Laying wood floors

Well, I've veered from my usual "cheap and easy" right now. We just finished laying wood flooring. Actually, it's laminate. Real wood would totally wipe us out, plus I seriously doubt we could keep it nice.

So, anyway, I'm absolutely thrilled that this was budgeted, saved for, and now it's become a realization. We had to downsize our original plan because of money (and the fact that I did not think I could work around that many doors!!)

I did the flooring about THREE times before getting it right. sigh. And then it turns out that it was NOT completely right. I did eventually have to call in reinforcements for the detail work at the ends and some installation/ cutting help. I just couldn't get it exactly right. I managed the regular transition between carpet and wood, but not the little tightest trim against the walls. Soooo, I'm happy. I learned a new trade, plus we asked for help when we actually needed it. The help we got didn't run us much over budget. If we'd had it all installed, it would have cost over $2 PER SQ FOOT!! Insane! Yes, I did have to get some help, but I did A LOT of it myself, and I'm still thrilled about that!!

Tips: line the panels up vertically. They will be staggered, so you'll cut the first and last pieces, and the total length of the vertical line will be the length of your room. Got it? Connect them (with your hammer thingie,) and THEN push the long vertical panel lines together, side by side. It took me three stinkin' times to figure that out!!! Oh, yes, I had some BREATHE, Wendy moments!!

(By the way, tomorrow, I'm doing this:

Click to learn more.)