They are the Jasper handscraped birch in the texas brown finish. We bought them with our own money at $2.04/sq ft through Build Direct after receiving a recommendation from a reader about the online flooring site. We installed them ourselves in the great room {kitchen + family room}, hallway and all three bedrooms. We used an underlayment – also from Build Direct – that provides added insulation value, acoustic insulation and a moisture barrier.

The underlayment and engineered wood are installed on top of a concrete slab. {We have no crawl space or basement.} It is a floating floor but NOT a snap-and-click installation that you might expect. Each plank is glued to all of its neighbors. There’s a lot of glue and back-breaking time in the floor. If we had to do it all over again, I think we may have shelled out the extra cash to buy something with a similar aesthetic but an easier installation method. HOWEVER, if we had a subfloor instead of a concrete slab, we would use the Jasper birch again since we could easily nail it into the subfloor. That’s not to say we wouldn’t recommend using it on a concrete slab. Just know installation is going to take about 3x longer than the easier snap-and-click method. Consider yourself warned. Hehe.

It’s been nine months since the floors were installed. As far as aesthetics, we absolutely LOVE the wood floors. I’m a high contrast sort of gal so I like the dark wood with the white trim and light wall colors. In natural light they have more of a brown hue while under artificial light they take on a reddish tint. I like them both.

Everyone asks if they show dirt and dust. Yes, they do. But now that I’m no longer living with any carpet, I keep thinking about all the gross stuff that was clinging to the carpet in our previous homes that I never saw. I sweep up the kitchen with a broom daily. But I did that before with light vinyl in our previous kitchen. Then once or twice a week or whenever I can no longer stand it, I sweep up all the dust bunnies throughout the rest of the house. When I notice the floors looking dull, I bust out my Bona cleaner and soft mop to get them shining again. Super easy. {Btw, thanks to all of you who recommended Bona over Murphy’s oil. I love it!} That happens maybe once a month.

How are the floors holding up? Well, they’ve have seen a lot of traffic. We’ve had movers and a plumber with dollies in and out of the house, guests, kids running around and tons of things dropped on the floor.

Unfortunately, we also had a flood scare when the pump on our A/C failed and water leaked under the wood floors and they had to be put on life support.

Even with all that {!}, the floors have held up nicely. Are they in perfect condition? No. Like with any wood floor in a home with small kids, there are scratches, dents and dings. But I was expecting that. We adhere to the ‘no shoes in the house’ rule and we don’t have any house pets.

The handscraped texture does a good job of disguising the imperfections that do turn up. I keep a dark wood touch-up Sharpie handy for deeper scratches and dents that works wonders.

Probably the area of hardwood flooring that sees the most abuse is at the eat-in kitchen island. The boys routinely drop food, silverware and drinks here. It still looks great though.

The flooring in the hallway and entrance to our master bedroom was affected by the aforementioned water leak but it hasn’t warped, rippled or buckled.

Thank goodness! It could be that we acted quickly to dry out the floors and remedy the situation or it could be that the underlayment did its job {the water actually seeped under the underlayment} as a moisture barrier or it could be a combination of those two things. We’ve since had the restoration company back out to test for moisture and the wood floors are dry nearly two and a half months later. Yay! Now we can finally put the baseboards back on.

So, would I recommend the Jasper birch to others? Sure but with some stipulations:

*Birch is a softer wood so I wouldn’t recommend it for homes that have indoor pets with long claws/nails.

*A ‘no shoes in the house’ rule keeps the wood cleaner longer and you avoid scratches from small rocks caught in the soles of shoes. If you routinely wear high heels in the house or any other type of shoe that could easily dent up the wood, then I would suggest buying a harder wood.

*If you are installing on top of a concrete slab, please be aware that this flooring does NOT feature the snap-and-click method. If you’re installing on top of a subfloor, you’re good to go with a nail gun.

*For higher traffic areas, such as a mudroom, I’d suggest a more durable flooring.

*Use area rugs to protect the floor in busy areas: family room, kitchen, entry.

Basically, if you have a house full of cats and wear high heels all day at home then look for something else.

Do you have any other questions about our engineered hardwood floors?

images: Dana Miller for House*Tweaking

Of course, storing the unassembled cabinetry in an environment where the climate isn’t controlled {for example, a garage} is not recommended as the wood and MDF pieces could absorb moisture. That being said, once we got around to installation, we had no problem with any of the pieces being warped, bent or buckled. Whew.

Why did it take us so long to get around to installation? Well, we first had to remove interior walls, vault the ceiling, install skylights and French doors, upgrade the electrical {which included running electricity to the island for two outlets required by code}, run a new gas line {since we were changing the location of the range}, run a water line for the new fridge, improve insulation, hang drywall and paint. Handy Hubby started installing the kitchen cabinets in the midst of our DIY flooring install.

Typically, upper cabinetry is hung first then base cabinets are installed. This makes it easier to hold upper cabinets in place while they’re being installed. However, we chose to assemble and install the base cabinets first because we wanted to finish the flooring install around the base cabinets and under the appliances {i.e. refrigerator, dishwasher, range}. Plus, HH predicted the upper cabinets wouldn’t be that difficult to install over set base cabinets because IKEA uses a rail system to hang upper cabinetry.

HH started with the island. He built a wood base from treated 2×4′s for the three base cabinets that make up the island. The base is secured to the concrete slab. We decided to run the flooring right up to  - but not underneath – the island and base cabinets since the floating engineered hardwoods could shift over time due to temperature and moisture changes. Shifting of the floor under cabinets could cause the cabinets to shift as well and we didn’t want that.

Once the three base cabinets of the island were assembled and installed, HH set to work on the rest of the base cabinets. He set up shop in the adjacent living room assembling cabinet-by-cabinet. Here would be a good place to note that HH said the frames were simple enough for one person to assemble alone. Once he made a few, the process was quite self-explanatory although he would flip through the IKEA instructions for each cabinet to check for any different steps. HH glued the joints and used clamps to hold them which he later admitted was probably overkill. But, he’s an engineer, so overkill is a normal part of any project.

