Love the floor color, breezy! It is REALLY pretty. The pics of your kids sitting on the floor watching their dad (I am assuming?) sweep is priceless :o)...

Beautiful! Love the floor. Thanks for posting.

Breezy, it looks amazing! LOVE the floor color!

Capegirl--That's not their Dad. He's on a business trip in Hawaii without us! The bum...

Thanks Francoise and E!

LOVE the pic of your kids sitting and watching. So cute.

Your floors look great!

They look good!! Wait till that final finish goes on... when I saw mine with the final finish, I'm pretty sure I cried they looked so good!

Sweet! Both the kids and the floor ! c

Looks good!
I have a question - we're getting poly on our floor this weekend (no stain) - was told they sand & poly Fri, then repeat sand & poly on Sat, then again on Sun, and that we can't walk on it until Monday as each coat needs to dry overnight. Wondering how you got all that done in 1 day - staining and 2 coats of poly, and you can already walk & sit on it?! Was it sanded between coats of poly? Thanks

Your floors look just like mine in the pictures (weird because the stain color is different) -- and I LOVE them! They will look so great with your cabinets! Good luck with your research projects. You can do it!

(BTW, our painter is coming tomorrow and we're going to try Gray Owl in our kitchen. I think you used that in one of your rooms, right?!? I'm hoping I don't have to run out tomorrow to get another color -- fingers crossed that it works well!)

Beautiful floors. I think they will look fabulous! I am really looking forward to your cabinet install and of course what paint you choose. You are making headway. What a well planned project, you are to be congratulated.

I love the color! No seriously, it's perfect!

First things first...the kids are adorable! That's so cute that they're watching the 'floor guy' apply the poly. Very cute :)

The floors look beautiful! I love the color and it's going to be wonderful, when you get everything finished...hopefully for Halloween.

Now, I have to ask...what colors are you painting the walls? Don't know about the master bedroom, but for the main living areas, I'm noticing how the kids' clothes look with the floor (at least on my monitor). The blue is nice (although a little on the cool side)...but check out that green and pink combo! That could really work with your floors, if you decide to do something daring...especially with your accessories! LOL

Maybe a silly question... but how fast did your floors dry? I'm curious that the kids are able to sit on it so soon after.
(The more you know....!)

"Your floors look great!"

ditto

color is very nice.

Thanks, everyone, for the compliments on the kids and on my floors.

Elba--Sorry if I confused you. The stain went on yesterday and was walkable with socked feet this a.m. This morning they put on a water-based, satin poly coat. It dried in about 3 hours and was walkable with socked feet. Then they put on the second poly coat. The final sanding, poly, and buffing (whatever order) will happen in a few weeks.

Erin--Yes, I used Gray Owl in our office. Here's one pic. If you click on it, you'll see a few more shots in my Flickr account. I found that with lots of natural light it looked pastel green near my very gray Carrara chunk in my kitchen. In the office with less light, it looked much more gray. It's a nice color.

Enduring--Well planned, it wasn't. That's why it's taken more than a year and counting!

Lavender--I'm not sure about the walls. I had wanted to do a gray or greige and have tried several. Now that the floors are in I can get a much better feel for the space. I may paint the DR and LR, which are somewhat seperated from the kitchen and FR, a different color.

I was planning on the main colors being gray and white in the kitchen and FR, with hits of greige, orange, and grass green. Who knows if it'll work?! Pink? Not sure if DH would go there...

Co-co--The poly coats today dried in about 3 hours. I was surprised by the speed.

Breezy, thanks for the pics of Gray Owl. We are currently living in building-a-house purgatory (I can sympathize with your situation, I have two small kids and a workaholic husband!).

I'm considering painting my entire downstairs Gray Owl, so it's nice to see it and have your review on it. My island will be calacatta gold, so we shall see what the sample looks like with that since it went green with your carrera.

Good luck - hang in there!

~MM

Breezy! You're getting so close! You'll be enjoying your kitchen (and the rest of the house) before you know it! Yay....Looks great so far.

