New House Dreaming
A few weeks ago I went to a brand new store in the Philadelphia area, the mega flooring store, Floor & Decor. I went in search of wood flooring for the second floor of my house.
Right now all the rooms and hallway on the second level have wall-to-wall carpeting that is 22 years old. We have classic hardwood downstairs and want to add it upstairs for cohesiveness.
I was looking for the same color. It is a medium oak called Gunstock.
I considered going a tad bit darker and liked Autumn Oak Solid Hardwood. It is similar to the wide plank that is in Grace and Frankie’s (Netflix fame) beach house. It is timeless and never goes out of style.
Fast forward to this week and my wood flooring plans for my house have changed…DRASTICALLY!
If you have been following my blog for sometime then you know my husband Ed lost his job 6 years ago. He started a consulting business and is part of a mentor program helping students launch businesses at the University of PA now. That work led him to launch a second website, TheBlindGuide, which is focused on improving quality of life and employability of people who are blind or visually-impaired. He, like me, works online.
After our houseful of July 4th weekend guests left, Ed and I started to think and feel the same way about our life in our current home…feeling that it is time to move.
We have always wanted to live by the water and asked ourselves…“What are we waiting for” The time is perfect for us right now to make the change. We have nothing to keep us in our current home.
Our daughters are grown and out on their own in different states that are hours away. Our cat Mittens and dog Schnitzel have both passed away recently, Both Ed’s and my parents who lived nearby and needed our help for many years have also passed away in the past few years.
All of this, plus the fact that we don’t need the size house we have anymore has created the perfect time to put our dream in motion.
We are in no rush to move. It may happen in 3 months or 3 years, but we have started the process which brings me back to picking out flooring.
Since wood flooring can increase a home’s resale value, I am still considering it for the second floor, but on a more exciting front…
…I am now dreaming of what type of wood flooring I would want in a new house. I know I would want wood throughout. After living with hardwood floors for 22 years, I have grown very fond of not only the look, but the ease of care.
I have been looking at real estate listings of waterfront homes in the southeastern part of the United States all week. Homes on rivers and lakes. Lots of house dreaming going on in my mind.
House and Home
We can’t afford an oceanfront property or a spacious lake house like this. Living in a smaller home along a river or lake will suit us just fine. You can be sure that I will make it as close to something like this house as I can though. :-)
Our budget will require us to buy a fixer-upper, but that will give me lots of content to blog about. Most of the homes I have looked at need a lot of work and as I look from listing to listing my mind looks at each interior with ways it could be updated. The first thing that goes through my mind is to paint everything white and rip out all the flooring and replace it with hardwood. These two changes alone would make every listing I saw look so much better.
Yesterday I went back to Floor and Decor for another project I am working on for the mudroom and decided to look at a wider range of colors and types of wood flooring for the future waterfront home.
On this visit I took my time to look around and was wowed with the selection, prices, and the quantities of all the different types of flooring they had. The store is huge. It took me over an hour to walk through all 60,000-80,000 square feet.
They stock thousands of products that you can take home with you since they keep so much in stock: tile, wood, laminate, vinyl plank flooring, and even countertops (butcher block and granite) and bathroom sinks, as well as the supplies for installation of all these surfaces.
I came home with a few wood flooring samples. I love this one. It is called Montpellier Oak. I want the home we move into to be very open, airy, and casual. This flooring would be perfect. You can see it is quite different next to the Gunstock I have now.
I also liked Driftwood Lyptus. It looks like dark driftwood. I like the look of hand scraped wood where the pattern on each plank varies.
Brooke Wagner Designs
I also found that I liked the more refined dark wide planks of Coastal Maple. It looks like this floor. A bit upscale, but still could be casual.
So many beautiful and affordable choices. My decorating mind is filled with ideas. Now I just need the house. :-)
I will keep you updated on our road to moving. Right now I am looking at everything around my house with a stager’s eye, including my current mudroom makeover. We plan to take a road trip soon to start the new home search.
If you know of any river or lake front homes for sale in the southeastern states please let me know.
Be sure to follow me on Instagram where I will be sharing all things water front bargain hunt related.
This post is sponsored by Floor & Decor. Thank you so much for supporting the sponsors that make In My Own Style possible. All content and opinions are my own.