To make the task of leveling the perimeter base cabinets as easy as possible, HH secured level 1×3′s near the bottom of the kitchen walls for the backs of the cabinets to rest on. That way, once a cabinet was in place, all HH had to do was tweak the front two legs of the cabinet to get it level since the back would already be level. {IKEA base cabinets come standard with legs that twist up and down.}

With the base cabinets in place, HH finished the flooring install then turned his attention to the upper cabinetry. Using the coordinating suspension rail, he was able to assemble {in the same way as the base cabinets} and hang the wall cabinets single-handedly.

HH LOVED the rail system. Usually, the task of installing wall cabinetry requires two people but, with the rails, HH alone could hang an assembled wall cabinet, slide it into place, then attach it to the wall and/or neighboring cabinet. The rails were also why he had no problem hanging the upper cabinetry above already installed base cabinets. There was no need for someone to stand directly below the wall cabinet.

After all of the cabinets were installed, HH built the drawers and added them along with the door fronts. Of note: We were shorted one drawer in our order but since we had signed off on the delivery and it had been nearly six months since we bought our kitchen, we just spent the $40 to buy another drawer instead of messing with customer service. He was especially happy with the hinge hardware for the upper cabinets. They have a snap-on function that allows you to add/remove the doors without screws. Again, this was a great feature that allowed HH to hang the cabinets single-handedly. The snap-on hinges also allow you to easily remove the doors for cleaning – or for showing off your fancy hinges which is the only thing we’ve used them for so far.

The only thing left to do was add black-brown plinth to the naked sides of some base cabinets {the cabinet frames are white even if installing the black-brown fronts} and around the base legs. Installing plinth around the legs isn’t essential. In fact, forgoing this step would lend a freestanding look. The only ‘legs’ showing in our kitchen are the range legs and bottom of the refrigerator. The plinth around the legs pops on and off for easy access under the base cabinets.

Several readers have asked about reinforcing the base cabinets for granite countertop installation. {HH installed the island’s walnut countertop and we had a professional stone company install the granite.} The only additional support we added were: 1) custom cut plinth between the dishwasher and range {above} since neither of these appliances actually support countertop material 2) 1×3 support along the wall where the open desk is 3) corbels for the island countertop overhang.

Your IKEA kitchen specialist can help you determine if/what additional support is necessary for heavier countertop materials. After all, many of the display kitchens use solid surface countertops including granite. So, it is possible.

If you’ll be installing an IKEA kitchen yourself, here are a few things to keep in mind:

*Double, heck, triple check your order before you take it home/upon delivery.

*A level wood support near the bottom of the walls makes leveling base cabinets a cinch.

*The suspension rail system and snap-on hinges make one-person wall cabinet installation possible.

*Check with an IKEA kitchen specialist to see if additional countertop support is needed.

IKEA also offers professional installation services if DIY isn’t your thing.

We’ve been living with our IKEA kitchen for about two months now and even with all the unforeseen issues {IKEA server being down during the design phase, items on backorder, missing drawer, etc.}, we would do it over again. I’ll be writing up a review of our kitchen cabinets next week that will hit on the pros and cons of living with them. All in all, we love them.

Click here to see who won the Jilly Bean Craft giveaway! Even if you didn’t win, Jill is offering an exclusive 25% off discount to H*T readers now through Sunday, July 22nd. Use the code HTB25 at checkout.

images: 1-5 & 8-9) Dana Miller for House*Tweaking 6 & 7) IKEA

Ever since I came across this crazy good kitchen remodel a few years ago, I’ve been thinking about horizontal pulls on upper cabinetry. They definitely make for a streamlined look as opposed to a bunch of knobs. There’s something about the vertical lines of the cabinetry mixed with the horizontal lines of the hardware that provide an aesthetically appealing contrast. They seem pretty practical, too. But maybe that’s because I’m on the shorter side {5’4″ on a good day}, so reaching up and opening a cabinet via a horizontal pull feels more natural than the same action via a vertical pull.

Whatever the reason for my obsession over the placement of cabinet hardware, I saved the two images above in my kitchen inspiration folder noting ‘horizontal hardware?’ It should come as no surprise that when it came time to install hardware onto our own kitchen cabinets I suggested to Handy Hubby the idea of placing pulls horizontally on the upper cabinets. After seeing the simplicity of them {HH has a more modern aesthetic than me}, he was game.

We went with the VÄRDE handles from IKEA and chose not to use the rosettes.

Using a drill template that we had leftover from hardware installation in our previous home, HH added the handles to the cabinets. {Never mind the photo styling. It’s what I like to call ‘we just moved in 5 days ago and are still emptying box contents wherever.’ And the bar stool goes to the island. I haven’t found one for the desk area yet.}

Like my inspiration pics, we installed them horizontally on the upper cabinetry centered at the bottom of each door.

They have a good weight to them and feel nice in your hand when you open and close the doors.

Leaving the rosettes off gives a cleaner look.

More of the same on the other side of the kitchen. Unlike my inspiration pics, we didn’t do only horizontal placement on the lower cabinets. We kind of just went one-by-one pretend opening the drawers and cabinets and placing the handles the way that felt most natural to us. Basically, all the lower cabinet doors {except for the dishwasher panel and trash pull-out} got vertical handles and the drawers got horizontal ones.

It’s nice opening the drawers and doors via actual hardware instead of strips of masking tape…which is what we were doing. Little by little, it’s coming together.

images: 1) Cottage Living  2) flickr  3) IKEA  4-8 ) Dana Miller for House*Tweaking

After posting progress pics of the kitchen a few weeks ago, some questions popped up. First, there was concern that the hood appeared to be too high.

Handy Hubby installed the exhaust hood according to the directions which advised placing the hood 30″ – 36″ above the cooktop.

