Extreme Makeover Dining Room Edition

So we didn't move into a house where the roof is leaking, the walls expose pipes, or there is mold that is making us all sick. We also didn't bulldoze the house and build a new one in its place. But we did move into a well kept 1955 home that needed some pretty serious cosmetic changes. The bathroom was the worst offender and therefore received attention first and I've already posted pictures of the final result. The dining room was next as is evident in the picture below. Its a bit dark, which may actually make it look better than it was. Back in October I tackled the wallpaper in there and also in the family room. We painted and changed out the light. After Christmas Justin started on the floor in the dining room. It had the carpet that was in the rest of the house in the dining area. Terrible idea, especially with two young kids. So here is what we did:

The dining area before

Here you can see the new paint and chair rail. This was the vinyl under the carpet.

And this was the vinyl under the vinyl. Isn't that fun?

And this was the tar-like glue that attached the bottom layer of vinyl to the wood floor underneath. It took Justin many days of sanding to get this layer off. It also made the biggest mess, even though we enclosed the area with plastic drop cloths.

And finally, the wood floor underneath. We still aren't totally sure if this was the subflooring or the actual wood floor, because its a bit different than the hardwoods we revealed under the carpet in the rest of the house.

Ta-da!!!! The final result. I realized I didn't get a full picture of the dining area, but I wanted to focus on the floors. You get the idea.

And this summer we want to take the vinyl in the kitchen up as well. The same two ugly layers of vinyl are under it. Yes, that does make a total of 3 layers of vinyl. And yes, that is insane!