Thursday, November 19, 2009

A new direction?

Well, after 2 straight days trying to reveal our precious hardwood flooring we found out that a previous owner had adhered vinyl floor with an asphalt based adhesive. Yup, I tried to get my dad to rip up the FREEWAY that someone laid in my kitchen.



Mission original hardwood is officially over.



My second idea for flooring was dark cork, suggested by one of my beloved readers. The more I read about it the more I thought it an idea material. Soft, easy to install, eco-friendly...all things I love. Want to know what I don't love? No one has it in stock. Annoying.



And for some reason having a dark floor has been permanently wedged in my mind...that is until I saw this picture (via Apartment Therapy from Domino):







Now, I thought I was dead set against tile in the kitchen. I thought it would be cold and hard and not fit with the historic character of the house. But, how beautiful is that light blue penny tile (I assume) floor? With all the white and that pretty gray color as an accent? I just think it's really stunning. To me it looks both modern and very traditional at the same time. What do you think?

8 comments:

Anonymous said...

Katie, I'm in love with that pic!!! If you guys need help, I did tile in my house this summer, and I'm happy to help. Hope you guys are having fun!!!

Jamie

Anonymous said...

"Is cork flooring easy to keep up...cleaning, dents from chairs, is it long wearing? Why isn't it available? Many questions before putting it down.

g-jane

Maggie said...

It looks stunning, but what about when dog feet or muddy shoes get on it? Will it be easy to clean or will you curse yourself when you've washed it for the 200th time? If you think it'll hold up then I say go for it.

Katie said...

Grandma-

Tons of people have samples and will order cork for us, but we wanted to lay it down before my dad leaves on Monday and it needs a few days of being out of the box to acclimate to the environment of the house.

Thus, we wanted to get something that was in stock.

We certainly haven't ruled out cork yet.

From what I can tell cork itself is pretty soft, but you can coat the top with poly urethane to make it harder and more scratch resistant.

However, I don't really mind if things get scratches or dings with age...I think it makes thigns look better. Our hardwoods in the rest of the house are old, patched and scratched like crazy and I love them just the way they are.

Mrs. Architect said...

Oooh, I LOVE it!!

As for being cold, according to my kanuk friends, you can install heaters under tile to keep them warm in the winter! See an example here:

http://ourcastlereno.blogspot.com/2009/11/bathroom-heat-sources.html

Maybe you could ask her questions if you were interested...

Good luck! I'm sure whatever you choose will be perfect!

kari said...

I ditto the heated tiles...a friend has them and they are oooh sooo wonderful.

Kari

Texasholly said...

I have dark wood and love the way it looks. What I don't love? It shows EVERYTHING! I have to swiffer mop it all the freaking time. I love the way that kitchen looks in the pic!

Morgan said...

I have white tile everywhere in my house, except the bedrooms. And, with 3 (almost 4) kids and a dog it is a PAIN to keep clean.