Last week we had our 80-year-old hardwood floors (red birch and douglas fir) refinished to their original glory. The three layers of polyurethane have lightened the wood and it is pristine. We mopped the entire floor twice before moving in to help seal the protective coat. It’s like a work of art.
So, of course, we’ve been incredibly careful about treating the wood well… the Velcro booties for the dogs, furniture coasters all around, and the like.
As is the way of the universe, the first scratch occurred last night (our first night here) — not by the claws of dogs but by my own carelessness. You see, we have this great new furniture (the kind you don’t even have to build yourself) and all pieces but one even came with their own little rubber pads on the legs. So last night I was rotating this end table and lo and behold, there was a nail protruding next to one leg.
Scratch goes the floor.
We’ll try to fix it. But, if not, perhaps it’s just a little mark that helps make this house our home — a reminder that nothing is perfect and that it’s OK to just let go of things.
So it goes.
2 responses so far ↓
1 Whitney // Jul 1, 2004 at 11:13 pm
Our (oak, or so Mr. Whitney tells me) floors were too beat up after eighty years to bother refinishing them, but I like to think that the greenish spot the size of a basketball right in front of the TV gives the room character.
(And the first thing we did when we took possession of the house was to rip out the wall-to-wall carpeting on the second floor.)
2 Ken Fisher // Sep 6, 2004 at 7:06 am
“Velcro booties for the dogs”
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Ken Fisher
Guide To Hardwood Floors In The
Home; Wood Flooring Options