For the past two weekends in a row, we’ve been working towards finally choosing a new floor for our kitchen and living room. It’s a long process, and one that’s equal parts frustrating and exciting.

It’s frustrating because I have pretty high standards for a product I’m going to be spending a few thousand dollars on. I want to know that it’s the perfect flooring choice for our house and our tastes, and that it will last a long time and be easy to maintain, easy to clean, and easy to love…As in it’s the perfect color and texture.

Alas, it isn’t as simple as it sounds, and we still haven’t really made up our mind. We do have a front runner, but I’m not ready to reveal it quite yet. Still, I wanted to share the first steps we took toward getting ready to make our final choice.

1. Check your subfloor.

Certain floors can only be applied in certain ways over certain types of subfloor. So, before you even start shopping, you need to know what you’re working with. It’s pretty quick and easy to check this. Hubs just ripped up a small corner of the carpet in the living room (in a hidden corner since we’re not ready to have it looking all loose and sloppy yet) and checked to see what was under there.

In the kitchen, we just had to look under the cabinets. When we removed the desk for our rolling cart, there was a small hole in the flooring that gave us a peek.

 

We could also see it underneath the dishwasher, the night it caught on fire. Of course, over there, we saw we were also dealing with some linoleum, which may or may not be a good thing.

Luckily, we have plywood subfloor in the living room and in the kitchen so that saves us an big expense of having to work on those later on…hopefully.

2. Start shopping around.

I learned that it isn’t realistic to walk into the store and find one sample that you love. We selected four samples to take home and check out in our house with our lighting. Unfortunately, even though I left the store the first time feeling optimistic, I didn’t like any of them that much once we got home. The lighting makes a big difference, as can paint and trim colors.

3. Check your options several times.

We went back to the store last weekend and one of our original choices had gone on sale! So wait around, you never know what you’ll find! Also, check more than one store to get the best price and selection.

 

4. Be prepared to spend more than you thought.

Not only is this an expensive project, but there are so many additional items that come with buying new floor. Not only will you need to buy some type of material to go under the floor, but also the materials to install it, and/or the labor to do the work. Plus, you’ll need items like transition pieces between doorways and floor vent covers. There’ll be trim to replace and possibly tools to buy or rent. Sheesh!

5. Don’t get overwhelmed.

After three different shopping trips and still no final decision, I’ll admit I was getting a bit frustrated and overwhelmed with the number of choices and the lack of perfect options. Just remember to take your time and only bite off a small bit at a time. Just walking in to the flooring store to get a catalog and a welcome information packet can be a big (little) step in the right direction!

We’ll be back with a few more tips later on as we get ready to purchase and install these bad boys, but in the meantime, just know that we’re making baby steps toward progress.

What BIG projects are you taking baby steps to get started on? I’m feeling a little like we’re at the top of a roller coaster and barely tipping over the edge, starting to get ready for the big drop! Yikes!