I really should not be left alone in my house. Every time I have more than a few minutes to spare, I start taking something apart.

The carpets in the living room and dining room.

The bathroom walls.

The bathroom tiles (which I painted one day since I figured I wouldn’t have the time to replace them anytime soon).

The dining room floor (that ugly linoleum under the carpets? It started to lift up from the floor and attack my socks so it’s days are numbered).

The kitchen cabinets (primed, but not painted).

And my latest … the flooring that runs through my front hall and kitchen.

It always starts innocently. With the carpets, I was just trying to get rid of the musty smell. With the bathroom, I was just trying to take down some wallpaper. With the dining room .. well those tiles were just ugly, so I didn’t mind that they decided that they should go too.

Today, while taking up staples (from the carpets) I noticed that the hardwood actually extended under the linoleum by the front door. So I lifted up the corner to see how far it went, but I couldn’t really see. I gently stuck a screwdriver under the linoleum and pried it up a bit, but that didn’t give me an answer either. So what did I do? I took off the baseboards and stuck the screwdriver under the linoleum again and started yanking away at it. It turns out that the hardwood only extended about two inches, and after that I was met with the same ugly tiles that are in the dining room. At least this confirms my thoughts that the yellow originally came from the kitchen since it didn’t seem to match anything else in the area. The problem was, after I had pulled the linoleum up that far, I couldn’t put it back down because I had also pulled up the staples holding it to the floor and they no longer wanted to go back down. Which really left me with only one option – yank it up some more.

So I’m now left with two levels in my front hall – the linoleum that covers it and the kitchen, and the tiles that were below the linoleum. And it really leaves me with only one option – rip up the rest of the linoleum (at least until the kitchen door).

Which is actually okay with me because the linoleum in the kitchen was stained anyway and I was looking for an excuse to replace it.

Some may wonder why I bought this house since I seem to just be taking it apart. Sometimes I wonder the same thing. But beyond all the little things that I don’t like about the house, there are alot of things that I do like, such as the hardwood, the huge window in the front, the small layout that is the perfect size for me, the dining room (despite the flooring). And I like fixing things. Of course if I ever have to sell it, I’m going to have to fix alot of things very fast.

Where next, the bathroom?