IHeart Blogiversary - Six Years Later

Happy Monday!  Did you have a great weekend?  Our weather was about as good as it could get and that made for the perfect combination of getting out and about with the family and also getting a really good start on Preston's headboard project.

Writing this post is a bit surreal for quite a few reasons. Mostly because when I started blogging just over 6 years ago, never would I have imagined that I would be still blogging six years later. Or that many of the amazing opportunities I have experienced over the last six years would be because of this blog. But also because I can barely believe that another year has already come and gone since I hit 5 years. (You can catch up on my 5 year blogiversary series here: Blogging Photography Tips, The Bread & Butter of the Blog, What I Have Learned Along the Way.)  It is like I blinked and boom, a whole year has come and gone.

So much has changed since a year ago, yet, I feel like I haven’t moved forward. In fact, this was a bit of a rough year for me and I maybe even took a few steps back.

Over the last year, a lot has happened behind the scenes and with me on a personal level, which I fear can be sensed in my blog writing here and there as well. That paired with writer’s block, project burn out and being over-saturated in the world of blogs, Instagram and Pinterest, I have been stuck in a bit of a rut. So for those of you that take the time to come here and visit on a frequent basis, I just want you to know that I sincerely appreciate and value those minutes, and I only want them to be 100% happy and positive minutes. And I thank you so very much for continuing to read and for your incredible support.  This community sure is a great one!

Although I have experienced natural highs and lows over my years of blogging, this past year had a higher frequency of feeling tired, stale, burnt out and even a little lost. Throw in a kitchen/living room renovation that has taken us much longer than expected and has also impacted how we utilize our home every day... it was all the perfect recipe to crash and burn. It is truly challenging when something that you love so very much isn’t going the way you envision it, and that is true for me when it comes to our home, my blog and my business as of late.

That said, I without a doubt LOVE organizing and creating order out of chaos. I thrive when I can look at a closet, drawer, cabinet or room and find ways to remove the unnecessary and create peace. It is equally as important to me to make every project special, beautiful and functional. It is what I crave and I know in my heart it is what I am meant to do.

I also enjoy sharing those projects with you. I have always believed that if even one single person was inspired by something I shared, then my day was a win. That is what brings me back here and wanting to continue with this amazing journey.

Looking back, blogging is not the same today as it was five years ago, and has even continued to change over the past year. There are more and more blogs on the scene every day. Ideas are on repeat. The bar is always being raised. Expectations from readers have shifted. I have never been one to want to create “quick” or “filler” content or post for the sake of posting (I have done it but have always regretted it), but I have also begun to feel that every post has to be a post of magnitude. That if we don’t have new projects or meaty posts to share multiple times per week, we are failing. This feeling came from two sources; my own personal expectations and standards as well as the feedback I have received in the form of a comments. Slowly, the blog became more of a place to showcase and provide tutorials and less of a place to get personal with friends over a cup of coffee. 

Although I am currently teetering on the edge of blog burn out, I don’t want to burn out. I still love what I do, and don’t want to come to a point of resenting it. So many of my favorite bloggers have been sharing similar feelings or have even stopped posting all together, and although I find myself nodding my head and relating to a lot of the reasons why, I always miss their online presence and am not personally ready to leave.  #stuckwithme.