I love color, but that soft leaf green would be beautiful! With pink and purple flowers from the garden...along with yellow, orange, blue, white, red. What doesn't go with green? :)

Neutrals will be nice, too...but do some great pops of color and have some fun. Accessories are so easy to change and think of the holiday decorating potential!

It looks lovely ;) I love your project managers....

I love the floors. It's all coming together. October is going to be great for yu and family.

Your floors are gorgeous! I love the way your kids are watching so intently.

I'm sure you've said before, but what wood/brand/etc are your floors?

At least your project managers are actually supervising! Get them clipboards.

: )

Mastiff--I'll be interested to hear how the Gray Owl looks for you. Calacatta Gold is so different than Carrara. Maybe the warmth in it, as opposed to the gray of mine, will make GO work for you. Good luck with your build.

Briana--it's so exciting! Thanks for helping me in my excitement! :)

Lavender--That's the color I had in my head--soft leaf green. It'll relate nicely to the gardens up against the house and deck.

Dianalo and Dilly--I appreciate the kind words.

Marti8a--I forgot to mention that in this thread. The floors are 3.5" white oak planks. The stain is 75% Jacobean and 25% Coffee Brown. Coffee is a substitute of a different brand for the Dark Walnut I wanted. I basically copied Nini's formula for her gorgeous new floors. :)

That is one big space! Love seeing the little honeys ... look forward to seeing your progress. Keep on posting those pictures please :)

Beautiful! Can't wait to see more!

Your kids look so cute. I just LOOOVE the backs of babies' heads! They are so kissable!

Ok, thanks. I asked because we can't walk on ours for 3 days, and I saw your cute kids sitting on your floor within what had to be a few hours!

I love your quality control inspectors :)

Breezy, I know monitor resolution and IRL typically do not match, but I love your floors. No need to second guess here, they're beautiful. It'll all work together when the finishing details are done and furniture and accessories are in. Hang in there, you're almost at the finish line!!!

You did a great job...your kitchen is going to be fabulous!! I think you will love living with this stain color...it is plenty dark to "ground" everything, but I haven't found it to be so dark that every speck of dust shows! You have absolutely precious children! Mine are 8 and 11, so not as cute, but they were also very interested in the construction process. :)

Mtnrd--I think they learned the supervising stance from me. They've seen me do it enough!

Oldbat--the house really isn't big at all. The main part of the house is only about 1000 sqft.

Houseful and Celtin--thank you!

Elba--are you doing an oil poly perhaps? Or a Swedish finish?

Nini--I'm so glad to hear that your floors are not so dark tat you notice every spec since I copied yours! Thanks again for posting your stain mix. It was just the right timing for me. I love *your* floors.

I mightn't have conveyed my excitement enough in this post. After all my "desperate calls for help" threads, it should be clear that I'm so happy with the progress. :)

Wow, you must be so excited! Your floor looks beautiful. I know it's been a long haul but it looks as though all your effort will pay off nicely. Just think, your house will be done for Christmas. What a wonderful Christmas this will be for you and your family. Here's to smooth sailing from here on in.

Oldhouse--you're so sweet. We'll be hosting Thanksgiving so most of it should be done before that. I doubt I'll have a backsplash by then, but no biggie. The master bath won't be done by then either, but we can use the other bathroom. I keep picturing the Christmas tree by the front window, glowing above my new floors!

I forgot to mention the update on my feline situation. We decided to adopt two kittens and their mom that a tech at our vet's office is fostering. We went to look at the kittens, and fell in love with their sweet mother too. It felt right since we've been missing animals in the house since our special black cat died in July. Halloween is the target adoption date. We'll probably still be moving into the house at that point too!

MAJOR UPDATE!!!

My cab maker called. I was waiting to hear if his painter was finally done with the cabs and if he would be delayed by his daughter's impending baby delivery. Good news! He's coming to install cabs on MONDAY!! I'm practically jumping up and down! Cabs, finally, in my house after a year of construction??! I think that might just feel too real to me. I better call and postpone him. My heart won't be able to take the shock of seeing what will look like a real kitchen starting to form. ;)

Congratulations! This calls for wine, or other beverage of your choice, right? :)

Doing my happy dance for you! Wahoo, breezy, the end is getting nearer and nearer all the time.

