Being Flexible and Frugal

I recently found the inspiration for redecorating our not so pretty living room (see picture below - this is from the MLS listing - all the furniture belongs to the previous owner... but you get the idea). Our living room is the first room in the house after you come in from the built on foyer. Right now it's split up and part of the room is carpet (where the picture is taken from) while the majority is parquet. Now I've seen some houses were parquet looks beautiful - but in my case it just reminds me of the horrid apartment we lived in for five months before purchasing our house - so it seriously needs to GO!

I'm dying to redo it (and the whole room), but right now our budget is very tight. So, knowing that it would take some serious deals to get the project rolling I turned my search to Craigslist. The area itself is not too large, and B assumes we wouldn't need more than 250 sq ft of hardwood to do this area. So the other day I took some time to scour the Craigslist listings, when to my delight, I stumbled across a listing for 230 sq ft of Canadian Red Oak for $250! Now, the thing is, the guy who is selling it is an installer, so it's a bunch of different sections of already stained floor that was left over from other jobs he did. So we'd either have to refinish it ourselves or get the pros to come in. B assumes we can get it done for a decent price, over a weekend while we are away. The big bonus - B and my Dad could install the floor together (my Dad is an all around handyman) and we can still stain it whatever colour we want. I was seriously excited and even B thought it was a great deal (he's not always the easiest to convince).

So - B called the guy who listed the wood and should hopefully be meeting up with him on Sunday to make sure that everything looks good. If it does, the wood will be ours. Now I don't expect we'll be laying it anytime soon, as our first priority it to replace our furnace, water heater and A/C in time for our tax rebates! However, I'll feel happy just knowing we have the material and are ready to install, hopefully sometime early in the new year.

For now, I am working on our mood board, and trying to come up with a plan for executing our reno as it will involve a lot of work (which I will share another time). I also plan on taking on a few smaller projects that will contribute to the final plan for the room. I'm just happy that I was able to find the materials we need for our floor for a great price! Just proves, it pays to be open and flexible when doing home renovations!