Sunday, June 24, 2012

DIY Floor - cheap, clean and fairly earth friendly

If I knew I was going to be doing this project ahead of time then I would have saved paper bags so I could have a "recycled" floor. I am more of a "I am going to do it right now kinda gal" so I had to buy brown paper. Luckily, I was able to buy brown paper rolls (I found them in the paint isle I guess they were used for protecting borders and carpet while you paint). They were less than five bucks a roll and I needed one and a half rolls. I will use the rest for gift wrap. I also bought a huge bottle of Elmer's glue and figured whatever I don't use I can use for arts and crafts.

The best part of this floor is the fact that you don't need a saw. When we laid laminate wood floors in our old house we were constantly cutting pieces to fit around the corners and it was very time consuming.  Another benefit was the fact that I didn't have to prep the concrete. I basically swept it.  No mopping or anything.  The spots that had paint on them (because I let my four year old daughter play Pollock while I was finishing the ceiling and walls) were easily covered up by putting extra paper down.

So far it has cost me 26 bucks.  The biggest cost will be buying the polyurethane to seal it.  I like the light color so I decided not to experiment with stain. I might however put a few notes that my husband and I have written to one another and a few pieces of art down before I polyurethane.  I figured it would make it kinda quirky and cool. 
Step one bucket with 1/2 glue and 1/2 water.  I did all the edges first.

the paper made edges easy since it had a straight edge to begin with

 Place torn pieces on top of one another to add texture
Some area's are still wet making a drastic color difference. It blends better once dried.

Wednesday, June 20, 2012

Thrift Store Stools

For three dollars I bought two stools from the local thrift store.
They are similar to these that I found online for 70 dollars each.
Spray paint and polyurethane
sanding and stencil

a high gloss finish

Come, sit and stay awhile







Monday, June 18, 2012

Carpet, Flooring, Dye - Oh My!


We need new flooring in one of our rooms which is currently just concrete. I cannot decide what to do. I have painted a concrete floor before which turned out great but I was in Houston and could easily rent a floor sander (buffer). Daron and I have laid laminate flooring before and I have considered carpet tiles - the cheap ones not the pricey ones. I would like to try the vinyl "wood planks" and have found them at a good price. I know eco friendly is bamboo and sometimes vinyl but cha ching, cha ching, cha ching!!! What to do?