I have not done it myself as I had freinds who did theirs and you can actually see where they sanded for too long or have not done the polish right etc and it looks awful. I am far too fussy to have things not quite right and in our case the boards are paritcularly soft (though not pine) so th eslightest error will stand out.

Firstly I would pull up carpet in a small room and get someone who knows timber to come in and have a look to see whether its a hard wood or a soft wood floor. Then you'll need to pull out any staples and get a putty for the holes. Knock in any nails that have lifted then start sanding. Depending on the colour you want you CAN put it straight on to the floor OR you can apply the colour to the finishing product (ie gloss if you want shine) which softens a harder colour. You can also mix and match various shades to create a colour that you really like.

Ours was done by a professional and he used 3 different colours blended and then put it in the gloss and the final result was lovely.

A few things to consider:

1 - in the Winter floor boards are FREEZING and I mean really really cold.
2 - they look great but are noisy
3 - air can pass easily through them so cold in the winter and can actually be warmed and retain some heat from summer winds
4 - doing them yourself WILL save money but I recommend practising in a small room/area first so if you don't quite get the hang of it, it will not be too much to replace the carpet

I do recommend getting a few quotes from professionals for doing the floorboards, as well as someone who does new carpet and possibly even doing a floating floor.

It will be handy to know what you might be up for incase the job is more challenging than you expectedand you need someone in to finish it.

I am all for DIY so I say go for it - I wish I had the guts to do floorboards myself, I'd havwe the entire house done and fill it with rugs

Nae x