Thursday, October 5, 2017

Herringbone Plywood Floor

Plywood Herringbone Floors

DIY- You can do it!


My temporary living room while I work on the living room floor.

I decided to do this flooring mostly based on my budget.  Walnut taste, plywood budget.  You get it.  I love the way herringbone looks.  The design is timeless and so is wood. I searched and searched for anyone who had done not only plywood, but he herringbone pattern.  I couldn't find one site.  So, here you go.  

Hindsite- as soon as I finished I said I would never do this again, kind of like childbirth.  But then you sit back and see just how beautiful that baby is.  I plan to remove nearly all the carpet in my house and this is a cheap alternative.  I have done a lot of research and these floors hold up well. I like to call this customized engineered flooring.  

Cost- What you all want to know

Most flooring runs around $3-7/square foot if not more.  So that means if I laid hardwood flooring myself it would have costed me around $450-1200 to do this room and that doesn't include nails.  I spent around $300 for this floor.  The wood alone was $149, however I bought way too much for this room.  I planned on 30% waste due to the pattern and way over bought.  I have enough to do at least half of my living room, so thats a bonus.  My time is where I probably spent the most money, or saved the most.  It took me about 2 weeks and this is with me working as a full time nurse practitioner. 

It all started here!  Thanks Saint Patrick (what my dad calls my husband). 
Lowe's cut down my boards into 8 inch pieces for .25c per cut and SO worth it!
The plywood was very reasonable. 

Next Step

Sand...sand and sand some more. 

Process-
1.Sand
2. Pre-condition - I used minwax
3. Stain- I used honey ( I also bought about every stain color out there)
4. Repeat
5. Cut boards into 3rds 

Driveway layout

 Obligatory before ugly carpet picture
After



I used this little orange square more than anything else during this project.
Must Have!


Work, work, work, work, work

Target removable wallpaper.
Inspiration leopard print chairs.  Garage sale $20/each




And my custom print!  Yep, painted it myself.  Cheap frames from Ikea!


Almost a year later. We have some doggie scratches, but only the surface.  I'm impressed how well they are holding up.  Trying to get the energy to move this project upstairs.

SAME ROOM NEW DAY

The DINING ROOM saga continues.....as do most of my projects.  I have eyed this table for a while and dreamt of creating build ins so that I have well used space and storage.  Here is what I came up with.

.Current look.  
I add my favorite plastered brick (German schmear) Kept the black walls and added build ins.  The build ins are made of upper kitchen cabinets and the counter top is wood, several pieces nailed down and stained. 
Where did I find this stuff:
-light: Menards
-cabinets: Home Depot
-table and chairs:  Flexsteel
-mirrors and vases: home goods
-ferns:  hobby lobby  


Can you believe this is what it looked like when we oringaly moved in.  





Sunday, June 25, 2017

Height ruler

 Never grow up!

My kids love to see how much they have grown and compare heights to their siblings.  We moved from our old house where I had measured year by year on a closet wall.  When it came time to move my mom took parchment paper and wrote down all the measurements. I transfered all the heights onto this board. I wish I had done this before.  Much easier to just move a piece of wood!

I made one as a housewarming gift for a friend too!


 pencil, paint, stain











Ugly Green Tile...you gotta Go!
This was my trial of what to do with this thing!  The green tiles were dating our house.

We have three fireplaces in our house.  Two have now been redone with the slate tile.  I have no plans to redo the 3rd since it is a nice white color with timeless tile.  Trying to pick a timeless decor is essential when you are planning to put this much effort into updates. 

My thoughts were maybe a white tile, chevron.  I went with a more timeless stone.  



--------------------------------------------------
After
Replaced with slate tiles and a diagonal design on the bottom.

This is after I also replace the flooring with the plywood flooring I blogged about as well. Fireplace and floors holding up amazing!


Hammer time!


Ummmmm, this stuff is really sharp!  Sorry for all of you that can't handle the site of blood. This ol' nurse, doesn't phase me a bit!  So, if you hammer out your tile, wear gloves! 



Slate tile from Lowes.  Comes in sections. Used it on our last house fireplace redo also. Classic.



I ended up doing a diamond shaped pattern on the base.  It's all fun and games until you get to the multi-cut corner pieces.


 Hey, atleast I had on my safety goggles!


Bookshelf accents


 When we moved into this house I really had no vision or thoughts for these shelves.  All I knew was that I had no intent on keeping them for books or knick knack patty whacks. 

I removed some of the shelves, put Target contact paper on the back and found these awesome mirrors at Pier One!  

Link for Target wallpaper: 
 http://www.target.com/c/wallpaper-home-improvement/vinyl/-/N-5xtsdZryx3t 




 Our upstairs hallway.  Two of these bookshelves!








 Love the way these turned out!



Chevron Wall

My daughter painted this all by herself. Taped and measured to perfection. She's got mad painting skills and certainly more meticulous than me!  The "e" came from hobby lobby discount isle. Pineapple gold accent sheets from Target and furniture and lamp from ikea. If you have ever put a ikea anything together you understand the amount of love put into this bedroom. 




Only before picture I have, before we moved in. 


 Here she is working so hard on her room.



She had the pink accent for a while, but repainted to the top picture.  I like the top better too!





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