I'm taking a break from the renovation updates to provide a few tidbits on cleaning and caring for hardwood floors. Andrew and I had hardwood floors at our last home; however, we had them put down and stained in place so I felt like I could be a bit more rough with them.

This time around, we decided to go with a prefinished product because we really did not want to have to deal with how invasive the traditional lay/stain in place deal ends up being...

I don't  know about you guys, but I'd rather not have to pack up all of my belongings up, move them into storage, move them back to the house and deal with the dust factor for the next two years, etc.

So prefinished it is! As I explained in my first post, we've started  putting the flooring down (just the first floor thus far) and I am TOTALLY in love with it. Each piece is pretty unique, some much darker or lighter than others, and we decided to go with a heart pine so they look extremely imperfect and rustic :)

The only issue is.... I have been MAJORLY stressed out over finding the perfect cleaning product for my new love. The "old" me would have just busted out the swiffer mop and gone to town, but because we made such an investment in our new flooring I really want it to look fabulous for years to come..

Enter Bona hardwood floor cleaner. We actually had Bona hardwood floors at our last home; however, the darn cleaning products can be pretty expensive, so most of the time I just used a little white vinegar and water (per the suggestion of our flooring guy).

So today, I finally broke down and went to Lowe's to purchase the Bona mop. It actually wasn't as expensive as I had originally expected (about $42.00 for the "jump start" cleaning system, which includes:  mop, washable mop pad, 1 bottle of cleaning solution).

I got home, used a dry dust mop to clean loose debris off first and then WENT TO TOWN with the Bona mop. The thing works like a dream, honestly! The mop is designed to spray the "right amount" of solution so you don't end up with standing water on the floor (a HUGE "no no" for hardwood floor as standing water can cause issues FAST) the mop pad is also a good size, as well as soft against the floor

Here is the Bona website for anyone else looking to get an AWESOME mop for their home!

http://www.mybonahome.com/lines/hardwood-floor-mops.html

Here is a picture of my clean dinning room floors (and a small teaser of what we've done thus far - installed decorative trim and crown, added new light fixture, painted and put up wall paper!).

Special "shout outs"  belong to the following:

My Dad (installed crown and MADE table and buffet!)
My Mom (gifted mirror)
Nancy (painted room)
Andrew's mom (installed wallpaper)
Gio (helped move the CRAZY heavy table and buffet about 10 times)

......and my fabulous husband who installed the decorative trim and new lighting fixture!!!!

Happy Sunday!

X0X0

Sarah