A Do-It-Yourself New Floor !!

Think back…, remember when grey and dusty rose were the ‘in’ colours.  Well that’s how old my carpet was. Yep… over 25 years old and time to be ripped out.  My living room has been transformed many times throughout the years. 

In 1986, when we moved into this house, the living room had green and blue shag carpeting, paneled walls and a wood stove.  After a minor fire, it was good bye wood stove and hello new carpet. We replaced the old slider window with a patio door with the intent of a deck to follow, but sadly...that hasn’t happened yet. We tore out the two small walls that separated the living area from a small entry way and this opened up the room immensely.  

Here is Holly at 6 months old sitting on the green and blue shag carpet.
I understand shag is making a comeback...
All I could think of when I saw this carpet
was an old saying from when I was in school;
"Blue and Green must never be seen, unless it's in the washing machine!"

Where ever you see pink insulation is where the room was NOT insulated. 
No wonder they put in a wood stove for some heat!
I mean seriously - Who does that?

This is the south corner of the room - the doorway is to the immediate left.

As you entered this room, there was an entry way.
We originally took these two walls down with the intent of putting up a partial wall with spindles; because that was the rage then.  But when we saw how much bigger the room looked when we removed the walls completely -
we didn't bother to create a half-wall.

New carpet, new walls, new furniture, new window.
Holly and her little friend playing on the new floor - 6 months later.

Then after a few years when sponge painting, opps I mean faux painting, was the rage I painted the walls dusty rose and grey to add some colour to the room. 

Oh, did I mention that I used to collect carousel horses? 
But please... just look at the paint.

A few years later, I decided to sponge over top of the pink and grey with some burgundy paint to splash things up a bit.  I called Tracey over and said, “What do YOU think?  I don’t think I like it.”  

“Nah…me either. Those colours just don’t look good together, it’s too much of a contrast and they don’t’ blend well.” So I said, OK – and I took the roller and swiped a solid path onto the wall.   “What do you think now?”  Tracey gasped and said, “I love it.  Do the whole room, not just one wall!”  

I had a hard time finding a clear picture of the burgundy walls.
(thank goodness for my new camera)
I forgot to mention that I also painted the cloth vertical blinds.  I wasn't sure if it would work and I was prepared to purchase new blinds if didn't, but they turned out really good. Inventive, frugal and a tad tacky,
but I was happy with them for a few years and my budget was happy too.

So we lived with the burgundy for a few more years and then I decided it was time to warm things up with some chocolate brown.  

When choosing the paint colours, I didn’t think I would like the entire room in brown so I was going to have one accent wall in chocolate and the other 3 walls in a colour two shades lighter, and the ceiling would be two shades lighter than the other 3 walls rather than a stark white.  When it was all done, I didn’t like the ceiling colour so I added some of the chocolate brown to warm it up a bit more.  While it may seem like a dark room to some, it is actually quite cozy. And I tell you, pouring that chocolate brown paint into the tray looked just like melted chocolate. Yum!  (Pictures of the brown walls to follow) 

Ok, so now it’s 2011 and it’s time to really change things up.  The carpet was a mess, but I just didn’t have the time, energy or budget to get someone in to do the work.  So my darling children said, “We’ll do it on our holidays - the first week in August.  We’ll help and we'll get it done.” 

I was so excited to get this work done; and then I got sick and I was out of work for almost the entire month of July.  So the kids had to do all the heavy work while I supervised.  Awwwwwwww.

When it came time to actually laying the floor, it was a slower process than it would normally be because I had to be very careful not to over-exert myself.  So what should have been able to be done in a day and a half - actually took 4 long days with many many breaks.  Other than sore knees and a sore back, I managed to survive it with help from the kids.   This was also good experience for Niki and Shawn and now they are excited to go home and lay the same flooring in their kitchen. The flooring is a heavy duty press and peel vinyl that comes in 3 foot planks and looks like a hardwood floor. Niki mentioned that the flooring looked just like what they have at home in their hallway.  So I gave them a sample piece to take home to see if it matches what they currently have. When they got home, they were excited to call to say that it matches the floor perfectly so when they do their kitchen it will blend nicely.

So now... Let’s take a look at the step-by-step process we went through this week. 

Step 1 – Fake illness for one full month in order to get your kids to tear out the disgusting carpet. 

Step 2 – Always tie your curtains in a knot before beginning any job.  This gives the cat something to inspect while posing for a cross stitch picture (note the picture in the background).  She forgot to curl her tail. 

Step 3 -  Unlike all your eggs, keep all your tools in one basket.  This way you have all tools readily available, at all times, wherever you are situated in the room.  Did this concept work?  No.  It should have, but it didn’t.  Therefore, tools now = eggs; don't keep them all in one basket.  It's a waste of a basket. 

Step 4 – Prep the floor – fill in any chucks of floor that you have no idea how they got there because they have been covered with carpet for 25+ years. 

Step 5 – Remove as much furniture from the room as possible, so you don’t have to keep moving it all from one side of the room to the other while you prep the floor.  We actually put some furniture out to the road in hopes that someone would come along and take it. (They always do….)

Note the warm - chocolate brown walls.  Love it.
This north wall is where the couch has sat for several years now, with matching chairs on either side on the east and west walls.

Step 6 – Bring in the new floor.  It’s time to get laid.

Step 7 – Get the ‘plum’ line just right!  The first strip is so important or the entire floor will look like the House that Jack Built.(...well don't tell anyone... it already does)

Step 8  – Hey! - Where did every body go?

Again...I wondered where the dog went... and everyone else for that matter.
Took a peek out the front door and this is what I saw.

Step 9 - Almost done…. Almost done….

I had called Tracey to see if I could borrow her knee pads, but she no longer had them, so I just used one of those garden kneeling pads.  Much like the tools, it was never at the end of the room I was at when I needed it. It was about this time that Tracey popped in the door with knee pads in her hands.  She had kindly picked some up for me when she was in the city.  What a difference. 
So before doing your floor; Step 1 - pick up knee pads.

Step 10 -  OMG One more strip.  It’s getting onto 9pm on the 4^th day and my knees and back are killing me. I can't wait to soak in a hot epson salt bath...

The finished floor:

This carpet is from my dining room and is temporary until
I find just the right one for this room.

This corner is going to be my 'cross-stitch' corner.
It still needs some TLC to get it just right... 

These next two pictures are the before and after of the south wall corner and entrance.

Before:  large bulky swivel chair removed from this room.
The video cabinet was moved from the south wall to the north wall
and the corner tv unit is gone.
The tv now sits on top of the video cabinet. The dresser the cat is sitting on is actually where the entry way walls used to be.
P.S.  the cat is not Sushi - it's Larry;  Niki and Shawn's cat.
When he visits, we all have a hard time figuring out
whose cat is walking into the room.

This is the same corner as the picture above.
Amazing difference isn't it?

Because the TV is now on the north wall where my cross stitch used to be, Santa was moved to the east wall right by the entry area.  I love this picture in this room because the colours suit it so well and Tracey pointed out how much the frame matched the floor.  Tracey has a good eye for such things. 

I think it should feel like Christmas every day so I leave Santa up year round.

Well that's a sampling of 25 years of redecorating in just one room.  I'm hoping the kitchen is next. While it needs a complete gutting and overhaul... it's only going to get a basic redecorating for now. Stay tuned to watch the transformation from wedgewood blue and dusty rose to ....????
Bonnie