I frequently think about when I started blogging back in 2009.  I was posting 3-5 days per week and we were pumping out content and projects. We had an entire home that was waiting for our touch and that had not been seen or shared. Sure, we would get tired and there were definitely moments when I wasn’t maintaining a solid work/life balance, but we worked through it and usually came out smiling because of all we were accomplishing.  It was sort of the honeymoon phase of blogging.  But ultimately there was no healthy way to sustain at that pace. Today, every post takes me twice as long to write because my heart wants to create pretty, inspiring and detailed content to share. From working on a project to documenting every step, photo editing, graphic creating and writing a detailed post, I am spending anywhere from 6-10 hours on a simple project post to 12-18 on something more in depth (that is averaging the time it takes to do the actual project all the way to hitting the post “publish” button). And being that I don’t blog about recipes or fashion or typical lifestyle items, lately it has really come down to creating a project in order to have something worth sharing. Working on projects around the clock for six years has become both expensive and honestly a bit exhausting. Our home has project piles in every corner and my husband is always waiting for his next assignment. And we are constantly forced to decide between working on our home and enjoying our home and typically we pick the first option.  We know we are fortunate to be faced with those choices, but they do still wear on us from time to time.  Magazines create pages of content with the help of a team, photographers, writers, idea makers, sponsors, etc… and each issue takes months to put together. These days it seems as though bloggers are trying to keep up with similar inspiring and fresh content multiple times per week, as a 1-2 person team, while also managing hours of behind the scenes admin tasks and maintaining an online social presence as well. Throw in a shop to run and there really are not enough hours in the day. In fact, my shop hasn’t been given the attention it deserves at all in the past year and my “big plans” have been just that for quite some time. 

Six years in, below are the items I would like to focus on moving forward:

• Content: I can’t only share project posts as content and still post 3-4 times per week (it is just not realistic and is part of where this burn out feeling is coming from), or feel guilty if a day or two goes by and I have nothing new to share. Aside from our home projects (big and small), what other type of content would you like to see me share and create? I personally have been brainstorming a few ideas and would love to hear some from you all as well. One thing I would like to start is an occasional series of “What Would Jen Do?” based on a frequent email subject line from my readers. I would share a reader dilemma and before photo (a topic many people may see as a problem area) and offer up my solution, action plan, illustration and product recommendations. I would also like to design a free printable each month, share more quick tips, new organizing trends and products that catch my eye.  Occasional specific and quick organizing challenges are always well received. There are also many times when I read a great article or come across a super cool project/tutorial, and I want to share those as well. Maybe even small moments from around the home once a month (I am always swapping out bedding, accessories, finding new products, etc…).
• Projects: My money maker has always been my shop, not my blog (little to no sponsored content happening here and still using Google Adsense as revenue which is so last year - ha). We are looking into ways of making the blog more profitable in order to keep up with project costs and content demand, but I also want to focus on my shop and diversify what IHeart Organizing is as a business. There will be days going forward that I will be dedicating to evolving, diversifying and growing additional arms of IHeart Organizing as a brand, so if I go quiet from time to time, that is where you will find me.
• Balance: Nothing is more challenging than having to say “no” to family time in order work on our home and create content (this always seems like a fresh feeling after a summer of kids being home and me trying to keep up with business and being a full time mom). Bryan works outside of the home full time, helps coach sports, contracts out on the side and then comes home to a list of projects. I would love to give him a little bit of a break from time to time. Heck, I need one sometimes as well. When I worked in the corporate world, I had office hours, took three weeks of vacation and sick days as needed, and never once felt bad about it because it was part of my compensation package. I haven’t always been great about taking time off of IHeart work, even during travels and family vacations, so I am going to start tracking and enforcing days off. Taking small breaks here and there will only help me stay excited about what I do here, and will also allow me to be more present with my family.
• New spaces: Although we have blogged every nook and cranny of our home over the past six years, it doesn’t mean we don’t have more long term plans for our home. A few wish list projects on the horizon are an entryway addition, a playroom/office switcharoo, a master bathroom gut, laundry room upgrades and exterior updates.  And can we talk about the need to organize our horrendous kitchen corner cabinet and freezer drawer?  But as I mentioned, I really would like to diversify and also work on spaces outside of our home. Years ago I started this blog with hopes of becoming a professional organizer and helping others. This next year I am hoping to re-visit those goals. Because I heart organizing, but I really heart helping others. 

Bottom line, I don’t plan on going anywhere just yet. I am still going to post when I have something worth posting and sharing, in hopes of helping even just one person. But I may not post every day. Or have new projects every single week. I want to continue to love what I do and do what I love, but I also want to do it well and with gusto and excitement and not with resentment or into the midnight hour. I always preach the importance of finding balance, and I have always failed at actually doing it. Hopefully, putting it all in writing will help me feel better about finding that happy medium and really implement it moving forward.

