This week I am continuing to post about our future boys’ room. For the beginnings of this project, click here.
Tomorrow, I will be revealing my first Design Board here at Fieldstone Hill, which includes my vision for our boys’ shared room.
When we decided to finish off the space above the addition, to make way for our own addition, one of our biggest challenges was the flooring. Everyone knows that carpet is one of the cheapest options, but I did not want to go this route.
Reason number one: At the time, we had an older cat. I did not want our house to have that smell. moving on.
Reason number two: I am not really a huge carpet fan. I feel like they only look clean for about 2 years, and the rest of your years are spent pining for the good old days, when your carpet looked good.
Reason number three: Although carpet is the cheapest, it was not cheap enough! Especially with the amount of square footage {approx 23’x 22′}. Since we were not counting on finishing this room originally, every single finishing step in this room was an extra cost {especially the closets}. So, I had to get creative.
So, I got my creative juices flowing and this is what I came up with:
This is not a ‘hardwood floor.’ In fact, we did this on the subfloor!
Here is how.
One: First, our contractor installed best-quality subfloor throughout the room:
Two: Then, our next step was to fill-in and sand down the seams, using a wood caulk:
Three: Next step: I drew out a pattern that I wanted. I decided on even 3′ squares, set at the diagonal. Set off by a solid border, 4.25″, around the edge of the room {you can see this in the pics above}.
Four: The next step was to trim out the border with painter’s tape, and paint the entire room in your lightest color. For us, that was the soft white. We used exterior floor paint.
Five: Next, after the floor has dried for several days, draw out the squares in preparation for painting. We had our painter do this. In order to draw your squares, measure where the center of the room is and make that the center of your middle square. Work out from there, keeping all of your squares the same size. Your pattern will likely get chopped off at the edges. Scroll back up to the pics above… I think it looks fine. Especially when set off by the border. If you want to size your squares to fit your room perfectly, you will need to do a mathematical equation. Can’t help you there 🙂
I chose not to use painters’ tape to draw out the squares, since I was doing the painting and I have a really steady hand. Instead, we used a light pencil mark that we just painted over. However, if you were to tape, you should tape off the outside edge of one color of your darker color squares.
Six: Next step: Paint your dark squares. Again, we used exterior floor paint in a grey blue. Allow that to dry completely.
*tip: You may discover that being flexible, or being a yogi, will come in handy when painting your squares.
Six:Final step: Seal it. Since it will get heavy traffic, seal the floor with a clear, water-based polyurethane.
*tip: Before installing the doors, we trimmed the bottom of the closet doors a bit higher to accomodate a future floor in the future, if need be.
Seven:Final final step: If you are not 9 months pregnant when doing this {which I also do not recommend}, you will need a martini. But it is so worth the effort!
So there you have it. Please let me know if you {or your painter} attempts this project. I must say, it became an unexpected show stopper in our home, as well as an excellent, super-cheap solution for flooring.
Be sure to stop by tomorrow to see my first Design Board reveal. I am excited!
Love renovations? For more ‘renovation’ posts, click here.
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