Spilling All About Our Pergo Portfolio Floors
This is a sponsored post written by me on behalf of Pergo. All opinions are 100% mine.
The floors at our house have always been a bit of a…challenge. Let me back up and give you a little history: twelve years ago, we bought our then, 100 year old, house and it was definitely 100 years of dilapidation that maybe should have been torn down. But oh how we jumped at the chance to buy an old house full of “character” (and also jumped because it was most likely our one and only shot at buying into the neighborhood we really wanted to be in). Yeeeeaaaah…we sure as heck didn’t know what we were getting into, but we muddled our way through a very long and extensive top to bottom rehab. And by “muddled” I mean barely scraping pennies together to do the work that needed to be done for nearly a decade, and yes, as a matter of fact, also muddling lots of cocktail ingredients because: RENOVATIONS.
I submit to you, a “before” shot of our kitchen as an example of how the entire house looked. Prepare your retinas:
When we finally reached the portion of the program that required us to install new floors for the place, our hands were kind of tied by our purse strings. We were forced to buy the cheapest laminate flooring we could find from a rather shady discount floor shop, and have it installed by…let’s just say they were not professionals. Immediately, it was clear that the floor was not installed well or even remotely right; the boards gapped and buckled and chipped, and just…seemed like a living, breathing beast that was always shifting around and popping seams. The stairs were loose, and frankly, incredibly dangerous. Our dogs’ toenails constantly got stuck in the ever-increasing gaps, and spilling or cleaning anything up off of them was a nightmare. AND WE LIVED WITH IT FOR ELEVEN LONG YEARS.
Here’s a shot of our kitchen/great room just after the renovation where you can really see the odd “handscraped” texture and odd red-orange color of those floors:
Here’s a shot of that same area about 10 years, some additional decor, and some photography skills, later:
It’s amazing how a few rugs really help distract from an awful floor.
And that’s why, when we were given the opportunity to work with Pergo® and replace our floors with their Pergo Portfolio waterproof laminate flooring collection, I ugly-cried with joy. I’m not exaggerating. I couldn’t believe we were getting to select our new floors from the wide variety offered at Lowe’s Home Improvement.
When we went floor shopping at Lowe’s, we decided that it was critical to bring Rooster: Destroyer of Floors with us to help test and select samples. Because it seemed important and valid to have that extra input.
While there are so many gorgeous and textural Pergo laminate options, almost immediately, I (and Rooster) gravitated to Rustic Amber Chestnut. It has a beautiful, wide-plank, farmhousey floor vibe, with lots of authentic-looking and feeling texture and a lovely, golden color. It was truly the type of floor I had always envisioned for our little city farmhouse.
The flooring supplies promptly arrived and had to spend several days “acclimating” to their new environment, as new floors need to do:
And then we battened the hatches, and install began.
That Pergo Gold premium underlayment, tho…it enhances the moisture protection of the Portfolio laminate (which has WetProtect Technology for superior waterproofing), and delivers extra sound proofing, as well. AND BOY DOES IT. SUCH a vast improvement in the sound-proofing IMMEDIATELY (compared to our old floors). And don’t get me started on how water-resistant these floors are. They are TIGHT.
So how about some after shots? Here’s the kitchen with the brand new floors:
That beautiful grain and texture…even Rooster has heart eyes.
Let’s get a close up of some of that texture:
I should note that we don’t allow chickens in the house.
But yanno…if chickens WERE to get into the house…these floors make it super easy to clean up after them.
How about some side-by-side shots of the old floors and the new floors:
Left side: old orange floors. Right side: Pergo Portfolio Rustic Amber Chestnut. Same kicks, same paint-spattered jeans.
Here’s a great shot showing the difference in texture between these two floors.
Our newly-installed stairs are the part of this project that really blows my mind. They are FINALLY installed properly, and feel so solid and secure. Because they ARE solid and secure.
Gimlet looks very secure on these stairs, right?
The new floors add such texture and warmth to our little farmhouse. I could not be happier with how they look.
But let’s talk about performance.
I pursue a lot of passions in this house: cocktail-making, entertaining, decorating…being a crazy chicken lady. And let’s not forget my obsession with ALL of my animals, and my pursuit towards making their lives as fulfilling as possible by not limiting their access to our love, home, furniture…and well, floors.
So we definitely put our surfaces through the ringer. Stampeding dogs, zoomie cats, marauding chickens, cocktail spills, pet spills…
I had grown very used to spills just seeping into the cracks and gaps in our old floor (UMMMM GROSS). But it just kinda was what it was.
BUT NOT ANYMORE. DAAAAANG do these Pergo Portfolio + WetProtect floors resist spills!
THEY ARE SO EASY TO CLEAN UP! I don’t even have to put down my cocktail.
So to say that we are happy with our new Pergo Portfolio waterproof floors in Rustic Amber Chestnut would would be a laughable understatement. We are over the moon with them. They not only fit our farmhouse decor and lifestyle beautifully, but they stand up to all the chaos of our daily life.
This is a sponsored post written by me on behalf of Pergo. All opinions are 100% mine.