In six years, we have knocked out a large variety of projects big and small and written a total of 1,550 posts.  I mean really, that is A LOT of posts.  I am cracking a bottle of wine over that milestone tonight.  Many of my favorites are shown throughout this post as a reminder to myself to stick with what I know, love and feel excited about.  And I hope that you will continue with me on this crazy ride for as long as it goes.

Thank you all so much for listening and being the best support group a girl can ask for.  These posts are always hard to write, but I always feel better when I do.

Happy Blogiversary to IHeart Organizing and cheers to many more!


UPDATE: My heart is currently bursting from the magnitude of support you all have given me this week.  I wish I could personally write and hug each of you to thank you for the kind comments, encouragement, emails, text messages and love that I am continuing to receive each day.  This last couple of days have been really good for my soul and I am going to continue to take the remainder of the week off to absorb your comments and reassess a few things moving forward.  The very talented Ursula will be here tomorrow to share her recent beautiful project, and I am hoping to be back next week.  Again, thank you so very much for the love, I was once again blown away by this remarkable community that I am endlessly grateful to be a part of.

UHeart Organizing: DIY State Inspired Cork Board

I haven't had a personal need to do any quick and crafty organizational projects for a few weeks, and it absolutely gives me a case of the sads!  I really enjoy doing 15-minute fun projects that bring me smiles with a side of organization.  Good thing Chelsea of Two-Twenty One blog is here to fill that void for me.  I am so smitten with her DIY state inspired cork board; it is such a versatile idea that is perfect for kitchens, craft rooms and kid's rooms.  Just think of all of the shapes you could create!  Here she is now to share how she whipped up this darling little craft out of cork.

Hey, iHeart readers! I thought I'd swing by today and share a fun state-inspired cork board DIY with you.

Now, I'm going to warn you, some states are going to be easier to execute than others-- I'm looking at you Wyoming and Colorado.

Any guesses where I'm from?

In case you're bad at geography, I'll give you a hint: Michael Jackson was born here.

To get started with your state cork board, do a quick Google image search for the outline of your state and cut it out.

Grab one or two 12" x 12" cork tiles. My state fit onto one tile so I only had to use one.

Cut out your state and trace it onto your cork tile. I used some of the fancy schmancy thumbtacks that I made to hold the state in place while I traced it.

Use an Xacto knife to cut out your state. I found that small stabbing motions worked best. I was able to use scissors on the straight cuts.

Trace and cut out another state.

Twins!

Note: I took a few artistic liberties with the southern portion of my state.

Glue those puppies together with some hot glue.

 

I used Command Brand picture hanging strips to mount my cork board to the side of my home office workstation. I love those things.

And here's the final product!

I can never find my postage stamps so I decided to tack them up on the cork board. I also added some photo booth photos I took with one of my blog buddies at a conference and a photo of my brother and me when we were little. I'm particularly fond of this photo because I look like an unimpressed mob boss in a foofy pink dress. My "I'm not a player, I just blog a lot" button that I made and passed out at a blog conference also made its way onto the cork board.

If you're interested in learning more about the organization on the side of my home office workstation, head over here.

Hey friends! I'm Chelsea from Two Twenty One! I'm a twenty-something living in Indiana with my husband, Brad, and our crazy mutt, Jack. My loves are photography, travel, DIY projects, baking, wine, sarcasm and my iPhone. The husband and I are attempting to make our home a little less cookie cutter and a lot more awesome. My little slice of the internet, Two Twenty One, is where I share my latest home improvement projects, furniture makeovers, crafts, recipes and home & seasonal decor ideas. I am beyond excited to join Jen and the rest of the IHeart Organizing team!

Reader Space: A Glorious Gift Wrap Station

I truly love when you all pop over your proudly organized spaces.  In fact, in terms of blogging, I don't think much makes me happier.  I really enjoy celebrating with you, sharing your ideas and utilizing your tips and tricks within the projects we also do in our own home.

