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Sanding 101

We are taking a break this weekend…from sanding, that is.

Over the past year, Pierre and I have slowly and steadily (I think I can, I think I can) refinished the floors in our home. We bought a 60 year-old colonial a little over five years ago. By no means could our home be considered old, and the previous owners had made some serious renovations before selling, but the house definitely had some wear-and-tear that needed attention.  So since moving in, we’ve been quietly (and sometimes not so quietly) doing some DIY renos. The salespeople at Lowe’s love us! We’ve refinished the powder-room, added a playroom with wood-burning stove to the basement, landscaped, built the boys a playhouse, built a new shed and more. And 60 years of feet, pets, kids, furniture and spills can do a number on hardwood floors. So we’ve sanded down and refinished all the rooms in the house. Well, almost. There is one left, and when the guest room is done, I never, ever want to see a sander again. Like, ever (thank you Taylor Swift).

Let me tell you something about sanding: it is dirty. The amount of dust is not to be believed. Even with closed doors or drop-cloths hung in the doorways, the dust manages to seep into every corner of the house. I clean dust for days after each sanding job. It gets onto every shelf, toy, carpet, mantel, dish, pillow, towel, dog, kid, and picture frame. Did I mention that Benjamin is allergic to dust?

Here’s me sanding underneath the kitchen counters last January, which was the biggest pain in the tush job if ever one existed (can you tell how much I love sanding?). Notice the dust all over my jeans, and imagine that all over your house. No exaggeration.
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Pierre’s back will never be the same after all the varnishing by hand either.

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BUT, even I have to admit that the final results were worth it (minus the poly cans on the counter):

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This winter, we refinished the upstairs. We sanded, varnished, painted and cleaned (and then cleaned again). Here’s a neat shot of the floor before and after:

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Since we were painting, each of the boys wanted to choose the color of his room. We took them to Lowe’s, picked-out a few acceptable paint-swatches to choose from, and bought each the color of his choice. Benjamin, of course, wanted blue. Here’s his finished room:

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I think that both boys were pretty happy with it.

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There was one small glitch with letting the boys pick paint colors: Nicholas’ room has wood-paneling on all four walls. I have no idea why. It’s the only room in the house with wood panels, and I’ve actually grown to love it. The wood makes for a cozy kid’s room, so Pierre and I weren’t about to take it down, especially considering that we had no idea what we’d find underneath all that wood. The compromise? Nicholas chose his favorite color, and we painted his closet door green. Pierre wasn’t too keen on this endeavor, but he was a good sport about it, and the finished result left us with a very happy three-year-old.

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One room left to go, but this weekend there is a moratorium on home renovations in our house. Well, sort of. You see, Pierre and I had a date-night last night. Guess where we went? To the home show, to look at ideas on gutting and redoing the bathroom. Gawk!

xo Naomi

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