Ours is 31″ from the cooktop so we’re actually on the lower end of the recommended range. There are several reasons as to why the hood may seem higher in pictures. First off, the height of the ceiling where the hood’s chimney dead-ends is 9′. That’s because we opened up the original 8′ ceiling and vaulted it. Where the sloped ceiling meets the wall is 9′. That extra foot of headroom might be extending the height of the hood visually.

Another reason the hood may look so disconnected from the stovetop is because there’s nothing but empty space separating them at the moment. The control dials on the range are located at the front, just above the oven door, so there’s no control panel on the back that sticks up. It makes for a clean line horizontally but might be why the hood feels oh-so-far-away. Ideally, I’d like to add a backsplash {not sure what type of material} and/or a shelf above the stove. Both of them would help to bridge the stove-to-hood gap. Upper cabinets placed on either side of the hood could also give the hood a cozier height visually but they aren’t in our kitchen plans.

One other thing…many of the newer exhaust hoods are efficient enough that they can be placed further from the cooktop than older models.

HH and I didn’t really notice the hood feeling too high. HH likes the fact that he can stand at the stove and easily see the burners without dipping his head under the hood. Hopefully, our plans to add a backsplash/shelving above the stove will keep the open space from feeling like a tundra.

There were also some questions regarding the fridge. Many of you wanted to know our reasoning for choosing a side-by-side model. We chose the side-by-side for several reasons:

1) We had one at our previous house and liked it.

2) We have friends who have a French door/bottom freezer drawer and they hate it. We usually like/dislike the same things so we figured we wouldn’t like it either.

3) We like having the water and ice dispenser on the outside of the door so our kids can fill their cups on their own.

4) We don’t have a need for storing large platters {i.e. we’re not caterers or bakers} in the fridge, so the narrower fridge space is just fine with us.

5) We wanted a counter-depth fridge and IKEA only offers them in side-by-side models. {We purchased our entire kitchen from IKEA during one of their 20% off sales…if you buy three kitchen appliances, you get 20% off your entire kitchen order. We bought our fridge, dishwasher, range and hood from IKEA.}

The side-by-side should serve us {and HH’s Yuengling!} well. I totally understand that some people prefer other types of fridges though.

What about you? What’s above your stove?…a microwave?…a patterned backsplash?…a custom hood? Are you like us and prefer a side-by-side fridge? Or are you a French door fridge lover?

FYI – We’re making progress in the mudroom/dining room/laundry nook! Catch a sneak peek two images up and in the image below.

images: Dana Miller for House*Tweaking

The Underdog’s original 1950′s master bathroom had an elephant color scheme going on – flesh pink and gray. Some of the shower tiles were fractured allowing water to seep into the wall. To keep costs down, we kept the layout of the room the same, kept the shower window placement and reused the toilet which may have been the only thing ever upgraded by the previous owner.

We gutted the room to the studs, had the electric upgraded {as well as throughout the rest of the home} to today’s standards and replaced all finishes and fixtures {minus the toilet as mentioned above} which included a new vinyl window.

From a renovation standpoint, we’re saying this room is D-O-N-E.

I spent all day Saturday scrubbing the bathroom clean. It was a 38-week-pregnant lady’s nesting dream! I used my favorite Mrs. Meyer’s all purpose cleaner mixed with water in a spray bottle to remove chunks of stray grout and drywall mud throughout the bathroom. It worked like a charm. Plus, it smells delightful and isn’t harmful to me or baby. It may have taken me longer than usual considering my condition but it felt so good to get at least one – albeit small – room in order at the Underdog.

We now have a proper place to use the bathroom and wash our hands. Before, my guys would ‘go’ in the backyard and we had to wash our hands with a dirty bar of soap at the outdoor spigot. We’re movin’ up!

Let’s take a tour, shall we? Starting with the shower…

We replaced the window, tub, shower fixtures and tile surround. We took the shower tile all the way to the ceiling to make it feel taller and airier. If you look back to the ‘before’ pics, you’ll see that the original shower tile only went about two-thirds of the way up the walls.

The new vinyl window has texture on the inside of the pane {you can’t feel it from the shower side of the glass…it’s in between the double panes} for privacy.

Here’s the view to the backyard from the window when it’s open. Yeah, the backyard could use some love. We’ll get there.

Back inside, we replaced the shower and tub fixtures.

We replaced the old gray tub with a deeper, sleeker white one.

My favorite feature of the tub is the one-click drain stopper. You can easily open and close the drain with a tap of your toes. This is high society stuff for us, people!

The shower tile sparkles like glitter and reflects the natural light pouring in from the window.

Contrary to popular belief, it wasn’t difficult to clean at all. The textured surface doesn’t have grooves and crevices deep enough to hold tons of grime. I just used a microfiber cloth to wipe it down.

Moving right along from the shower/tub to the toilet…

There’s nothing special about this toilet. It’s the one that came with the house. All it needed was a good scrub-down.

HH removed it for the floor install and carried it out to the front yard so I could hose it down. Now, wasn’t that a sight?! An obviously very pregnant gal bent over a dirty toilet in the front yard! I’m pretty sure I scared some neighbors and passerby. I did have to resort to some Comet with bleach to get this bad boy looking like new. But I was outside and wore cleaning gloves to avoid harmful chemicals.

She shined up pretty nice if I do say so myself.

Enough of the commode. Let’s have a peek at the vanity area.

I like a little contrast in every room, so here I chose a glossy medium gray vanity. This portion of the bathroom is highly visible from the master bedroom, so I tried to keep the distinctive bathroom features {vanity, sink, faucet, mirror and light} from feeling too bathroom-y…if that makes any sense.

The vanity isn’t huge by any means but it’s simple and practical. The floating design keeps the room feeling light and makes cleaning underneath a breeze.

There are two deep drawers for hiding toiletries.

The faucet is simple too.

It doesn’t look like much but it puts out a steady flow of water without splashing outside the sink.