Today's storage project is a perfect example of how you inspire me.  Although we already have a gift wrap station that we use frequently and are over-the-moon happy with, the combination of pieces selected for this project got my wheels turning.

Maria blogs over at Graceful Order and we are kindred organizing spirits.  I love that she enjoys sharing practical solutions, yet you can also tell she puts a piece of her heart into everything she works on.  Her recent gift wrap storage station is no exception; created from a combination of thought and attention to detail, it is sure to keep her in the giving spirit year after year.

But if you are like me and already have a gift wrap station, or maybe don't find the need for so much storage dedicated to a single activity, I urge you to read on and check out the organizational items she selected for this project anyway.  This smart little setup could be used in endless ways, and I hope it sparks and idea or two for you as well.

What is the main function of the space?

"When we moved into our home eleven years ago, my husband and I had so many plans for our home. We wanted to build a pool, remodel the kitchen, build out the closets and have wrap-around storage in our garage. My awesome husband, who happens to be super handy, decided to tackle the garage project first since he couldn't exactly build the pool (although I'm sure he toyed with the idea). I wanted storage for all of our entertaining items and a designated space for all of my gift wrapping supplies. I thought I needed a full cabinet but it tuned out that half the cabinet was plenty of space (the remainder of the items are party supplies)."


Any superstar tips for keeping it organized? 

"Keeping this space organized is pretty easy since everything has a home. Even when I am in a rush and I can't put everything back right away, it is a breeze to quickly get it back in order. A tip that I have is to not over-buy items. I am guilty of buying way too much gift wrapping paper because I love the patterns and then I end up using a gift bag when I am in a time crunch. Right now my gift wrapping drawer is completely full so when that cute paper at HomeGoods starts to whisper to me during checkout, I look in the other direction. By the way, why do they always put the gift wrap bins by the checkout area? They probably know that we have already lowered our defenses and are more susceptible to pretty floral prints! There's a master plan behind this, I tell ya!"


What items did you find were essential when organizing this space and why? 

"Adding drawers to the cabinets made a huge difference in how organized the space remains. This space has pretty much looked like this for 11 years and only the items change but the systems stay the same. The drawers make it so easy to put things back where they belong. I also think that adding the bins that hold birthday cards and an area to place extra gifts made a huge difference. I can walk away from this space with a wrapped gift and even a card in hand." 

What did you do to go the extra mile and "make it pretty"?

"It's not too difficult to make this space pretty because gift wrap and bows are already beautiful. I did separate the bows into color families using inexpensive plastic shoe boxes. This makes the drawers look neater but also helps me wrap items faster without making a mess, while looking for the right color bow."


How has it impacted your life for the better?

"I have to say that during the holidays or months that are full of birthdays, having this gift wrapping station is awesome! Putting gifts together can be hectic when you have little ones that are constantly invited to birthday parties. I used to have rolls of gift wrap in one closet and greeting cards in another and now I have everything in one spot and it's one thing less to stress about. Seriously, it's the little things that make a huge difference. Anything that brings more order and calm to my home has my vote. Mind you I am writing this while my youngest is crying hysterically over an animal cracker whose head fell off. Sigh. If anyone needs me I will be in my kitchen re-attaching the head of an edible hippo."

Maria's handy husband built her the cabinets of her dreams, and after a few trips to IKEA, she was able to customize them to create the exact storage she desired for her party and gift wrap supplies.  Looking at the combination of wire and solid drawers, I can think of so many ways that these additions would take any storage cabinet to the next level.  Pair the drawers with additional interior organizers and dividers and you have yourself a winning combination.  Truly, anytime you can create pull-out storage solutions, you are making your life a trillion times easier.

This setup would work beautifully for children's toys and clothing, crafts, home decor accessories, garage maintenance items, cleaning supplies, a pantry, linens and even home office products.

Here are my favorite IKEA pull out storage components, many of which come with the necessary hardware/rails for easy installation.

