Go to the hardware store and read a can of water based polyurethane if that is what they are using or the oil based polyurethane. We refinished our floors ourselves and it clearly states that on the can. It also advises about how heavy of traffic it can take and when. We had our orientals washed and stored for 6 months because of the work we were going to do on our kitchen. HTH

I feel for you, Marjie. It sounds like you have a leak that you need to address. But with only one full bath in the house you cannot afford the time for the whole shower pan construction. I bought my house in February, and they started the construction right away. I am still waiting for a few final details to be done, not to mention the correction for the shower problem. But at least we had a basement to live in while it was going on (complete with full bath!). Btw, our tub downstairs is that all-in-one construction (fiberglass? acrylic?), which I know isn't the dream shower you were probably thinking of, but one could probably be installed in a day or two without any tile work since it goes up the walls. It has nifty ledges on it. I'm curious what our pros on here think of that type of solution. You could still have a beautiful tile floor which wouldn't have the same waterproofing concerns. I spent a lot of money of my master bath, and I love my design, but the aggravation has not been worth it. And there is still no consensus on what is wrong, or the proper fix. Oh, and another thing. I prefer my new $36 shower head in the basement to the $500 one in the master bath that is too hard for me to turn the settings for the jets because my hands are too small. It wasn't like I got to see it before he installed it. This one does everything my expensive one does except that it doesn't have the slide bar: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00JV5HO3G?psc=1&redirect=true&ref_=oh_aui_detailpage_o05_s00 Actually, it does more. You can run the rain shower head and the hand held at the same time.

Thank you all for the suggestions. I'm glad I wasn't off with considering the wider planks and staining it all the same color like walnut or oak. Behind the closet doors is a wet bar and plan on removing the doors and the updating the sink and countertop. The house is on a slab and have talked about staining it, but I think it might feel sterile and cold. My current home has all slate flooring so I'd like to change it up and not incorporate any slate. Beth, so funny that you mentioned the door and wallpaper, cause on the list of must do along with the flooring is a new front door, change lighting fixtures, and removing the grasscloth wallpaper! I also MCM and hope to incorporate the style into this home. If anyone finds anymore pictures of different wood floors in the same area, please share! My search isn't turning up much.

I think you're giving the taper too much power. If something needs to be in a bin, that bin doesn't need to exactly fill up the whole shelf. Lots of stuff may not need to go in bins or baskets anyway. You could get 12"-deep boxes and put them on the deeper side, and leave the rest of the shelf for setting things that don't go in bins or boxes. Or, if you do need a bin that exactly fills the shelf, can't you use your plethora of woodworking tools to make your own in a trapezoidal shape? It's just an oddly shaped wooden drawer, which is itself a lidless wooden box. (I made a storage box/bin for an oddly shaped space by cutting up foam-core board and hot-gluing it together. Now and then I have to reinforce it, but it works great! I'm too lazy to make it out of wood, and I don't have a lot of experience using thinner wood like 1/4" luan or masonite, and 3/4" stock would be too heavy) You could install shelves, or you could make "pockets" to hang on the wall based on what's going to go in them (if you make your own pockets, you can make them as fat as you need for whatever you're going to put in them). I'd say: First, figure out how to put a single hanging rod on the 24"-deep side (and limit how many coats can go in there--everybody in the family gets two hangers, and any other outerwear goes in the bedroom). Or, put in one hanging rod (those Closet-Maid/Elfa wire shelves?) for long coats, and install second one halfway down the wall to convert one half of that space for jackets? My experience is that especially in winter, there are more hip-length coats than short jackets, so plan for winter, not spring or fall. Then see what sorts of other storage needs you can fulfill there--would the vacuum bit on the coats side? Can you put pockets on the side wall for gloves, hooks for umbrellas and dog leashes? Can you put a tray or basket on the floor to hold boots or shoes? Or something on the shelf above the hanging rod that would be useful for what you store there? Then stand in front of that tapered side with all the stuff you're going to put in there, and see what inspires you. Do you want shelves you can put boxes on? (You could make a small trapezoidal bookcase and bolt it to the wall, leaving space below it; or use brackets on the back wall to install tapered shelves--you can buy brackets of varying lengths.) Would pockets or baskets on the side wall be useful for stuff like cleaning supplies or shoes? Would hooks allow you to use the most shallow section for hanging the vacuum hose?