Okay, so I’ve been wanting to redo the floors in my living room for, like, forever. I finally decided to go for it and picked out this “LVL dancing soft maple assembly wooden flooring.” Sounded fancy, right? Turns out, it was a bit of a project, but totally worth it in the end.

First things first, I cleared out the entire living room. This was a workout in itself! Couches, tables, rugs, everything had to go. I ended up shoving it all into the spare bedroom. It looked like a furniture explosion in there, but hey, gotta do what you gotta do.

Next up, I had to deal with the old flooring. Luckily, it was just some old, beat-up laminate, so it wasn’t too bad. I used a pry bar and a hammer, and after a bit of sweat and a few choice words, I got it all up. It made a HUGE mess, though. Dust and bits of laminate everywhere!

Then, the real fun began. I unpacked the new flooring. It came in these long planks, and I was a little intimidated, to be honest. I watched some YouTube videos on how to install it, which helped a LOT.

Installation process.

• I started by laying down an underlayment. This is basically like a thin foam sheet that helps with soundproofing and moisture.
• Then, I began snapping the planks together. They had this click-lock system, which was surprisingly easy to use. You just kinda line them up and click them into place.
• The tricky part was cutting the planks to fit around the edges of the room and doorways. I borrowed a circular saw from my neighbor (thanks, Bob!). I definitely messed up a few cuts, but thankfully I had ordered extra. Measure twice, cut once, they say. I learned that the hard way.
• Once I got all the planks down, I installed the baseboards. This really finished off the look and hid any of my slightly imperfect cuts along the walls.

It took me a couple of days, working on and off, but I finally finished! My living room looks completely transformed. The soft maple is so bright and clean-looking. And the best part? I did it myself! It was tough, but super satisfying. Now, I just need to move all that furniture back in…