kids to remove the staples out of the floor - cheap labor, you gotta love it).  All it cost me was a couple dollars and four band-aids (three for me and one for Nina).  Now, we will need to buy a couple transitional thresholds and probably some new polyurethane so that it matches the adjoining dining room, and that's about it!

Okay, now for some pictures...

Unfortunately I didn't take any before pictures,so you'll have to settle for the "somewhere at the beginning of the project" picture.

After my third injury, Evan stepped in to help me get the tack boards off from the perimeter.

Nina, Marcus & Emily got up ALL of the staples, and made a little money in the process.

And, taa daa, the finished product...

Now, I'm thinking we need new doors on the office...

it never ends....