I've been reading your posts with great interest -- you're doing a fantastic job! The floors look beautiful, and the kiddos even better :-) Adorable!!

Can't wait to see more photos!

I love the floor...and the kids!

This is good news! Can't wait to see the kitchen transformation.

Thanks Lavender, Lisa, Jmcgowan, Sabjimata, and Enduring!

I don't know how people sleep in the days before cabinets go in. The anticipation is too much. Oh, I know. Must be the wine Lavender suggested. That would make me sleep.

breezygirl, I love your new floors! 3.5" width is what I had wanted for my floors but the BR-111 engineered wood only came in 3.25 or the 5" wide planks and the 3.25" had shorter boards. I really love white oak so much and if I did not have to have engineered wood in my house, I may have gone with stained white oak. Thanks for sharing. The floors are beautiful!

great news about cab install commencing on monday - can't wait to see the progress pics!!!

Lynn and Babushka--thanks!

I'll post pics on Monday as soon as I can! Cab maker texted today to say his daughter had her baby so now I *know* I won't be postponed for that.

ANOTHER UPDATE

My kitchen is being measured for my marble templating in the morning!! We had this scheduled for last Wednesday, but had to postpone as DH forgot to bring the rangetop home from work. This was a bonus because it gave us more time to think about the pantry wall/fridge issue. I owe some responses back on that thread and another now that we've made some decisions. I'll do that later in the day.

Hooray for more progress!

Hi! Looks wonderful! Where did you purchase your white oak? I'm just about to buy 2 rooms of 5" unfinished white oak hardwood. Do you remember what grade yours is? Also, what brands/ratios of stain colors you used?

Are you happy with the floor color now?

Hi! Looks wonderful! Where did you purchase your white oak? I'm just about to buy 2 rooms of 5" unfinished white oak hardwood. Do you remember what grade yours is? Also, what brands/ratios of stain colors you used?

Are you happy with the floor color now?

Hi! Looks wonderful! Where did you purchase your white oak? I'm just about to buy 2 rooms of 5" unfinished white oak hardwood. Do you remember what grade yours is? Also, what brands/ratios of stain colors you used?

Are you happy with the floor color now?

kiki, you probably won't get an answer from breezy for a day or two or more. She's moving into her house this week, experiencing problems and doesn't have 'net access.

Weird how your message posted 3 times....

Thanks for the response. The only thing I can figure out is that I sent it and then immediately switched from 3G to wifi then back to 3G because wifi ws so slow. So maybe it wasn't done sending? Then I turned the computer on and tried to go back to a prior page nd maybe re-sent it again. I'm not impatient, just a dodo on some days! Sorry!

Sorry she's having troubles! Hope things smooth out for her!

Oh Im so behind!!!!! thank you for posting these! the floor looks great and im sure it warmed right up with the poly coat.
are there more pics?? 'cause i think your marble is even in now !!!
oh woe's me! Im so outta the loop! :D
it's amazing how life carries on once your kithcen is done and working!
I may not get here often enough anymore, but Im stayin'!
I cant wait to see more pics! good luck with your move in - enjoy!
enjoy!
enjoy!
xox
Celine

Hi Kiki. Thanks for the compliment. My oak was purchased through my hardwood installers. I think it's character grade, but my brain is fried today. It isn't the extra expensive grade, just standard. The stain is 50% Jacobean and 50% Coffee Brown which is similar to Dark Walnut. I am happy with the color. It's darkish, but not too dark. It looks great with the kitchen, too.

Lisa--DH brought home his laptop and air card so I have a few minutes of forum time!

Celine--What?!? Life goes on??? ;) I think you saw my other pics after the marble went in. Here are a couple. Don't know why the hood photographs dark from straight on.

We moved back in on Sunday. So many things both major and minor need to be finished yet. There are issues with the final floor finishing, trim and door painting, appliance installs, electrical work..... At least I now have a working sink in the kitchen and toilet in the bathroom.