Erin Napier On Why You Should Keep Old Hardwood Floors

Between streaming Ben Napier's Home Town: Ben's Workshop on discovery+ and catching all the latest episodes of Home Town, our TVs are almost always set to watch on of our favorite design duos. As we watch the Napiers transform old homes and craft wonders out of wood in their home base of Laurel, Mississippi, we're grateful for all the home renovation tips we've picked up along the way.

Chief among them as of late? Preserve those hardwood floors rather than opting for new flooring. As Realtor.com originally reported in a recap of "A Laurel Hug," the fifth episode of season five of Home Town, perhaps those outdated hardwood floors are well worth keeping as you update your home. For the episode, the Napiers renovate the newly-purchased abode of a recently widowed friend, Kendall, with their signature finesse and attention to detail. While the home was built in the 1940s, the duo, as always, took care to keep some of the structure's original charms.

In one such case here, rather than opt to replace the structure's original flooring, Ben and Erin took pains to keep the flooring intact and sanded it down a bit for an enhanced appearance. While the color of the wooden flooring wasn't the same in all places, Erin actually think that's a nice feature: "This is what I love about old hardwood floors...They really tell the history of the house," Erin commented in the episode.

Check out photos of the completed renovations on Kendall's home on Erin's Instagram below. It was clearly a project near and dear to the Home Town star's heart: "This house was so beautiful, even before we began, and then Kendall's story bringing her here back to Laurel after such heartbreak made it even more dear to us. This is one of our favorites of all time, the way the house had so much inherent character," she wrote. "I'm so thankful for Sawmill Monogramming who helped me make a special quilt from Kurt's words, and I'm thankful that @laurelmercantile has felt like a home and a comfort to Kendall over the years. You can shop the Simoneau house at the link in my profile, and read Kendall's blog about the #HGTVHomeTown experience. (PS I hate COVID for making me stand so far from my friend when I wanted to hug her neck.)"

We'd love to hear from you. What are your thoughts on keeping old flooring throughout a home renovation process? Are you all for it, or do you say bring on the new planks?