Floored

Last spring we looked at our schedule and decided that a few weeks at home would offer the time needed to lay the wood floor in our Dining Room.

So we ordered the floor, it arrived and we put the pieces in the front room to acclimate and wait.

Then our daughter called with the news that she needed to have back surgery AGAIN.

The flooring pieces continued to wait in the front room until a new window of time could open up.

Weeks and months passed, still the flooring pieces sat in the front room, welcoming our guests, waiting.

Then, we looked at the calendar and realized we had a few weeks together scheduled to be at home.

Wake up floor, it is time. 

It took a week to prepare the sub floor, we had to remove the carpet and secure the sub floor to be sure we did not have any squeaks.

Two weeks to cut and lay the floor boards.

A week to top nail, distress, sand and buff.. (a special thank you to my sons and home teachers for hammering those thousand nails and counter sinking them)

Hours and hours on our knees staining the floor, praying the stain would match the kitchen and landing floors that it would connect. (It matches)

Now to oil the floor, a few more hours on our knees.

We have been waiting 13 years to lay this floor and it is beautiful.

Heart pine.  Random width.  Hand sanded.

A sturdy floor to last decades.

As I look at the kitchen floor we laid 11 years ago I see so much history in the groves, scratches and wear.

The dining room floor is already telling it's own story of family and friends.

Our first celebration will be Thanksgiving.

This floor is a work of love.  Hours and hours over several weeks as my husband and I cut, nailed, sanded, stained and oiled.

Each new scratch over the decades to come will add to the beauty of the floor and record the activities of our every day life

The dining room is home to my grandmothers table, my husband's grandmothers chairs, and a pretty rug I bought with an inheritance from my Nana.

For Thanksgiving we will gather our children and grandchildren in the dining room, connecting the generations.

A humble floor.

A foundation to stand on.

A work of love.