Above the vanity, I chose a round teak mirror to add some warmth and curves to the shiny, rectangular bathroom.

Just above the mirror is a galvanized wall sconce. I like the touch of industrialism it brings to the room.

I should probably switch out the lightbulb for a clear one but we’re just happy to have a light at this point!

I like the light just as much on. It really warms up the wood mirror and wall color.

At night and in the early morning hours, this is what the bathroom may look like under artificial light…

Onto the penny tile floor…

While the shower got standard white grout, I chose a sandy gray grout for the floor in the hopes of it hiding dirt a little better. The penny tiles give such a great texture to the bathroom. They’re almost like scales on a lizard.

It feels good under bare feet. If you have a keen eye, you may have noticed the new baseboards in all these after pics.

HH and I decided to go with a thick, high trim throughout the house. The higher trim has more presence and actually makes the walls feel taller somehow – which we weren’t expecting. It’s more noticeable in larger rooms. Hopefully, I’ll post some pics of those rooms this week!

As soon as the bathroom was clean, I took a break to enjoy the fruits of my labor.

I could live in this bathroom and be very happy. Okay, maybe I’d need a little more than a bathroom. But still. I love this bathroom.

Like I said, from a renovation standpoint, this room is done-zo. From a design standpoint, it still needs some work. Here’s what’s left to do:

• touch up the walls and trim
• hang shower curtain
• add towel hooks
• find a spot for toilet paper roll
• add hanging storage to the back of the door
• uh, hang the door!
• organize the vanity drawers
• accessorize

So, I have my tweaking cut out for me. Should be fun! Since I know I’ll get questions, here’s a source list:

• tub – Kohler Archer
• tub drain – Kohler Archer
• tub & shower fixtures – Kohler Archer
• shower tile – Capua Blanco*
• toilet – reused, Kohler
• vanity – GODMORGAN
• sink – ODENSVIK
• faucet – DALSKÄR
• mirror – Home Emporium
• wall sconce – Barn Light Austin Sconce*
• floor tile – Penny Round Moss*
• wall paint – Benjamin Moore Tapestry Beige
• trim paint – Benjamin Moore White Dove

*Denotes items that were kindly donated to us by the companies linked to above. We were not forced to include certain products. While we were permitted to choose items in exchange for photos and links, we only used items that we would have chosen to purchase with our own money. That means the items you see are ones that meet our aesthetic, budget and level of quality.

And because I know there are a few of you who could care less about the bathroom and just wanna know “Is that baby here yet?!”…

Nope. Even after a very physical weekend full of intense cleaning, baby hasn’t made his/her appearance yet. I know he/she will come when they’re ready but I’m this close to crying ‘uncle!’

images: all Dana Miller for House*Tweaking

Notice anything different?

What’s that? You say there’s some sweet penny tile in the master bathroom where a dirty old concrete slab used to be the only floor? You’re so smart. So observant. So right.

Handy Hubby worked all weekend to install the penny tile then grout the shower and floor in the bathroom. To show my gratitude, I washed his work jeans afterwards. HH said his jeans could stand on their own after all the thinset and grout had dried on them over two weekends of tiling.

If you’re an avid home decor/DIY blog reader, then you probably already saw John & Sherry over at Young House Love install the same penny round tile in their kitchen as a backsplash. Which turned out fabulous, btw. We actually chose the moss penny tile last summer before we knew John & Sherry were thinking of using it in their kitchen. Great stylish minds think alike ;)

Yes, I feel close enough to YHL to refer to its authors on a first name basis. They make it pretty easy. I’ve been following them since their This Young House days…before This Old House sicked their money-hungry lawyer dawgs on them and all but forced them to change their blog name. I’m still angry about that. Glad to see J&S have moved on. {Oh yeah, now I’m feeling friendly enough to call them ‘J&S’.} They featured our previous mini-mudroom and DIY stencils as Reader Redesigns a while back and I still chat with them via email every once in a while. Fun stuff! They’re such an inspiration.

But anyways, they beat us to installing the penny tile. Which is why they make a modest living blogging. Those two are non-stop, I tell you! So much energy. So much motivation. So little sleep.

HH took their tips to heart and put them to use while he cut, set and grouted the penny tile. The tips he found most helpful were to use painter’s tape to mark off the cuts on the penny tile and to use a thin layer of thinset spread with a small trowel. {Thinset tends to squeeze up through the spaces in between the penny tiles and can be a b!#$h to clean up before grouting so it’s best to avoid using more than necessary.} The Tile Shop and YHL both recommended laying the sheets in a brick pattern to help avoid visible seams from one sheet to the next. HH followed that tip as well.

I love the penny tile as a floor tile. I can’t wait to see how it feels on my bare feet. Until then, my boots aren’t complaining.

I may have to start cheating on the shimmery shower tile. The penny rounds are pretty hot. What’s a girl to do? Both. I will do both. And there will be no emotions involved. They will be two totally separate, purely physical relationships. I promise. Sounds like the beginning of a healthy, long-term commitment, no? Ha! Can you sense the third trimester pregnancy hormones kicking in?

HH also finished up the trim along the shower’s edge. If you’ll recall, we had a problem with our new tub being a smidge shorter than the width of the bathroom, so HH built out one wall with a double layer of backerboard to suffice. {A smart, lovely reader has since mentioned installing drywall flush with the backerboard but seeing as how our drywall was already installed, mudded and painted, we decided to make do.}

Our idea was to use pencil edging along the transition to drywall but when I mentioned our situation to the peeps at The Tile Shop, they recommended we use the bullnose version of the shower tile {the same version we used in the shower windowsill}, turn it 90° and cut it to the depth needed. They were concerned that a pencil trim would look too different from the shower tile. The color, texture and sheen would be different since a pencil edge trim isn’t available in the Capua Blanco. So, that’s exactly what HH did. Even though it took longer and required more measuring/cuts than pencil edging, it worked great!