1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8

As always, I am so grateful that Maria took the time to share her project and story with me and also allowed me to share it with all of you.  Let's keep the momentum going and continue to celebrate each and every organizing project we tackle and accomplish together!  You can see more of Maria's project and snag every last detail of the story on her blog here.

How would you make the most of this splendid cabinet setup? 

*  All images courtesy of Graceful Order

 

ATTENTION!!  Want to be featured in a Reader Space edition?  Have an awesome organizing story to share?  I am looking for projects that have made a positive impact to your life, big or small.  They can be anything from an organized drawer or cabinet to an entire room.  Please submit your story and photos to iheartreaderspace@gmail.com, and I would heart to feature them right here on the blog!!  Photos should be high resolution and taken in natural day-light if possible.  Please include a description of the project and how it has changed your life or routine for the better!  Oh, and no worries my friends, we will NEVER judge "before" pictures because that just wouldn't be nice!  Only love goes on at this blog!

IHeart Lettered & Lined Art! And a GIVEAWAY!

I always know that I have made a good choice about something when I continue to receive comments and source questions about it for a long time after I post about it.  One example of this is the framed Stain Removal art I added to our laundry room.

I had purchased the art from a shop that was new to me at the time, but has since become one of my favorites and also a very long time blog sponsor.  Say hello to Lettered & Lined.

Lettered & Lined was founded on the idea that information can be beautiful, and art can serve a purpose beyond the aesthetic. They passionately create art that compromises neither form nor function.

Lettered & Lined Founder, Kelly Bernal, has been an artist and graphic designer for more than 15 years. As she was renovating her 100-year-old house to create new, rejuvenated spaces for her family, Kelly was inspired to create prints with a purpose for each room of the home. These laundry, kitchen and nursery prints were launched as Lettered & Lined's first products. The rest, as they say, is history!

Today, we are partnering up in a BIG way!  One lucky iHeart Organizing reader is going to receive a $200 credit to Lettered & Lined and this excites me to no end!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

From now through Wednesday, September 30th, Lettered & Lined is offering 10% off to iHeart Organizing readers with the code iheart10 at checkout. No time like the present to get your home decked out with fabulous prints!

Good luck everyone!

Must be 18 years old or older. Open to EVERYONE.  No purchase necessary to win. All rules and entries must be followed to be eligible to win. Winner will be selected at random using rafflecopter.com and will be announced on original blog post upon drawing. IHeart Organizing official giveaway entry rules can always be found here.

Do it Yourself: Floating Laminate Floor Installation

We have finally 100% completed our flooring install.  It was about 90% done for a few months now, only waiting for some specific finishing cuts and transition pieces... Funny how we get a project to a point of being done enough to use it and work around it and then put off those last few hours of finishing work.  Don't follow our lead on that. #wink

We have been receiving quite a few emails with questions regarding our upper level flooring selection.  Why didn't we install it under the cabinets?  Why did we select laminate?  Does it show dog hair and dirt?  Is it loud?  How has it been holding up?  How did we install it?

And now that we are finally finished with the installation process, we are finally going to answer all of those questions and more today.  

Our first step was to source and purchase the flooring.  Here are some of the items we considered while searching for our floors:

• Our home's existing aesthetic/finishes - We installed TrafficMaster Allure Vintage Oak Cinnamon Resilient Vinyl Plank Flooring in our bathrooms (guest and main) and throughout our lower level a few years ago, as well as beautiful American Walnut stained wood stairs.  It was important to find something that would compliment our existing flooring finishes. 
• Durability - Dogs and kids and a Jen, oh my!  Finding something that could stand up to heavy wear and traffic was a must.
• Style - We set out to find an oak hardwood or something that achieved the same look.
• Cost - Price is always a factor with any project we do, as well as ensuring we stay on budget and consider all of the high/low options.
• Installation - We really wanted to try and find a flooring we felt comfortable tackling on our own.  The installation of flooring can often times cost more than the actual floors themselves. 
• Ratings - It is always important to look for photos and testimonials of the items we are investing in.

