Walk In The (Laminate, Distressed, Grey-Undertoned) Park

This past weekend was a fun weekend for all things #restoringwoodland. We got to look at floors, which, I thought was going to be a walk in the (laminate) park.

It's not.

It's brutal.

Like the abundance of shades of white available for your frustration, did you know there are 450 variations of "hardwood" flooring? We're going for laminate, but that didn't do much to narrow it down. There are grey undertones, gold undertones, yellow undertones, green undertones. Texture or no texture. Wide or thin (or, for hair-pulling fun, multi-width!). Long or short. I think we stressed out over samples of Smoked Chestnut and Seared Chestnut for a good 45 minutes before we realized they were virtually exactly the same. I mean... literally the same. We were actually looking at two samples of Smoked Chetsnut.

We went to a few different stores, took multiple photos and grabbed multiple samples, and finally have it narrowed down to what we think we want. As we were paying for two samples at Lowe's, the well-meaning cashier asked us if we were picking our flooring (oy) and then held up our two samples for her own analysis. "Hmm," she announced dramatically. "I have a definite front runner. But I won't say which one." It was a ploy to get us to ask her, eagerly, which was her pick, but I was so tired and annoyed I just took the bag from her hand and said. "Ok. Thanks!" Paul stayed back to ask which one she preferred, politely, as I flounced off to the car. I didn't ask him which she picked though. So, take that.

Anyway. The photo above is close to what we like - but not the exact one that we consider our front runner right now. We've decided we're grey-undertones, texture, vintage/reclaimed inspired, wide-plank fans.

While looking at flooring, we passed by the toilets - and Paul about had a meltdown. "Why are there, literally, 175 different toilets to choose from? Are they really THAT different? I can guarantee you, no one ever sits down on a toilet to proclaim: 'oh. This feels like a $179 toilet... not a $350 dollar toilet...'" I agreed with him out loud, although I thought back to a few rickety-toilets at gas stations, for example, that I'd eyed cautiously before deciding I was better off holding it. Those definitely weren't $350 toilets, amiright.

Pray for us. Haha. We're getting down to the final phases of this restoration, and the light at the end of the tunnel is dim but approaching. New home, here we come!