The shower tile is a little hazy from grouting. HH plans to use some grout haze remover to remedy that. If the tile isn’t looking as shimmery as you remember, that’s why. Oh, and in case you’re wondering, we used unsanded standard white grout for the shower tile and sanded mobe pearl grout for the penny floor tile. They were the grout colors used on the in-store samples of both tiles and we liked them so it was easy to choose.

After haze removal comes sealing and caulking. Then our master bathroom will be ready for baseboards, toilet {we’re reusing the original one} and fixtures. I can hardly believe we’re this close.

For fun, I took some pics of the bathroom progress in artificial light too – just to see how it might look at night. The light from the sconce {above the future sink} and can light {above the shower/tub} warms up the wall color and tile a bit. So cozy!

HH also installed a threshold between the master bedroom and bathroom. I wanted a wood one for a seamless transition. We bought the molding accessory from Build Direct to match the engineered hardwood.

A ‘before/progress’ side-by-side for comparison…

Forget our bed that will someday be in the adjacent master bedroom. I’m sprawling out on that penny tile. I’m only half kidding.

FYI – The Tile Shop provided us with materials for our master bathroom tiling project. However all designs, product selections, DIY installations and project photos are of our own doing.

images: Dana Miller for House*Tweaking

With all of the kitchen base cabinets installed, Handy Hubby was able to knock out the rest of the hardwood flooring! If you’ll remember, a few short weeks ago this is what the kitchen looked like…

HH researched the installation of a floating engineered hardwood floor and found that it was recommended to install any kitchen base cabinets prior to installing flooring. From what I understand, since the base cabinets are attached to the wall laying a floating wood floor beneath them could cause problems down the road when the floor expands and contracts. It could result in shifting of the cabinets and damage to the walls. {This isn’t the case with a nailed down wood floor since in essence it’s not a floating floor.}

As much as we were aching for the hardwoods to be done already, we weren’t willing to chance screwing up the kitchen cabinets and walls due to expansion/contraction in the future. So, the flooring install was put on hold while HH assembled and installed the base cabinetry in the kitchen. We chose not to worry about the few upper cabinets since their installation wasn’t necessary for the completion of the flooring. {For more details on our kitchen layout, click here.} Normally, it’s much easier to install upper cabinets first then move on to lower cabinets but IKEA has a nifty rail system on which the upper cabinets are installed so we figured installing the lower cabinets first wouldn’t pose a problem. I’ll let you know how that pans out.

We also opted to forgo the drawers and doors until the flooring was complete.

HH assembled and installed all the base cabinets himself…in between numerous business trips. {That’s why it’s taken me so long to get you some after shots.} In talking to him, he found the process to be relatively easy. But you have to remember he’s comparing this project to tearing down walls, vaulting the ceiling, upgrading the HVAC system, etc. AND he’s an engineer so his evaluation of the situation might be a little skewed. I’m sorry I don’t have detailed in progress shots of the cabinet install…HH doesn’t think of that stuff when he’s DIYing and my bed rest has necessitated my absence from the Underdog. But once HH is back from his most recent work trip {tomorrow!}, I plan on sitting down with him and getting all the details to share with you and maybe even trying to capture a few close-ups so you can see how he attached the cabinets to the walls and installed the kitchen island.

For now though, here are the latest pics I snapped a few days ago when I was feeling pretty good. They should give you a better idea of the kitchen layout.

The view from the front door…

I love that you can see all the way through the house to the backyard upon entrance into the Underdog. A window used to live where those French doors are. HH and I debated back and forth between replacing the original window with a set of doors or not. We knew we’d love the doors but hadn’t planned on putting them in right away. We’re both so happy we bit the bullet and went ahead with the French doors. No regrets one bit. At some point, I’ll paint the doors. I haven’t decided what color…black?…gray?…red? Who knows what hue they’ll end up!

Just to the right of the French doors you’ll see two base cabinets. With a continuous length of countertop connecting the two cabinets, this area will eventually become a desk area. There will be a few shallower upper cabinets for added storage. I see this space being used for making grocery lists, sorting mail, paying bills, filing paperwork, blogging, etc. Organization will be key. I can’t wait for everything to have a place!

If you do a 180° and look the other way across the kitchen, this is what you’ll see…

Our kitchen is pretty wide {~25′} but not very deep. It has a galley feel to it but instead of two parallel walls closing it in, we removed one of the walls and added an island in its place to open things up. There’s a nice, wide walkway between the island and cabinets along the wall to make for easy maneuvering.

Moving across the kitchen right to left {sorry, I’m left-handed so I tend to do things bass-ackwards} from the French doors…

The hood will be centered between the sink window and French doors. We thought it’d make a better focal point than the fridge. This did require us to have a gas line installed at the new stove placement. {The fridge will live where the stove used to.} To the left of the stove is the dishwasher then the sink. Have I mentioned that I’ve been hand washing our dishes for the past six months? The apartment’s dishwasher works as if someone is spitting water onto your dishes…dirty water. I used it once and vowed not to touch it ever again. I look forward to the day I can throw our dishes into a fully functioning dishwasher!

The far left side of the kitchen will house the fridge. This was the original placement of the stove but, like I said, we chose to move it, move it. Not only does this keep our fridge from being the center of attention, but it moves it closer to the garage entrance which should make putting away groceries a cinch. A few shallower upper cabinets will go along this wall as well. One will hold our microwave {which we haven’t purchased yet} and a deeper storage cabinet will top off the fridge.

The hole in the wall in the upper corner is wiring for above cabinet lighting. The uppers on the other {right} side of the kitchen will get above cabinet illumination too. That was another one of our electrician’s ideas that we hadn’t given much thought to until he mentioned it, but I think it will be a great investment and make for some lovely ambiance at night.

Looking back towards the desk area from the fridge…

That concludes a little walk through our preliminary kitchen. Let’s get back to that flooring.

