Good Monday morning, home improvement heads!
Guess what we spent our weekend doing?
If you guessed "scraping the kitchen floor until your knuckles bleed" you're right!
So, when we last left you we had pulled up most of the yellow-ish, orange-ish linoleum (and the brown lineoleum underneath) and we were left with this:
Black crud everywhere and still plenty of staples. On Friday we pulled up all of the staples that were left and thanks to my dad's brilliant idea for floor scraping...
Here's what we have now:
What was this brilliant idea that Dave (and no one else) had, you ask?
A paint scraper.
Specifically this one that we had from when we scraped the paint off of the laundry room windows the summer before our wedding. It worked like a charm. So much so, that I ran across the street and bought another one from ACE Hardware so I could join in on the floor scraping fun.
But it didn't get everything up, you see. Those dark spots up there are the stubborn gunk that just would not move so on Saturday and late Sunday night we scraped up most of what was left using just a flat scraper (he's the onen with the red handle).
So there you have it. We still have just a couple of places to scrape off gunk but we should be done pretty quickly.
Another before/after shot of the corner near the sink.
You can see a couple of places near Conan's feet where I still need to scrape.
All in all though, I'm going to say it's not that bad. I'm not even sure anymore if we're going to paint it. I shouldn't say that. I still totally want to paint it I just am weary of the time that's going to be involved. Also? I kind of like the way the floor looks. I mean, yeah after a little sanding and staining, I think it will look pretty spiffy. Now I'm leaning toward painting just part of it and leaving some of the wood showing like this lovely floor from Lemon Tree Creations
I mean, that's a hot floor.
I think since we have black counters still, it would be wise to leave a little wood color on the floor instead of doing black and white.
Well, I've got to stop rambling and go finish scraping the floor.
When I come back I want some suggestions.
Do you like the semi-painted floor idea,
or should we just stain it and move on with our lives already?
After all, this wasn't supposed to be a full-blown kitchen remodel!
First, good job on getting it as clean as it is. I know that was hard work.
ReplyDeleteSecond, why don't you live with the floors for a time before deciding anything? You're not really in a rush to do anything are you?
First, thanks! Second, we certainly could just leave them this way for a while but my insatiable need to be done with this project would kick in and I'd just HAVE to do something to them. It's not very patient or chill of me but that's just the way I'm wired : )
DeleteI vote for staining! Those floors provide some nice warmth to the space that you'll lose if it all goes black and white. Of course my favourite combo is black, white and wood, but... hey, it's beautiful, it's classic.
ReplyDeleteAt this point, could you rent a sander and smooth it all out? Would that be safe? 'Cause I think that would take it to the next level, hotness-wise.
That's exactly what I thought about the whole too much black and white thing. We started sanding it today and it's already looking pretty dang hot.
DeleteThat is a hot floor! And one that would go so well with your black&white with wood motif (carried over from the bathroom). Why don't you finish your floors first, since you will need to anyway, and then decide?
ReplyDeleteGood call Natalie! I think we'll go ahead and stain them and seal them and then, if we have a spare week here or there we'll paint them like in the picture.
Delete#teamsand&stain
ReplyDeletePainted floors are okay, but man, white painted kitchen floors? Imagine how much sweeping & mopping you'll have to do to keep them white. I'm much more of a traditionalist when it comes to wood floors.
Yeah, that was kind of my concern - sweeping and mopping. But honestly, nothing could EVER look dirtier than our old kitchen linoleum. That textured rug was like a dirt magnet and you couldn't scrub it out with anything! I would gladly sweep and mop rather than scrub on my hands and knees : )
DeleteThose floors do look really great! I really, really love the idea of painting them and leaving the wood showing in some areas like in the pictures you posted. I actually think that would be a lot cooler than painting the whole thing.
ReplyDeleteWord. Cooler looking and maybe less work? I think I just lucked out and found the exact perfect picture to articulate what I wanted to do. That almost never happens! At least not BEFORE I do the project : )
DeleteI'm certainly in the 'stain it' camp, though partial painting with wood showing through would be ok too I suppose. But yeah, if you've already got a ton of black and white in that kitchen, then the wood could bring a nice soft tone to the room... And wood floors are just the coolest thing ever. Especially since those are totally hard wood (oak?) and not pine! Pine is pretty, but much more prone to denting and and discolorations. Fair warning though, hard wood like that *eats* sandpaper on floor sanders...But if all you have to do is get the gunk off then you should be good. =)
ReplyDeleteAlso, did you ever find out what that 'gunk' is?
I think I need to do that checkerboard with my upstairs wood floors, mainly because I don't want to refinish the whole lot of them. ugh. But after all the work that you are going through, I would be tempted not to paint at all either. Either way, I know it will look amazing!
ReplyDelete