If I had a dollar for every hour I have spent sitting in Lowes, or Home Depot, or Lumber Liquidators, or many other flooring stores, staring at floors - then I would have enough money to afford the hardwood floors of my dreams. But I don't.
So we FINALLY made a flooring decision, and trust me it was not easy. So many factors weighed in, including; dogs, mess, durability, floor layout direction (seems silly but as Art explained it, we had some major issues), and of course affordability. So I'm sorry to say we will not be putting in hardwoods. Instead (muster up your excitement again, I know you're feeling let down) we're going to put in a travertine kitchen and entry way and carpet throughout the rest. We did find a GREAT deal on carpet at a nice local place - totally beat Home Depot and the carpet is far nicer. At first we were feeling like we copped out, but we decided for the amount of projects to be done it's going to be really nice to have someone else come in and lay the carpet. And after the dumpster I filled today and the walls that are now ready to be improved, I'll be ready for someone else to help.
And if you want to know what color the carpet is, just think of Rudy and Lulu and then you'll know!