So yesterday was a big day. Not only did we get the phone call about our loan getting approved, but we finally had our flooring meeting. We'd been scheduled out this far because of the holidays and I had a conference that I attended last week that was out of the state. So it's been about a 4 week gap between initial selections and this appointment. Needless to say we enjoyed the experience and our sales associate was great! I was initially worried that we would have to cancel the appointment because the night before we had an ice storm. The sales associate called and said that the parking lot of their building had not been cleared. Since she was already at the store and we had arranged to have a sitter for Morgan, we went ahead with the meeting.
The appointment lasted about 1 1/2 hours. It was at Advanced Flooring and Designs. For some reason I had imagined this huge flooring store with customers coming and going. It was quite the opposite. It was an average size office room inside your typical 3 story office building. Once you enter you see carpet and hardwood samples alongside the walls. Our sales associate jumped right in and had us to start selecting our choices for the first floor. We had a fairly sizable built in budget (or at least we thought we did). We decided on hardwoods for the entire first floor. This ate up 75% of our budget. I will say that I was initially excited about Level 1 floor choices. We initially decided on the floor on the left (our cabinets and granite are right above the floor to show how it all blends). After deciding carpet and all other selections, we ended up changing our flooring to the picture on the right. The floor is a 5" Rural Living: Fall Canyon engineered hardwood. We switched due to its durability, wide plank distressed feel, and how it will provide some contrast throughout. This floor will go throughout the entire first level.
We then made our choices for the master bath. The master bath will have Sandalo Acacia Beige and Aruba 5/8" Random tile (with accent) throughout the shower, tub, and floor. This of course was an upgrade. This is how it all came together. Oh, you'll see the carpet in the picture. The carpet will go throughout the entire upstairs and basement.
The guests baths in the upstairs hallway and basement will have white semi-gloss tub and wall surround. The floor will be a vinly.
We went with the upgraded padding in areas that we have carpet. Apparently this is suppose to wear better. Honestly, I did not feel the difference...but we went for it anyway. Overall, I'm fine with the choices that we made. I still feel that it is quite challenging to envision how all of this will look once it's complete---so my anxiety level is still high. RH should invest in a simulator or computer program that will show how all of the options will go together.
The good news is that we stayed under budget. In fact, we came in $65 under budget. If there was some way to spend it---Dwight would have found it!! Having said that, he was extremely happy that we didn't spend any more. If I had my choice, we would have splurged and gotten a backsplash and would have upgraded the carpet in both the basement and throughout the upstairs.
Here are some random pictures of the selection process and how things were laid out for us as we made these decisions.
