The picture says it all. The floors turned out fantastic. Now we must finished the baseboards and walls. We will be living in the house in 5 more day – still without a kitchen. I will protect these floor like a maniac. I am going to buy The cardboard roll stuff, called Ram Board, show below, while we paint and work on various other things.
I am super pleased with the color and finish. Here’s a close up look at the living room.
Yay!
So our floor guy has started on the house. He has sanded two bedrooms, and like a kid I can’t wait to show the improvement.
The first bedroom has some damage on the floor from someone moving furniture, but it will barely show once the stain is applied.
In our bungalow, like most all bungalows from this time period (1923) the upstairs floors are all pine and the first floor is oak, except the kitchen which is maple. We are not doing the kitchen this time around, as bigger changes for the kitchen are planned in the future.
Here is the before shot of bedroom one: (sorry it’s blurry I didn’t have my glasses with me at the time)
” Where are my glasses? ” <- I say that a million times a day.
before bedroom 1
They spilled paint all over the place, and I really can’t say what else the prior people did to this poor floor.
Here is the the same floor sanded:
bedroom 1 sanded
You can see the marks but, they do not concern me. It’s a small room. Once it is furnished, it will look fab.
Bedroom two, on the other hand, looks like brand new wood. It’s just about perfect. See below.
bedroom 2 sanded
We will be picking stain(s) today or tomorrow and hope to be back in the house in about 8 days. I am not sure whether the upstairs will be as dark as the first floor, different wood and all. I am leaning on making it lighter upstairs (?) I am still pondering this, so any opinions are appreciated. I don’t know much about stain on pine, other than it takes it up differently. For me, that knowledge isn’t very descriptive of the final look…..lol.
With this work being done we are out of the house, and slowly waking up to the huge job of picking and choosing what will find a spot in the house and what items we will just let go. I am picking from items that I have saved through the entire downsizing process. This is the final cut if you will, who will get chopped?
Less is more…….I keep telling myself.
“My journey to living better with less.”
Cheers!
Well for those who I have met through this concept of renovations, I have one thing to ask/say; How do you possibly do all the work and still have time to blog about it. Wow… I am so impress with you all!
So here’s my current deal: I am working on the kitchen while we also prepare the floors for refinishing. We are basically camping at the house due to the fact that we are not moving in until the floors are completed. That means an air mattress, and a hot plate and limited clothing and all the other useful things you have in your own home….like drawers and hangers, and something other than lawn chairs to cozy up on after a huge day of work.
To make a long story short about the kitchen: this is our semi redo, with major work to be done later down the road. We plan to move all the appliances and the outside door at some point in time. But for now I am changing it enough to satisfy our need to make it our own.
I stripped the floors down to the wood. Maple covered with a black tar-like substance that I think has asbestos in it. Anyway I will be covering that this time around, and next time they will be restored to the maple. I had to remove two layer of floor coverings, some people have found much worse. One woman I know found tile and linoleum, three layers of it on top of carpet…..that is just too gross for me to think about.
For now we are going to tile with Armstrong peel and stick black and white vinyl tiles. Apartment Therapy followers will recognize the strip pattern, I think this will work well in the space and I also think it’s cute and fresh. One thing you all should know – you can only get this tile from Menards on-line. I used to be able to go to Home Depot or Lowe’s and get it any day of the week.
click to enlarge
We are replacing the tiny counter with a wood, and keeping the original cupboards be leaving the top doors off. Our appliances are black, and rather large. Everything will just fit, but I have to solve the problem of no work area, prep area. We are thinking of making/buying a piece that would extend out from the wall between the outside door and the doorway to the small room off the kitchen where the frig will be. I will let you see what we come up with once we are finished.
I have been working for the last year and a half to become somewhat of a minimalist. The open cabinets will help to keep me in check, because I cant hide clutter this way, everything will be in the open. We will have a pantry, (the old coat closet) and I plan to have that super organized. I can dream, can’t I?
click to enlarge
Forgot to mention, the back splash was a crooked nightmare without any grout. This is a small area and I am planning on subway tiles. Simple and somewhat predicable, but I like the era of the tiles and I believe they will be perfect for this 1923 house.
There’s one wall I don’t have a photo of (atm) and it has a two double hung windows next to each other. The wood work will remain white, and currently I am thinking of a red-orange accent wall to make the window pop. This may change at any moment – as with a black and white kitchen your options are endless. My inspiration, a lily, had wilted in the process of matching….but it’s close.
I have a few photo additions to my garden as well check it out if you like….. Cheers!
This is the dining room. As you can see the floors need a total overhaul. But the leaded cabinets are in great shape. These windows look out onto the back yard.
We have chandelier that we bought at a estate auction while we were living in the Dallas area. It’s circa 1930’s and it has been in every home we owned since then, so as soon as it is in, the house will feel more like it’s ours.
Even if I wanted I new chandelier I don’t think I could bare to change something that has been a constant in our lives.
At least not yet.
I actually like the chandelier that is in the photo. I may be able to paint it and re-purpose it. That would be a huge win.
Project1923 