After all the measuring, bending, cutting, squatting, and gluing and gluing and gluing, we LOVE this floor! Sure, it could use a good scrub but we’ve deemed it worthy of all the hard work it took to DIY the install. With that one set of black drawers installed on the island, you can get a good feel for how the black base cabinets will look next to the floor. I like the way the black in the cabinets draws out the darker grain in the floor. But I also like that there’s enough contrast between the brown floor and black cabinets that they feel separate. A darker floor would have been too dark. {With the white cabinet frames, you can see how the hardwood could work nicely in a white kitchen too – in case you were wondering.}

With the island and base cabinets in, HH finished up the rest of the flooring just last weekend {on one of the two days he was home in between work trips}. He floored right up to the island…

…and base cabinets…

The island and base cabinets will get a toe kick treatment with black plinth that matches the cabinetry. It will hide the island’s framed base and the lower cabinets’ undercarriage. There was no need to floor all the way under the cabinets. HH cut notches in the flooring for the legs of the cabinets.

By contrast, HH installed the wood floor underneath all appliances.

This is due to the fact that the appliances – while hooked up at the walls – are not ATTACHED to the walls. Their freestanding properties, unlike the screwed in cabinets, give them more wiggle room for any expansion and contraction that may occur with the flooring later on. Again, this is the case for us because we installed a floating engineered hardwood floor onto a concrete slab. If you are nailing down your wood floor onto a subfloor {lucky dog you!}, then there shouldn’t be a problem installing the flooring underneath base cabinets if you choose to do so.

Luckily, our major appliances {fridge, dishwasher, stove} have adjustable feet so that we can keep them level with the cabinets when it comes time to install countertops. HH did take the heights of the appliances into consideration when installing the cabinets, so everything should be flush. Unlike custom cabinetry, IKEA cabinets have adjustable feet on them so you can finagle their height to your requirements as needed. Or you can always build a base using 2×4′s…similar to what HH did for the island.

For fun, let’s take one last look at the flooring done-zo. Well, minus trim, baseboards, thresholds and a good cleaning.

Not too bad considering she once looked like this…

Ack!

Next up? The master bathroom. We’re sort of jumping trains and moving away from the kitchen for a little while. We’d like to get one bathroom completed before finishing up the kitchen, so that’s where we’re headed next. Tiling here we come! Although it doesn’t look like I’ll be doing much tiling. I have strict orders to take it easy for two more weeks at least. I haven’t quite figured out how to ‘take it easy’ with two busy-body kids, a traveling hubby and a house under renovation but I’m doing my best. So far, so good. Baby is still cookin’.

I mentioned above that HH was home for 2 days in between work trips this past weekend. You saw what he did one of those days and the other day he was home we were doing this…

…celebrating our older son’s 7th birthday! My dad graciously let us take over his house for a low key, laid-back family party. We couldn’t fit everyone into our teeny apartment. For some reason, this birthday was a real stinger to me. I can’t believe Layne is 7. He’s so grown up! He wouldn’t let me decorate – not that I could have gone all out anyways with the whole bed rest thing. He even turned down balloons saying, ‘uh, Mom, balloons are kinda babyish.’ Everyone kept commenting on how mellow and quiet he was, too. But that’s just Layne. He’s not one to want to be the center of attention.

His brother and my sister have that covered.

Two peas in a pod, I tell ya.

Happy weekend!

**Congrats to Katie whose lil’ guy replies, “I wuv you awww da way to da dirt!” every time his Dad says, “I love you all the way to the moon!” Also congrats to Becky who, ironically, loves her sweetie more than sweets. Katie and Becky are the winners of the Signs by Andrea giveaway.**

images: all Dana Miller for House*Tweaking

But today I have a quick flooring update. HH finished up the bedrooms last weekend! As tedious as this flooring install has been, we both like the floor more and more each time we see it so it’s definitely worth it. The flooring is dirty, the wintry Ohio day makes our yet-to-be electrified Underdog feel dreary, and no baseboards or register covers are installed but hopefully you get the idea. {We have electric turned on in the garage for project usage but have yet to turn on electric to the interior until all switches are installed and outlets are properly covered and safe for kiddos.}

{HH and Everett taking a break to play Toss the Painter’s Tape Ball – we have to get creative with playtime at the Underdog!}

The only hardwood left to install is on the kitchen side of the great room. HH did a bunch of research and decided it’d be best to install our base cabinets and island in the kitchen first then install the flooring around it. Apparently, issues can arise when securing base cabinets to a floating wood floor so we’ll be installing the floor around the base cabinets to avoid expansion/contraction problems. Hardwood will run under the refrigerator, dishwasher and gas stove/oven. At first thought, we were banking on finishing the master bathroom before the kitchen but we’ve decided to install all the lower kitchen cabinets and island first so we can officially complete the flooring. Then we’ll move onto the bathroom. In fact, HH has already started assembling the island cabinets!

Can you tell we’re trying to prioritize what things need to be completed in order for us to move in? I’ve said all I need is one bathroom, a refrigerator and a microwave. HH says we need a full kitchen. We’ll see what happens.

I’m so happy that the engineered hardwood extends into all of our closets {except for the mechanical room}. It definitely makes our small living space feel more cohesive.

This is the view from the kid/guest bathroom looking into the hallway…

There’s a small linen closet off to the left. Back down the hallway…

The nursery…

I mentioned before that I plan to use fabric panels instead of doors on all the bedroom closets. I love that the hardwood extends into the bedroom closets so when the fabric ‘doors’ are pulled open the closet will feel like a part of the room.

Keeping the flooring in the bedrooms consistent with the hallway makes for a continuous view across the hall. I have a thing for room-to-room views. The view from the nursery looking into the master…

The boys’ bedroom…{HH was finishing up the last row when I took this picture}

The master bedroom…

View from the master bathroom…

View into the master bathroom…

And some more room-to-room views to show how keeping the flooring consistent throughout helps with the flow of the small house. Looking into the boys’ bedroom from the master…

Looking into the nursery from the master…

Back down the hall towards the great room…

Finally, a few close-ups…

Someone asked why we chose the handscraped hardwood. Personally, we like the wide plank, beveled edge and slightly textured surface. We like the look and we like that it’ll patina well from all the dings and dents that our family is sure to give it over the years. A smoother, shinier surface would show every mark. Although we have a ‘no shoe’ policy in our house, I’m not going to be a stickler about any scratches or dings that occur. Those are just signs of life.

