
Here we stood, ages 22 and 23, in our brand new, old,
not-yet-purple house. The very moment we closed on the house and got the keys, we ripped up the hideous peach carpet to reveal hideous wood floors that were covered in animal (we hope) urine stains.
No problem. We can handle that! We told ourselves. No matter that neither of us knew anything about home improvement beyond changing a light bulb. We rented a floor sander from a hardware rental place and took this little self-portrait before we started, to document the event. Our first home-improvement project.
Thirty minutes later we called some friends who were able to refer us to professional wood floor refinishers. Best phone call we ever made.

That last line made me laugh out loud. I've lived through it. Twice. And we are thinking about redoing the only room in the house that still has carpet. Because we're sick like that.
ReplyDeletelove that picture!!!!
ReplyDeleteI say, "Amen to that, sista!" ;D
ReplyDeleteCute picture.
The lack of purple in this picture is stunning.
ReplyDeleteWow, that's so cool you even tried. I probably would of just re-carpeted!
ReplyDeleteThanks for stopping by my blog. Love the picture of your house! :)
ReplyDeleteLOL! You crazy idealistic kids. ;) I KNOW I suck at home improvement. That's why we had our house built.
ReplyDeleteAs I get ready to rip out the carpet in the second floor of this house, I pray that what I find underneath is as good as I hope. If not, you better believe I'll be calling a flooring company, lickety split.
ReplyDeleteI think I might have cried when I saw the urine stained floors...
ReplyDeleteAdorable picture! I love seeing a full shot of you two - man would you tower over me! Lucky!!!
ReplyDeleteIt's fun to see you pre-kids! Heck, you guys were kids!!!
Did all this talk about moving and houses prompt this idea?? :)
That picture is hilarious. Cute matching masks. :)
ReplyDeleteWhen Brian and I bought our first house we were determined to remove this horribly putrid - of course, we almost died from inhalation of DIF but that's another story for another day.
Aw, I love it! Even more because I'm turning 22 this Saturday and we're redoing our hardwood floors this summer .. luckily we have friends who did it a few years ago, so when we get stuck we know who to call.
ReplyDelete=-) Have I mentioned I love your flashback photo's?
WALLPAPER. I should realize by now that you can't read minds...
ReplyDeleteAt least you tried!
ReplyDeleteI would love to rip up the carpet in my house and put down hardwood flooring (it's a new house, so there isn't anything underneath the carpet). We have beautiful hardwood in our foyer... but the dining room, which is just to the right, has carpet. I'm still boggled as to why the builders didn't just extend the hardwood into the dinig room. Oh, well. Maybe one of these days!
OMG I love your purple house, it's too cute and fun. We have a purple couch and ottoman and let me tell you, friends thought we were nuts when we got it.
ReplyDeleteHaha, I love it! GOOD CALL!
ReplyDeleteMichael remodeled our first home almost all by himself. He laid 1700 square feet of hardwood, which took 2 weeks of evenings and weekends. He installed doors, baseboards, and even crown molding. My husband. My husband who won't even change a lightbulb. And, furthermore, he did a fantastic job! When we had a big flood on move-in day that destroyed about half of that gorgeous new wood floor, he just sat in the front yard on the grass drinking a vase (literally a flower vase) of beer, smoking a Cuban, and muttering to God some unhappy things. Yikes.
Now he ALWAYS makes that phone call!
This story sounds oddly familiar! Our reinforcement is my granddad. He is a carpenter extraordinaire. Thank goodness we have him to help us and teach us.
ReplyDeleteThanks so much for visiting my Blog out in Arizona today. Come back anytime.
ReplyDeleteOh that is priceless...the picture AND the story! LOL!
ReplyDeleteLOL! you're too funny! I love this!
ReplyDeleteThat's hilarious!! We did the same when moving into our first house. Smart move! :)
ReplyDeleteAt least I know my weaknesses ;) Although hats off to you for trying! Hopefully over the years you've learned more than just how to change a light bulb.
ReplyDeleteAges 22 and 23-- that was like, yesterday!
ReplyDeleteI love that you documented it-- look how excited you were and clueless that you'd end up stepping aside :-)