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A French-Inspired Garden and Home by Judith Stringham

Refinished Oak Floor in the Living Room

Monday, April 10, 2017


Upkeep to houses is an never ending task, and updates can set into motion a series of interconnected renovations. That's how refinishing the oak floor in the living room came about at my house. What began as a half bath renovation quickly spread to include a complete update of all the flooring on the first floor of the house.  



refinished-oak-floor-living-room
Yesterday the contractor sanded the living room floor, applied white oak stain, and applied the first coat of clear polyurethane satin sealer.  Here is how the floor looked at that stage. I love it! 





oak-floor-after-sanding
Here is the oak floor after being sanded, but before the stain and sealer were applied. The wood is still beautiful after thirty years. With maintenance and upkeep, wood floors usually last at least one hundred years, which means the cost for a solid wood floor over time is less than other floor materials like carpet and tile. 




maintained-wood-floors-last-one-hundred-years
When we built our house thirty years ago, we installed oak flooring in the living room and dining area that is part of the living room. The Long Tall Texan installed the floor which saved about half the cost of the wood floor. 



white-washed-solid-oak-floor
My passion for W H I T E began long before reading blogs or seeing beautiful white kitchens on Pinterest. When we built our house all those years ago, we white washed the oak floor in the living room. I wanted to white wash all the pine posts, beams, and ceilings, but the Long Tall Texan preferred leaving them natural. 

We compromised. We left all the posts, beams, and ceilings with natural wood finish, and painted or white washed the wood floor and other areas. 

We white washed the solid wood six-panel interior doors throughout the house. Whitewashing was popular in all the home decorating magazines at the time, and I still love the look of white that also allows the woodgrain to show through. 

Those white blotchy areas in the photo are sunshine, not discolorations in the floor.  




satin-sealer-has-slight-sheen-fits-with-natural-posts-beams
A satin finish, instead of a high polish, fits in with all the natural wood posts and beams in the house. The satin finish has a slight sheen to give a finished, clean look to the floor. 

There is one more day for the last coat of sealer to dry, and the furniture can be moved back into place. 

Plus washing the windows, woodwork, curtains, etc... and then there is paint touch up on all the baseboards. 


I'm tired just thinking about everything to do to clean from all the sanding.

Yet, I'm also excited to have a nice new refinished floor in the living room.

And, the half bath renovation is almost complete! 
Can hardly wait to share how it turned out... 

~~~~~ 
Thanks for reading about my latest home renovations. 
I hope you found some ideas for your own home. 
If you have questions, leave them in the comments section. 
I would love to share what I've discovered with you for your projects. 

Please join me at these inspiring places for more joy of living. 

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