We sourced flooring samples from Home Depot, Lowes, Lumber Liquidators, Build Direct and Best Laminate. Some samples were ordered online while others were picked up right within local stores.  We continuously compared samples in different areas of our main living spaces at different times of the day until we whittled our pile down to all of our favorites.

We fell in love with a pre-finished oak hardwood, however, it was the first one to fail our key test.  And it failed badly.  We took a key and rubbed it across the surface of each sample to see how easily it would be scratched and marred.  The true hardwood took on the most damage while the floor we ultimately selected fared quite well.  After considering all of the items above, we ultimately selected Home Decorators Collection Cotton Valley Oak Floating Laminate.  It was nice and thick, wasn't too orange/red, seemed quite durable, matched well with our existing flooring, looked similar to the inspiration oak hardwood and we could install it ourselves.  To top things off, the price was great and came in far under our estimated flooring budget.  Winner, winner!

So what is a laminate floating floor?  Here is the technical definition I found on Google for you -

"A floating floor is a floor that does not need to be nailed or glued to the sub-floor. The term floating floor refers to the installation method, but is often used synonymously with laminate flooring but is applied now to other coverings such as floating tile systems and vinyl flooring in a domestic context."


To prepare for our order, we measured our entire upper level square footage, and did not subtract out anything the floor would be installed around.  We knew there would be some waste and we didn't want to end up without enough, so we over-purchased.  We ordered a total of 42 boxes of flooring, 6 rolls of underlayment foam and two transition pieces (to install where our laminate flooring meets carpeting).

The first step was to install the underlayment foam.  Some floating floors will have this pre-attached, however, ours did not.  The underlayment acts as a barrier between the floating floors and the sub-floor.  The thicker the foam underlayment, the quieter and cushier your floor will become (the underlayment is available in a variety of thicknesses and qualities at various price points).

Our underlayment foam had an adhesive edge, however, we also opted to staple it down to prevent any shifting during installation.

As you can see above, we decided to install our flooring to run parallel to the longest main wall.  Our previous floors were installed in the same manner and we preferred the look and felt it made the room appear longer and wider.  The first row was installed with the flooring tongue facing the wall, about 3/8" away from wall edge to allow for expansion.  We also started the row with a piece cut in half to ultimately create a staggered effect.

The best part?  The only tools we needed for the majority of the installation were:

• Tape Measure
• Pencil
• Miter Saw

I know right?  And to show how truly easy it was to click the floor together, I made you the most anticlimactic video in all of the DIY land.

Flooring from Jen Jones on Vimeo.

But as you know, anticlimactic is a VERY good thing in the world of DIY!  We don't want challenges and frustrations, we want easy-to-install floors!

Just measure and cut...

And then place and lock by sliding each new piece of flooring into the over-lapping end joints and pushing down to engage (the image above was a specific angle cut for the hallway, majority of the cuts in the main living areas were 90 degree angles).

One piece after another, pulling from random boxes and staggering along the way for a good grain variation.

When it came to the kitchen, we actually had to install our cabinets and island first, and our flooring second.  It is important to remain cautious of the amount of weight being added to the tops of the floors because they will naturally expand and contract with the weather/temperature changes.  This is also why it is important not to place the flooring tight up to any of the wall or cabinet edges.  The inability to naturally expand and contract may cause the floor to buckle, and that is not a risk we wanted to take knowing how heavy our cabinets paired with the quartz counters would become.

Our cabinets were installed on legs (that were provided with the cabinets), while our custom center island came with a built-up base.  To ensure that our dishwasher and fridge panels were installed at the appropriate heights, we did place temporary pieces of flooring down for measuring purposes and to keep things level until the remainder of the floors were run through the kitchen.

As you can see below, the floors were installed up to the legs under the outer cabinets and with a very small gap around the island base.