I grew up in a home with some solid hardwood floors and nearly 20 years later my dad has yet to have them refinished. I think the wear and tear gives them character. Imperfect perfection if you ask me.

That’s the latest and greatest at the Underdog. Once all the flooring is installed I’ll write up a post on how we DIY’d it.

HH gets back from a business trip to Las Vegas today. The boys want to have a ‘welcome home’ party for him. Cake and balloons are a must. HH will be home for the weekend working on putting together more of the base cabinets in the kitchen. I have to work at the pharmacy Saturday but hope to lend HH a hand on Sunday. Maybe I’ll have some preliminary kitchen cabinet shots to share with you next week!

Happy weekend!

images: Dana Miller for House*Tweaking

First, let’s start with the underlayment and flooring we’re using. We purchased both the underlayment and engineered hardwood flooring from Build Direct. Everything arrived on time and undamaged. We’re actually quite happy with that part of the whole flooring thing.

The underlayment is 3 in 1 Sound Choice Acoustical Underlayment. As the name suggests, it provides acoustical insulation along with a moisture barrier. Both of these characteristics are necessary for our Underdog as we’re installing the flooring in a room with vaulted ceilings {echoes, hello…hello…hello} and onto a concrete slab. It has a lifetime warranty and is made from recycled materials. We paid $0.49/sq ft for the underlayment.

The engineered hardwood flooring is Jasper Handscraped Birch in Texas Brown. It’s recommended for residential use above or below grade and has a 25-year warranty. It can be glued, floated, nailed and/or stapled during installation. We chose it for its ability to be placed on a concrete slab, its aesthetic {5″ width, handscraped, color and grain} and the price. We scored it for $2.04/ sq ft.

Once the underlayment and flooring were delivered, we stored them both in the Underdog’s garage – against the manufacturer’s suggestion and our better judgment – but we really had no other choice as the Underdog’s interior was a disaster zone. If you ever choose to purchase hardwoods, you shouldn’t store the flooring in a garage or basement due to high levels of moisture that can cause the wood to warp. We did keep the stack of boxes up off the floor with a skid and brought the flooring inside the house to acclimate once the house was in working order…about a week before we started installing the floors.

Handy Hubby laid the underlayment which was a piece of cake. Basically, you just cut it to size and tape all seams. The big thing here to remember is that your subfloor {in our case, the concrete slab} is clean, dry and free of debris. We scraped, vacuumed and mopped the slab in preparation for the underlayment.

Once the underlayment was down, it reminded me of turf and I couldn’t wait to cover it up. It’s like a giant green screen on the floor and it messes with your eyes and brain after a while. All the paint we had just put on the walls and ceilings started looking quirky but it was just because of the very green underlayment.

The next step was where stuff got a little hairy. You may have previously read that HH is an engineer. So he likes things {particularly measurements} to be exact. Which is all well and good – except when things aren’t exact.

We decided we wanted the flooring to run the length of the house {parallel with the hall} as opposed to running from the front of the house to the back. HH wanted the boards to run perfectly down the hallway so we made a chalk line straight down the center of it into the great room. We used the chalk line to line up our first row of floor boards under the big picture window in the family room. To square things up, we used spacers along the wall. We were very promiscuous with our spacers along this first row. Everything was measuring up, so we set to work placing, cutting and gluing our tongue and groove engineered hardwoods. We used Roberts Tongue & Groove Adhesive #1406. It’s no VOC, non-toxic and non-flammable.

Now, when I say ‘gluing’ I don’t mean gluing the boards to the underlayment. We’re gluing each and every board’s tongue and groove to the adjacent board which will essentially create one floating floor in the end. Typically, tongue and groove flooring can be nailed down but with a concrete slab and no subfloor, that’s not an option for us. {We weren’t willing to put down a floating subfloor and lose height/mess with all the door openings.} Quick-click flooring would have been a great time-saving option for us but, when we were shopping around for flooring, prices for quick-click floors were at least $2 more per sq ft than the $2.04/sq ft we paid for the Jasper Texas Brown. That would have doubled the cost…although it probably would have knocked off our installation time by more than half. Next time we install hardwoods ourselves {which I don’t foresee happening for a long time}, we might think twice about paying more $$$ for a floor that can be installed in a timely manner. But for now, we’re on a tight budget and sticking with what we’ve got.

I wouldn’t say installing this flooring is difficult but it’s definitely time consuming. Gluing every last seam is tedious. And because we stored the flooring in the garage, some of the longest boards {the floor comes in random lengths} are warped. Boo. Totally our fault. The good news is they aren’t completely unusable. We’re finding that if we use them at the end of a row and cut them to fit, the cut is releasing the board so that it no longer bows. So all is not lost. Plus, not all of the longest boards seem to be affected…only the ones that were in boxes at the bottom of the stack in the garage.

After 6 hours of nothing but installation on that first day, HH and I didn’t even get half of the great room done. :( We knew then and there that we were in for a looooooong project. The next day, I worked at my real job while HH spent his last vacation day over at the Underdog working on the floor. I got a call from HH just a few hours in and he was distraught. He had busted out his trusty laser level and found that at the rate he was going, it was going to put that elusive center board down the hallway ‘off.’ Here, I’m thinking the hallway is going to be all crooked, diagonal. I asked him how ‘off’ it was. He said 1/4″. I thought he was maybe going to cry.

