Carpet Schmarpet

We had a 'Before Party'  to show all of our friends and family the house in it's 'as is' purchase state. Apparently everyone was too busy eating chili and having fun to take pictures, because not a one evolved from the evening.  
The next day we went straight to work - I couldn't WAIT to tear up that shag carpet to reveal the gorgeous  heart pine flooring. 

Using the 'Wonder Bar' Lorie gave me - thanks Lorie!

Mike uncovers asbestos tile on the mid level and steps

Wood glorious wood!

I did a little research on the wood species commonly used in the time period our house was built: 
In the 1950s, we grew our pine trees bigger… the centers got very hard as the tree aged, and we were able to use this center — it was called “heart pine” – for cabinets and other applications where we wanted hard, dense wood. It still looked knotty. Today, we do not grow our pine trees as big, so the wood never never gets as hard. So, much of the 1950s knotty pine really is a particular sub-category called heart pine. heart pine resource
So bigger IS better

Read more: Vintage heart pine vs. today’s knotty pine — Retro Renovation