It's all about the details around here.

Earlier this year, Jeremy and I undertook a huge project at our house. We had been wanting to install solid hardwood floors since we moved in four years ago, and after watching prices for a few months, found some flooring we liked at a rock bottom-price.

So  of course,we bought it.

And it sat in our house for about a month.

Then, Jeremy started ripping up carpet and putting the flooring down.

It really is beautiful. So much better than the white carpet.

He finished it up in a few weeks. Kinda.

Fast forward to October. I had been watching interest rates for a few months. You see, we needed to refinance sometime in the next few years because we were in an adjustable rate mortgage. I figured it was as good a time as any. And I couldn't have been more right. In October, interest rates hit record lows. The lowest since anyone had been keeping track of them in the early 70s. So, we pulled the trigger on the re-fi.

What does this have to do with the floors???

Well. You know how I operate. Nothing like a looming deadline to get me motivated to do some home improvement. Since Jeremy finished the floors in June, we had been enjoying them without baseboards. And with the hideous white carpet still on the stairs. I was getting to the point that I didn't even notice anymore. But  I knew an appraiser certainly would.

So with our application pending, we went on a home improvement and Home Depot consumer credit card blitz. We ripped the carpet off the stairs and completely replaced the them with beautiful oak stairs. We also finally got around to putting down baseboards. They look SO nice!

And, while we're on the subject of baseboards, you'll notice they're white. We obsessed a little bit about what color we should put down. Oak would match the floors, but is wildly expensive. We could have gotten pine and stained them to match the oak, but I wasn't sure what that would look like. The other non-oak option was pine painted white. But white baseboards meant the trim around the doors wouldn't match. An added expense would be replacing all the trim around the doors. And the doors. But, in the end, I decided I'd try painting the trim around the doors and the doors. And, I couldn't be happier. It lightened up the hallway immeasurably.

There are only a few little odds and ends left to do. Hopefully it doesn't take another six months to complete the project 100%.