I refuse to give you a before picture of what my bedroom looked like but please forgive me, I do own a maid service here in Savannah, and it would just be bad for business if you saw it. I had white carpet that looked every inch of it's seven years of life. The bedroom was a cluttered disaster. Our bedroom has been for a very long time also an office for both of our businesses with employees coming and going & also now a nursery. The madness had to end! Not only that but we had the air quality tested in our bedroom and it was at very bad breathing levels. The cluttered mess of paper work, electronic cords, old carpet, and random furniture certainly did not help matters. Let's not even talk about how our bedroom was affecting our marriage!
My husband and I agreed that replacing the old carpet would reduce the bad air quality and would jump start a revolution to reclaim our bedroom, as, a bedroom. It was quite an expense but my 4 month old was already having a rattling in his throat from time to time and I did not want to encourage the development of allergies any more than I had unintentionally done so we made the plunge, or the investment, into our home to carry the wood floors from the main living area into our bedroom.
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| Wood floors being installed in our bedroom by Hubbard's Handyman in Savannah, GA |
If you are interested in installing wood floors in your home here are a few bullet points from Hubbard's Handyman:
- If using manufactured hardwood, make sure the floor undeneath is completely clean and smooth before putting glue down.
- To avoid gaps take a piece of the wood floor, lay it up against the door jamb. Use that wood as a guide and angle a saw to cut the bottom of the door jam out so the wood will slide underneath the jam, trim, and 3 inches of base moulding.
- Make sure all the rest of the wood floors are against the baseboards within 1/2 inch or less to avoid gaps and allow the quarter round trim to cover.
Needless to say I am so pleased with my new wood floors! The carpet was so depressing and imaging what was lurking underneath all that padding over the years was internally disturbing in my mind. Since having the hard wood installed I can also say the house cleaning time has been cut in half. The reason is there is less dust to contend with. Carpet really collects dust like nobodies business. So that means the baseboards, sills, and blinds are less dusty and easier to maintain. Besides that it just "feels" clean. I never realized how down in the dumps I was about that carpet until it was removed and I had that hardwood floor underneath my bare feet. It was such a blessing to be able to remove ALL the dust bunnies under my bed with a wet mop in a matter of minutes. It was wonderful to look at the baseboards and not see dead bug carcasses trapped in the crevices where the carpet meets the wall. Keeping wood floors well maintained does not require alot of work as the less you mop them the better off they are. This may not work for those who have pets or a lot people living in the home but the less water that hits the floor the better. If you do mop them I would recommend a mop designed for flat surfaces that has a wide flat head that is covered with removable fabric you can take on and off and throw in the washer as needed. These are the types of mops our cleaners use at Hubbard's Maid Service. Cedar-O mops from Walmart work wonderfully for wood floors and they cover a lot of ground so you can mop quickly.
Besides plain water, there are many wood floor cleaning chemicals out there but for the most economical and eco-friendly cleaning solutions I recommend dish soap added to water. Just a drop or two is fine in a bucket, just make sure the mop head has been squeezed of most of it's moisture so you don't apply too much wetness to the floors. If you can resist mopping your floors except for once a month you will keep them from getting dull. If that is not sanitarily possible then mop only as needed. If you want to restore a little shine, you can use Murphy's Oil soap but use sparingly! a little goes a long, long, way!
We haven't completely removed our businesses from our bedroom, and our son still sleeps with us in there. We still have to navigate baby gear but the hardwood floors have been such a motivator we have been focusing on reducing the clutter with great success. My husband, Ashley Hubbard, of Hubbard's Handyman, has installed sanity to our bedroom and our lives.
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| The bedroom is still used as an office and a nursery but it is so much nicer! Love my new wood floors! |