Once our oven/downdraft situation is finalized and installed correctly, we will add the final pieces of toe-kick to our island, as well as matching quarter round.  The IKEA white toe-kick is designed to clip right to the legs below their cabinets, yet on top of the floors (we had to rip the toe-kick trim to the correct height).

Although we did not install the cabinets on top of the flooring, our appliances sit on top of the floors for a seamless look (and to make appliance swap-outs and repairs easy down the road).

The image above is how we had been living with our hallway for the past few months.  Up until the hallway, the floor only required straight, 90 degree cuts.  However, our hallway was a combination of doors and angles and took almost as long as the living/kitchen area combined.

Bryan tried installing the flooring both with a door jamb installed and with it completely removed.  Although he thought he would save a little time but not removing the jamb, he ultimately decided it was much easier to just take them out all together until the floors were done.  Above is our guest bedroom door with the jamb still attached.  The floor needed to run under the jamb, so the jamb had to be shortened with our oscillating tool to slide over the top of the floors (ultimately making it easier to just remove future doors).

When it came to the smaller angle cuts, he had to get a little more creative.  For those with a straight edge, he used his sliding t-bevel to determine the exact angle and measurements.

While smaller pieces and those with multiple points were planned and cut on scrap paper first.

A combination of his jig saw, miter saw and table saw helped him with the more intricate cuts.

Door jamb completely removed and much easier to work around!

Once the floors were completely installed, it was time to install the new transition pieces.  Although we had transitions with our previous laminate, they were not the same/compatible with the new flooring.  We began by removing the old metal strips and screwing in the new ones (which are included in the packaging with the transition pieces).

Step One - Remove previous transition hardware

Step Two - Measure door opening

Step Three - Cut metal transition piece to size with a snips

Step Four - Screw new transition strip in place

Step Five - Measure and cut door stop moulding notch from transition piece with jig saw

Step Six - Snap transition piece into installed hardware

And celebrate, because you just finished installing your floors!

Here is a shot of the new laminate floor paired with our previously existing bathroom vinyl plank flooring.

The floor and door trim can then be installed on top of the floating floor (affixed to the walls, not to the flooring).  We went with this base trim and casing from Home Depot.

We used a jig saw to cut out our heat registers, which we then glammed up with pretty covers.

Once our project was complete, we had a total of five extra boxes and one extra underlayment roll, which we were able to return to the store.  Total cost of the flooring, transition pieces and underlayment came in at around $1300.00.

Now, let's take a moment to chat about how happy we are with our flooring choice.

I wouldn't trade them for any other floors as of this very moment.

These floors have held up really well to our daily use, even as we continue construction on top of them.  Not a single scratch has been found yet, they look as beautiful as the day we installed them (even if that was just last week for some of the pieces, ha).

They hide dirt which is probably a good and bad thing, but I appreciate that I am not worried about sweeping/mopping around the clock.  We do have dogs and if they come in with wet paws, the prints do not completely vanish once dry.  And the white dog hair is easily spotted.

We are happy with the overall sound barrier the underlayment seems to provide, our large dogs will most likely sound like horses on any flooring.  However, our open concept does tend to bounce sound a little more, while the floors do a good job absorbing much of it.  I keep telling Bryan more rugs are also the answer.

To maintain the floors, I was using a homemade mixture and my spin mop, but I wasn't 100% happy with the results.  After some reading, I learned that many home solutions can slowly dull the protective floor finish, as can using too much water.  So I made the switch to Bona from Home Depot and it cleans so much better than anything I had made myself prior.

Every day or two I use a microfiber dust mop just to pick up hair and dust.

And every week or two (or as needed), I use a spray mop paired with a microfiber head and the Bona.  The floors dry polished and completely streak free.

We are "floored" at how much we love these new floors, and how they have really created an expansive and cohesive flow throughout our upper level, and even throughout our entire home.

I hope I answered all of your questions, but if not, feel free to leave any new ones in the comments below and we will do our best to keep the post updated with anything we may have missed.

This post was in no way sponsored.  We personally purchased all of the items we talked about today and are happy to share our true experience.