dg.. well a bunch of things... 1 - you must be one of the only people on here doing well for yourself now!! =) LOL!! 2- Is this an apartment or condo?? B/C if an apartment this is a LOT of money and time to put into something you don't own.. OK now back to the real questions.. 3- The brick.. The fake brick things are bad.. I know people who have them and they do not have that same feeling... or real feeling as real brick... Plus for how much they fuck up the wall its worth to do real brik 4- Real brick is good.. but BIG investment.. lots of monety lots of time to install Plus you have to figure out way to get HUNDREDS of pounds to your apatment and if you have to ever remove a lot to get rid of.. BUT with the bricks.. you can alter them so they stick out randomly along the wall to put tealights in glass containers.. LOOKS GREAT 5 - OK the floor.. the sanders are not that hard.. gotta get one and get three different grits... One that strips floor then two after that to help smooth it out.. also need small one to do edges and corners.. after that that.. Floor must be cleaned fully then buffed.. after buff .. you can take .. it almost looks like a sqeegue... and stain the floor whatever color you like.. dry sand and little more stain.. the dry stain buff and cover with a sealer.. that will give finished look and help protect floor from stains and problems.. its a lot of info I know!!! later