Holy, Hallway!

When we moved into the house in 2007, pretty much every square inch was covered in carpet. The bedrooms and main living areas were covered in blah beige carpet and the basement in a putrid rust colored carpet that could only be appreciated in the 70's.  I knew hardwood floors were lurking beneath the beige carpet and single-handedly ripped up the carpet in the bedroom and living rooms some time ago. However, I left the carpet in the hallway and on the stairs. The stairs have vents and removing the carpet would mean disturbing the vents and having to figure out how to repair them since the carpet basically covered up the fact that whoever put the vents in destroyed the wood on the face of the steps to install the vents making it impossible to replace the vents without somehow replacing the wood that had been removed.

Sunday, I decided enough was enough. I ripped up the carpet and decided to let the hubby figure out the whole step/vent issue. It felt so good to pull back that ugly carpet and see hardwood. Carpet, if you didn't know, is practically sacrilegious in my opinion. I'm a hardwood purist. The floors could be in better condition, there are a few stains, but the end result is much better than the carpet.

Thankfully hubby had a stroke of genius and came up with a solution for the vents that I'm fond of. He built a wood frame border and used decorate steel to create removable vents for the stairs.

Hubby stained the wood to match the stairs but it didn't quite turn out to be a perfect match. However, the mismatched steps fit in well with the eclectic look of the house.

I found this burlap 84" runner on the Target clearance shelf for $28. The style and colors of the runner fit in perfectly and it's a great addition to the hallway. The runner also helps hide some the imperfections on the floor.

I've been wanting to add something to the bare hallway wall but wasn't sure what. I found these gold frames on clearance for $5 each at Home Goods. I added it to the wall along with a gold framed mirror I had. I'm still debating what pictures to add and if I want to leave as is or make it into a gallery wall, but for now, it's a welcome change from it's previous state of emptiness.

All in all I'm quite pleased with our "new and improved" hallway!