I immediately told HH that it might not be perfect and I would be okay with that. No big deal. I advised him to put his laser level away. All I could hear on the other end of the phone was heavy sighing. That’s when I all but forced him to take a day off. Up until that day, HH had spent 3 straight vacation weeks working on the Underdog. During that time he only took one day off…Christmas Day. He needed a break. He was sore. He was exhausted. And if you ask me, he was a little delirious – and rightfully so! Who wouldn’t be after all that hard labor and little rest?

HH’s response? “But I have to get us in here.” Meaning, he wanted to get his family into a true home instead of a temporary apartment. I could have cried myself. That’s all he wanted. I assured him I was fine with our temporary living arrangement. Even if it was turning out to be longer than what we had anticipated. Even if it meant bringing home a newborn to a teeny apartment.

No house is worth HH’s physical or mental well-being. So after some coercion, HH did it. He took a break. A much needed break. After 4 full months of putting in an extra 20-30 hours of labor per week {on top of his regular 40+ hour work week} at the Underdog, HH got out of there and traded sawdust for fresh air instead.

This is where I want to tell HH in front of a lot of people how much I love and appreciate him. Do you think that’s too sappy? Well, too bad because this man completely deserves it. He is working his a$$ off and not complaining one bit. He misses dinner with his family regularly to squeeze in a little project at the Underdog. He comes home exhausted yet manages to bathe and dress the kids for bedtime because I’m the one who’s complaining of being tired. Sometimes he misses the kids’ bedtime altogether to stay late and renovate then comes home and plans what he needs to DIY the next day. He’s nonstop. I don’t know how he does it. But I love him for it. He’s doing it for us, for our family and I feel very lucky that he picked me to be his wife. He’s amazing. ‘Nuf said.

So after coming to the realization that this flooring install isn’t going to happen overnight {but if the Flooring Fairy wants to pay us visit we won’t turn her away!}, we’re taking it one day, one board at a time. “Patience is the key to joy.” That was HH’s fortune in his fortune cookie this past weekend. How fitting, right?

The *very dirrrrty* install looks like this currently…

HH has been randomly placing painter’s tape onto the flooring once glued to keep the seams nice and tight. We’re still holding out on painting the brick fireplace surround. Since removing primer and paint from brick is nearly impossible, we just want to be 100% positive it’s what we want before we take the irreversible painting plunge.

If you ask me, the hallway looks fabulous! Just don’t ask HH’s laser level. ;)

The best news? HH and I both love the way the floor is looking – minus the dirt and dust. Here’s a better shot of the wood tone and grain…

I can’t wait to give it a good cleaning. After we finish the bedrooms and other half of the great room, that is.

Thanks to all of you who have shared your own tongue and groove glue installs with me! It really helps to know that others have done it and found the results to be well worth their while. Such an inspiration!

FYI – I was not compensated in any way for mentioning all those products. Just sharing what we’re using!

images: 1&2) Build Direct  3-12) Dana Miller for House*Tweaking

{HH doing one last calculation to double check we bought enough tongue and groove}

Bringing the trailer ended up being a good idea because we did end up buying unfinished pine tongue and groove in various lengths. An employee helped HH pick through the pile of pine lengths, passing on boards that were warped or damaged. At 49¢/linear foot, we spent $700-$800 on the ceiling boards for our 25′x25′ great room. There are less expensive options of bead board available that we considered but they were much thinner and flimsier than the 5/8″ thick sturdy boards we brought home. We were worried that the thinner versions may wave or warp over time.

We unloaded the pine boards at the Underdog and wrapped them in plastic while the drywall was going up and getting finished. The plastic tarps did a good job of keeping the boards dust-free. This past weekend, with the drywall work complete, HH and his dad unwrapped the boards and got to work installing them on the vaulted ceiling.

{grooved side of the pine boards}

At first, I thought I wanted the grooved side of the boards facing out. But after looking at a bunch of tongue and groove ceilings online, I realized that I preferred the wider plank look…so HH faced the smooth side of the boards.

The wider planks look less busy than the grooved bead board side of the tongue and groove. I love them! After a full day’s work, HH and his dad got one side of the great room’s ceiling hung.

 {HH rented the scaffolding}

The next day, with his neck and back aching from twisting his body into peculiar positions while hanging the plank ceiling, HH framed out the skylights on the other side of the great room ceiling. There aren’t any boards hung on that side of the ceiling yet but we’re already enamored with the aesthetic of the tongue and groove ceiling. While I do like the look of unfinished pine, I’m still thinking it will get primed and painted to mix better with that simple, clean and airy feel we’re going for.

That’s the latest and greatest at the Underdog. We’ve been anxiously awaiting this phase {finishing and installation} of the renovation, but it looks like things may be slow going for a few weeks while HH’s real job pulls him away with lots of traveling over the next several weeks. I’m feeling a little overwhelmed about being a single, prego mom for such a long period of time. Kudos to all those moms out there that do it everyday, day in and day out…whether you’re single or your spouse works away from home for extended periods of time. I don’t know how you do it!

On a lighter note, we came across a few other finds at Home Emporium. Along with home improvement supplies {tile, cabinetry, flooring, lighting, fixtures, etc.} the store also had a great selection of furniture, rugs and accessories. Other than the tongue and groove, we also purchased these items…

HH picked out the wooden bowl and I found an affordable alternative to the bullrush basket I featured in the kids’ bathroom mood board. $375 was a ridiculous amount of money for us to spend on a basket, but $17?…yes, please! I think it’ll come in handy in the kids’ bathroom for dirty towels and clothes. I also picked up a pair of faux bull horns for $40. I eyed similar real ones at a local upscale design boutique a few weeks ago but they were outta my price range at nearly $200 a piece. Yikes! So happy to have found similar faux ones for much cheaper. I think I’ll probably end up painting the square mounting blocks white or gray to give them a lighter feel.

So what do you think? Like the ceiling progress? Would you leave it unfinished or paint it?

FYI – I was not compensated in any way to mention Home Emporium. I just love sharing good shopping spots!

images: all Dana Miller for House*Tweaking

#bobvila