Would we do it again?

At purchase, this was an L shaped floor-plan, with the kitchen in the middle, a bedroom wing to the left, and living areas to the right.  Each of the three segments were 900sf, and had different flooring.  Each flooring was in ok shape, but the contrasts bugged me.  More importantly, the bedroom wing was carpeting.  Carpeting may feel nice under foot, but it doesn't mix well with a lengthy list of respiratory problems.  Or indoor animals.  And that is how the cheapskate in me came to conclude that i could live with sacrificing a hunk of the rehab funds for new floors for roughly 2/3 of the home. 

Like many people, we'd love hardwood.  Unfortunately, it is not only pricey, it is not impervious to animals' claws or accidents.  Nor did it seem worthwhile to go to the time effort or expense involved in sanding and refinishing the floors to get a matching product.  Ultimately we decided that we'd go with a laminate.  A sale package at a big box store limited our choices, and our costs, and we ended up with Pergo XP Alexandria walnut.  It was rated AC 4, commercial medium trafficking,  so I had hopes it would stand up to farm life.  I also chose it because it had the least contrast to the real wood in the house.

Shown together, the differences are apparent.  Fortunately however, the kitchen, tiled with a muted travertine tile , separates them, both visually & spatially.  I was full of doubts about these choices... afraid I'd end up with a mis matched patch work of materials similar to what we started with, concerned how they'd cover in an old house, and concerned about their wear.  Being such a cheapskate frugal person, I had opted to reuse the old baseboards too, to save a few cents.  This was another opportunity for wasted time, energy and money if I'd made the wrong call.

Fortunately, now that we've spent a year living with these choices, we're in agreement that they're *good 'nuff*.  Although we had cash in hand for the rehab budget, we chose to use one of those 'interest free if paid off in x months' credit card promo deals.  The cost was the same either way, but making payments for a period lessened the total amount taken from the rehab fund.  Don't worry if that is hard to follow.  My book keeping isn't called Byzantine for no reason LOL.  Most importantly, the flooring is holding up.  Even the laundry room, where we brooded our first batch of chicks, scrubbed right up, and looks no worse for wear.  So, yes, we would do it again.