Who knows what the housing market will be in 2 years? I would solve all my problems with the look by changing decor rather than give up several months of 2 years of my life to reflooring someplace I'm leaving in 24 months --but....

Does the piano stay?

I hear ya’….but the PLAN is to love in 2 years. If it’s longer than that I think I’ll go outta my mind. Have already lived with this eyesore too long. I know it’s not horrific, but it’s pretty dated. 🫤

And the piano will probably stay unless one of our sons moves to a larger place and can take it.

The unfinished wood idea is probably a great idea. The other needs refinishing as well.
Hadn’t thought of that. Thank you!

*MOVE not love 😏

The expense of a move out, storage of all including piano, the existing wood SO dark that nobody else really wants it ......NO. is the answer.

Bite the bullet/rip it all for a decent, lighter more forgiving engineered floor everywhere. Or leave it alone . Sorry. That's the only way to recoup any of what you spend and less disruptive as well. The sand on site concept ? I wouldn't do it.

Actually? For two years? I might not do it at all. Flooring doesn't make up for a poor design with a living/dining space feeling like a hallway in a very narrow and deep home with no real sense of entry.. Compensate the bad flooring/design with pricing of the house. The next place you go will have you wanting changes, as is always the case.

^ agree with Jan - a full house flooring change is a disruptive undertaking not to be taken lightly, throw down some neutral sisal rugs and live with it if you’re moving in the next few years

I have an engineered wood floor we put in almost thirty years and it has worked well. Even had a flashing leak and water traveled to to the floor and warped it, but after a month it was all back to normal. My one word of CAUTION…it is glued to subfloor…or at least mine was. You can not take parts up and reuse elsewhere during a renovation…say if your kitchen cabinets are moving . If you had solid wood you could weave the new wood and stain to match or refinish everything. Second thing is you would be unlikely to ever switch it out because engineered is not as thick as solid wood and all your trim would be at the wrong elevation.

Looks like you've been fighting this space for a long time, but I think if you want it to look nice, you need to work with it for what it is, and it will "show" much better when it comes time to sell.

Take away the console table entirely. Is it really necessary to have that dining table where it is? If so, get a square glass one and fascinating modern chairs. If you don't need a dining area there, get deep lounge chairs and a cocktail table. Whichever, get rid of the mirror and put very large art there.

I would get a curved lush sofa -- even serpentine -- to embrace the piano area and add plants -- maybe even a tree. I'd get a great floor lamp for the piano. I'd put down a rug to define the piano area.

I personally would want to change the front door to natural wood and get a stunning foyer light. No round entry rug. After getting rid of the console table I'd probably take away that one art piece and run a gallery of large framed photos down the wall.

It's meant to be a grand entry and lounge. Silly, okay, but it's never going to be a family room. Presumably there are other places to eat meals and watch TV?

Living through hardwood floor refinishing is a mess but SO worth it. Removing tile is worse. However - given you have a dog in the house, the hardwood floor may not hold up as well as really good quality luxury vinyl, and if your new hardwood is all scratched when you go to sell that won’t help. Also, dogs sometimes find hardwood fllors hard for walking and can affect their hips over time. Treat your self to some new carpet you really love that enhances the whole look until you can move on.

yeah, removing tile = jackhammer. it's a disaster, not something you would enjoy.

get a large, colorful runner to put over the tile, or even a piece of carpet (with finished edges) that's a close match to the carpet you have. just so you don't have to look at it. you'll never recoup the cost and disruption.

Bite the bullet and replace all of it now with a mid toned wood floor. You will kick yourself for not doing it sooner. The space will feel so much larger

Leave family room floor as is. For the rest of the space look into indoor/out door carpet. I like Stanton products. It will come off the bolt 14', so very little waste. Cover it all, go up the stairs with it.

Maybe if all the floors are done you might not want to move whow knows.

Assuming again @mytwocents, that you are in one of your bad moods. Please explain how 14' wide carpet can be a tile. Mind your comments. And as to "throw up", must you be so crass, so often?

For the umpteenth time, my suggestions are not directed to you...except for this one.

@ my two cents

The living dining at entry is clearly that , and NOT a family room - which seems to be past the baby gate. It already seems to have a dark wood floor, which was probably an inexpensive lower quality.

@Bridget Ermin

Changing carpets to anything else isn't a value, the next owner will rip, no matter how clean. Sand on site will be an arduous task........

The only two things that make sense, are suffer a couple more years or..........rip it all, and replace with a nice 9/16 0r 3/4 inch engineered floor. Frankly, EVEN a decent LVP, ( horrors, it's PLASTIC ) would be less offensive than the multiple floors : )

I'd ask myself as to location, the real estate prices in the neighborhood. Have other folks renovated etc.

I'd also ask......what if the move doesn't happen at all? Given LIFE is what happens as you plan something else.

I'd remove all the flooring and look for a reasonably priced light European Oak engineered hardwood floor. Flooret has a product at $5.50 /sqft. Silvan. Made in Sweden. Not in China. 7.21” x 78.74” x 9.2 mm. The reasonable price for a quality product comes for the 0.6mm harwood layer. You will not be able to easily sand and refinish it another color. You can sand the clearcoat and recoat that. Tech specs

Anza Silvan Resilient Hardwood Collection Specifications - Flooret.pdf - Google Drive

Get a box or at least 3 samples to see the tone variation in your space.

Thank you for that suggestion. I like that it’s not from China (abs that it’s Swedish…my husband is 1/2 Swedish 😁). Our current wood flooring is also engineered, and can’t be refinished another color. I’ll take a look.