One of the projects I am working on is refinishing the hardwood floors in our downstairs. We hired someone to come in with the big sander. We have done that job ourselves in the past, but it is so tiring and so time consuming that once we got an estimate on how much it would be to hire a professional to do it, we decided it was well worth the money.

Yesterday I stained the floor. I am incredibly disappointed with the way that the stain is taking. I am not sure why it looks splotchy or why the stain is taking to the wood much darker than I thought it would be.

Instead of sitting in the corner crying, which I seriously considered. Or calling the contractor, which I also seriously considered. I decided to ignore it for a few days and see if it looks any better. Maybe magic fairies will come in the night and fix it. A girl can dream, right?

A Comedy of Errors shares her renovation blues. Oh how I can relate to the haiku that she wrote:

I bought an old spent house
Made it new and wonderful
Now I'm old and spent.

At Jeff's Home Renovation we hear that he will never wash dishes by hand again. Oh, I hear you. I hope to never be without a dishwasher again. Now that we have a new dishwasher and not one that is 20+ years old I can't believe that I can run it and still carry on a conversation in the room.

Our Big Yellow House shows how they turned their attic into an au pair suite. Sadly, just like my butler's pantry which is missing the butler, the au pair suite does not come with an au pair.

This Old Vancouver House renovates their front yard. I really want to know how they get their grass so green and lush. North 54th has just installed a clawfoot shower. I don't think I have seen one of these before. It makes my clawfoot tub seem so ordinary.

When she isn't writing about her life at Notes from the Trenches, Chris is working to rescue her house from a century of neglect and bad taste. She can also be found at DIY This N'That, where she blogs about home improvement and design ideas.