If You're Going to Do a Home Improvement Project...

know up front that your home will be a disaster for a short period of time.

We decided to replace our living room, hallway, kitchen, and dining area flooring. We were so excited when the flooring came in and we could only imagine how great it would look! We hired a friend of mine's husband to install it all and it quickly snowballed into more and more projects. I decided if we were ripping out floors, I would really like to redo the pantry. So we tore out the wire shelving and our neighbor graciously offered to help install wood shelving. So then I thought, before Matt came to do that, I should paint the pantry. Then we decided that if we were going to be tearing apart the living room, we should go ahead and replace the tv and tv stand. So Alan went to Best Buy and picked out a tv and stand. Then I figured our feet would get cold walking on the new flooring, so I made a trek to Gaffney's Rug & Home with Mom and Steph. Mom generously bought a huge rug for the living room. Now, 1 month after the initial order of flooring materials was placed, I am finally sitting in a kitchen with clean, fresh floors. I can go in the living room and see our new rug, tv, stand, and floors. It's like a whole new house! Oh, and I forgot one more project...Alan decided after Matt put in shelving, we should have a pantry light. So he sent me to Lowe's to get the light and other necessary materials. The salesman sold me some crap we couldn't use but to his credit, Alan did install a light today! So now I can see the food I am looking for in the pantry.

Lesson learned: If you're going to do home improvements, be prepared to live in a disaster area for a short period of time. It will be worth it in the end.